Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents (outline)
- Contents
- Foreword to the 1995–2013 edition
- List of Abbreviations for Parts I and II
- Part I Appellate Body Reports
- PART II Arbitration Awards under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU
- ARB.1 Mandate of Arbitrator under Article 21.3(c)
- ARB.2 Prompt Compliance
- ARB.3 Withdrawal or Modification of the Measure
- ARB.4 “Reasonable Period of Time”
- ARB.5 “Particular Circumstances”
- ARB.6 Burden of Proof
- Annexes
- Abbreviations used in the Table of References to the Covered Agreements and Other Instruments and in the Indexes
- Table of References to the Covered Agreements and Other Instruments by Article
- Subject Index
- Subject Index by Case (Appellate Body Reports)
- Subject Index by Case (Arbitration Awards under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU)
ARB.4 - “Reasonable Period of Time”
from PART II - Arbitration Awards under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents (outline)
- Contents
- Foreword to the 1995–2013 edition
- List of Abbreviations for Parts I and II
- Part I Appellate Body Reports
- PART II Arbitration Awards under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU
- ARB.1 Mandate of Arbitrator under Article 21.3(c)
- ARB.2 Prompt Compliance
- ARB.3 Withdrawal or Modification of the Measure
- ARB.4 “Reasonable Period of Time”
- ARB.5 “Particular Circumstances”
- ARB.6 Burden of Proof
- Annexes
- Abbreviations used in the Table of References to the Covered Agreements and Other Instruments and in the Indexes
- Table of References to the Covered Agreements and Other Instruments by Article
- Subject Index
- Subject Index by Case (Appellate Body Reports)
- Subject Index by Case (Arbitration Awards under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU)
Summary
General
ARB.4.1.1 Canada – Pharmaceutical Patents, para. 45
(WT/DS114/13)
… Further, and significantly, a “reasonable period of time” is not available unconditionally. Article 21.3 makes it clear that a reasonable period of time is available for implementation only “[i]f it is impracticable to comply immediately with the recommendations and rulings” of the DSB. Implicit in the wording of Article 21.3 seems to me to be the assumption that, ordinarily, Members will comply with recommendations and rulings of the DSB “immediately”. The “reasonable period of time” to which Article 21.3 refers is, thus, a period of time in what is implicitly not the ordinary circumstance, but a circumstance in which “it is impracticable to comply immediately …”.
ARB.4.1.2 Canada – Pharmaceutical Patents, para. 63
(WT/DS114/13)
… As I see it, the commitment made by Canada to the DSB to comply fully with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB in this case, and thereby to fulfill Canada's international obligations as a Member of the WTO, should give rise to, if not equal, then comparable, urgency in Canada. Whatever their disagreements on a “reasonable period of time” for implementation in this dispute, doubtless Canada and the European Communities will agree on this: the desire of a WTO Member to comply with its treaty obligations under the WTO Agreement should occasion, domestically, some modicum of dispatch.
ARB.4.1.3 US – Hot-Rolled Steel, para. 26
(WT/DS184/13)
Although, [in paragraphs 84 and 85 of the Appellate Body Report] the Appellate Body dealt with the Anti-Dumping Agreement, and not the DSU, the essence of “reasonableness” so articulated is, in my view, equally pertinent for an arbitrator faced with the task of determining what constitutes “a reasonable period of time” in the context of the DSU.
ARB.4.1.4 US – Hot-Rolled Steel, para. 39
(WT/DS184/13)
… It appears to me that whether the actions of the DSB in those two instances have any precedential value in respect of the present arbitration proceedings, is open to substantial debate.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- WTO Appellate Body Repertory of Reports and Awards1995–2013, pp. 1673 - 1683Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014