5 - The Content of the WTO Disputing Pyramid

Summary

This chapter provides a unique account of the content of discussions in SPS and TBT Committees. Based on an in-depth analysis of Committee meeting minutes over 5 years (2010–2014), it looks into the demand side of information, i.e. in the information sought by WTO Members raising a concern in the SPS and TBT Committees and their purpose in raising such concerns. It finds that Members active in the STC discussions are either after further information or clarification of a measure, they intend to influence draft regulations through inputs to other Members’ regulatory process, or they try to address a problem they face in the implementation of the measure. STCs therefore allow WTO Members to engage in technical dialogue about domestic regulations, against the backdrop of the SPS and TBT Agreements, without there being a legal stake in the discussion. In other words, transparency can be seen as shaping the behaviour of WTO Members without there being new agreements or enforcement.