WTO Appellate Body Now Down to Three Members

As of September 30, 2018, the number of members on the WTO’s Appellate Body (“AB”) was reduced to three, the minimum number needed to hear appeals. On that date, the term of Appellate Body Member Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing ended, leaving only three persons serving on the AB, including Mr. Ujal Singh Bhatia of India, Mr. Thomas Graham of the United States, and Ms. Hong Zhao of China.

The AB is normally composed of seven Members who serve for initial terms of four years. Each Member may be reappointed for an additional four-year term. Under the WTO’s dispute settlement process, three Members are needed to hear an appeal. Thus, with the number of members down to three, the AB still has, in theory, enough members to continue hearing appeals. Nonetheless, there is a risk that the AB would not be able to hear an appeal if one or more Members recuse themselves due to a conflict of interest. This has, however, rarely happened.

On September 29, 2018, with the support of 68 member states of the WTO, Mexico introduced a proposal at a meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body calling for the establishment of a selection committee to make appointments to the vacant Appellate Body positions. Consistent with its prior statements on the issue, the United States rejected the proposal.