One would suspect that WTO jurisprudence contains at least a few useful statements relating to general public international law principles and concepts. But just how much useful material would one expect to find? After all, WTO adjudicators are tasked with examining alleged violations of the specific obligations contained in the WTO agreements. And, although Article 3.2 of the DSU expressly instructs adjudicators to clarify the WTO agreements ‘in accordance with customary rules of interpretation of public international law’, does that allow concepts and principles of public international law apart from those relating to treaty interpretation to be considered? And to what extent does any such consideration merely take the form of passing references, as distinguished from more significant and substantial clarification and application of public international law concepts and principles? Moreover, to what extent are any statements by WTO adjudicators concerning those concepts and principles capable of wider application, as opposed to being inextricably linked to the context of the underlying textual provisions of the WTO agreements?

If WTO jurisprudence contained a very large number of statements relating to general public international law concepts and principles, one might expect to find numerous citations to WTO jurisprudence in public international law treatises, in the jurisprudence of other international courts and tribunals, and in the work of the International Law Commission (ILC). Instead, one finds scant reference to WTO jurisprudence in public international law treatises. There is only one reference to GATT/WTO jurisprudence in all of the decisions and advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (and it is found in a dissenting opinion, and it criticizes the ICJ majority decision for not following WTO panel practice concerning the use of scientific experts). There are not very many references to WTO jurisprudence in the commentaries of the ILC, and one ILC member has recently questioned whether WTO jurisprudence is looked at closely enough by public international lawyers.