United States – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp from Viet Nam

COMMUNICATION FROM THE APPELLATE BODY

The following notification, dated 4 March 2015, from the Chair of the Appellate Body addressed to the Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated to Members in accordance with Article 17.5 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

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I am writing to you pursuant to Article 17.5 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, which stipulates that, as a general rule, the Appellate Body will circulate its Report no later than 60 days after the appellant has formally notified the Dispute Settlement Body (the "DSB") of its decision to appeal. Article 17.5 states, furthermore, that when the Appellate Body considers that it cannot provide its Report within 60 days, it shall inform the DSB in writing of the reasons for the delay together with an estimate of the period within which it will submit its Report.

Viet Nam notified the DSB on 6 January 2015 of its decision to appeal certain issues of law covered in the Panel Report and legal interpretations developed by the Panel in this case, with the result that the 60‑day period expires on Saturday, 7 March 2015. Due to the time required for completion and translation of the Report, the Appellate Body will not be able to circulate its Report by this date. Given that the 90-day period in this dispute will expire on 6 April 2015, an official WTO holiday, we estimate that the Appellate Body Report in this appeal will be circulated to WTO Members no later than Tuesday, 7 April 2015.

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