十字路口的世贸组织上诉机构:改革观察与最新实践

The WTO Appellate Body at the Crossroads:Reform Observation and Recent Practice

WTO上诉机构正处在改革的十字路口,这亦是全球经贸治理困境的突出体现,改革的最终结果对世界经贸治理体系与中国都将产生重大影响。新近,一方面,不少WTO成员在围绕上诉机构改革提出了一系列建议,并形成了初步的改革方案,但美国对现有改革方案并未给予积极回应。另一方面,欧盟和中国等成员积极作为,并已达成《多方临时上诉仲裁安排(MPIA)》,这意味着临时上诉仲裁替代方案正从早期倡议步入具体实践。但临时上诉仲裁毕竟只是权宜之计,恢复上诉机构职能仍是WTO改革的优先事项。后续上诉机构改革存在一些窗口期,但其艰巨性仍然不能忽视,一段时期内,世贸组织争端解决路径或将呈现"双轨"现象。为此,对中国而言,需把握好上诉机构"停摆"后争端解决的各种路径,一方面,利用临时上诉仲裁解决该机制参加方之间的纠纷;另一方面,及时关注争端解决的最新实践,作为解决与非MPIA参加方(尤其是美国)纠纷的参考,以妥善应对目前错综复杂的经贸治理体系。

The WTO Appellate Body is at the crossroads of reform,reflecting the dilemma of global economic and trade governance system.The final result of the reform will have a significant impact on both the world trade governance system and China.Recently,on the one hand,many WTO members have put forward a series of initiatives on the reform of the Appellate Body and formed a preliminary draft.However,the United States has not yet given the positive response to the current proposal.On the other hand,the WTO members,like the European Union and China,have recently reached the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement Pursuant to Article 25 of the DSU(MPIA),which means that the interim appeal arbitration is changing from proposal to practice.However,the nature of MPIA is an interim arrangement and the restoration of the Appellate Body function is the matter of priority.There are some chances for the resolution of the crisis of the Appellate Body,but it is full of arduousness.The"double track"phenomenon may appear in the WTO dispute settlement path for a period of time.Consequently,China should accurately grasp the various possible approaches of dispute settlement during the block of the Appellate Body.On the one hand,it is necessary for China to make use of MPIA to resolve the disputes among the parties of this mechanism.On the other hand,China can take the settlement practice of recent disputes as a reference to deal with the disputes with non-participants of MPIA(especially the United States),and properly respond to the current complicated economic and trade governance system.