The decision of the UK Government to sign up to the Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been praised by the European Commission.
Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said: “Given the current trade tensions, the MPIA is ever more important. It ensures the final and orderly resolution of trade disputes among its participants and supports rules-based trade. With each new country joining, we increase the stability of multilateral trading relations.”
The UK has joined the MPIA, which is open to all WTO members, at the same time as Paraguay and Malaysia. Those countries which are already members include Australia, Brazil, Norway, Switzerland, the Philippines, the EU and its Member States, and Canada.
The Agreement guarantees its participants access to a functioning dispute settlement system in the WTO, as a stop-gap solution in the continuing absence of a functioning WTO Appellate Body. It ensures that rules can be enforced and trade disputes can be orderly resolved, the Commissioner pointed out
Under the MPIA, appeals are heard by arbitrators selected randomly from the pool of 10 appeal arbitrators set up by the countries participating in the Agreement. See HERE for more details.
