WTO Law and Dispute Settlement: Least Developed Countries

This book examines the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) from the perspective of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Ensuring predictability and stability in the rules-based international trading system requires the DSU to be accessible, efficient, reliable, and able to redress imbalances. Since the 1990s, the DSU has been the subject of review, and this book charts and explores these ongoing negotiations from the perspective of LDCs. The inability of the LDCs to fully utilise the DSU reduces their ability to redress imbalances and, by extension, their ability to fully engage in international trade and promote economic growth. This book explores the issues behind LDCs difficulty engaging with the DSU, with only one dispute brought. Arguing that WTO action alone will not address all these issues, the book advocates that the LDCs must themselves be prepared to take measures to address current weaknesses and makes recommendations as to how they may overcome some of their DSU engagement issues.

The book will be of interest to researchers in the field of international trade law, international law and dispute resolution.