A draft text on World Trade Organization dispute settlement reform efforts was released Feb. 16, ahead of the 13th Ministerial Conference, which is set to be held Feb. 26-29. In all, the text includes 11 sections, covering issues including alternative dispute resolution procedures and arbitration, panel proceedings, compliance and transparency. Notably, the text doesn't include any discussion of the appeal or review mechanism, which is seen as the largest sticking point in reform talks.

Four World Trade Organization members -- Barbados, Dominica, Senegal and Uruguay -- formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Feb. 14, the WTO announced. Sixty member countries have now accepted the deal, which is 55% of the way to the two-thirds threshold of members needed for the agreement to enter into force at the WTO.

World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard said that priorities for the 13th Ministerial Conference, which takes place Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi, are negotiating the second wave of the fisheries subsidies agreement, extending the e-commerce moratorium and continuing conversations on WTO reform.

Indonesia requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization on Feb. 12 regarding the EU's antidumping duties on fatty acids from Indonesia, the WTO announced. Indonesia said the duties violate the WTO's Anti-Dumping Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The request formally starts the dispute and sets up both parties to start a 60-day consultation period. Should consultations prove unsuccessful, "the complainant may request adjudication by a panel," the WTO said. The dispute concerns fatty acids, which are used in a "variety of consumer products as well as industrial lubricants."

U.S. priorities during the World Trade Organization's upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference should center on extending the moratorium on e-commerce duties and advancing the second wave of talks on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies, witnesses said at a Feb. 7 hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade.

Turkey will appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel finding against its retaliatory duties on certain U.S. goods, the WTO announced Jan. 31. Because the Appellate Body is nonfunctional as the U.S. prevents vacancies from being filled, the appeal goes "into the void." As a result, Turkey's tariffs may stand without further rebuke from the WTO.

Cape Verde formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Jan. 26, the World Trade Organization announced. Fifty-six members have now accepted the deal, which is just over half the number needed to make a two-thirds majority for ratification.

The U.S. will make a statement in the dispute on the U.S. origin marking requirements for goods from Hong Kong during the World Trade Organization's Jan. 26 dispute settlement body meeting, the WTO said. A dispute panel ruled against the U.S. national security defense of its trade measure requiring goods from Hong Kong to be labeled as being made in China (see 2212220029).

Expect new EU action at the World Trade Organization in 2024, four Akin attorneys said in a Jan. 23 blog poost. With the exceptions of 2023 and 2007, the EU has filed at least one complaint every year since 1995, and is expected to "go back on the offensive" by starting at least one or two WTO spats this year, the attorneys said.

Turkey opened two safeguard investigations Jan. 12, one on knitted or crocheted fabrics, the other on paper and cardboard, it told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards, the WTO said. Turkey said that parties seeking to comment on the investigations must complete and submit to the nation's General Directorate the relevant questionnaires within 30 days following the publication of the notices of investigation.