WTO appeals body may collapse: India

Given the stalemate on the WTO’s Appellate Body due to the US continuing to stall the selection of judges, India has cautioned that the Body is in danger of collapsing altogether. “The ongoing impasse in filling vacancies of the Appellate Body remains, with no response from the objecting member (the US), in spite of dozen proposals to address to concerns related to its functioning,” India said at an informal trade negotiations committee meeting on Friday. “The (WTO) membership needs to act before the Appellate Body moves from the ICU to the mortuary,” warned Mr J S Deepak, India’s trade envoy at an informal trade negotiations committee meeting. Trade experts worry that if this body is indeed disbanded, it would give powerful countries a freeway to flout multilateral trade norms.