Ten Years of Operation of the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Mechanism: Outcome for Latin America and the Caribbean

Dispute settlement mechanisms help to create a fairly predictable and accurate environment in which economic agents can pursue their activities in the international arena. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) has now been in operation for 10 years and it is fitting, at this point to assess the progress achieved by Latin America and the Caribbean, the region that made most use of this mechanism during the period, and whose countries have made significant gains against protectionism in key export sectors. These successes constitute important precedents which will influence upcoming multilateral negotiations and future trade disputes.This article reviews the work carried out by the DSB, the role of the leading stakeholders in the system (the United States and the European Union) and progress made by countries of the region in a global context marked by the complexity of trade issues and the legal framework that regulates them. The findings presented in this article are based on the study "Una década de funcionamiento del Sistema de Solución de Diferencias de la OMC: avances y desafíos".