Non-trade issues at WTO, lack of legal experts worry India (The Hindu, 3 May 2016)
Developing nations, including India, are facing a double disadvantage at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), according to Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said these nations are challenged not only by the lack of a sufficient pool of trade law experts to represent them effectively at the DSB but also by certain efforts to bring within the body’s ambit non-trade issues such as labour and environment. She said “such cases would pose a great challenge for developing nations because very often these are conditions that add as restrictions in the freedom of trade particularly for developing countries.” With the global trade slowdown and the consequent rise in trade restrictive measures taken by many countries, the world is witnessing increasing use of trade remedies (such as anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty and countervailing duty), the official said. She said many of these measures are also ending up as disputes at the DSB.