India – Measures Concerning the Importation
of Certain Agricultural Products
RECOURSE TO ARTICLE 22.6 OF THE DSU BY india
communication from the arbitrator
The following communication,
dated 8 July 2022, addressed to the
Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), is circulated at the request
of the Arbitrator.
_______________
Article 22.6 of the
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes
(DSU) provides that the arbitrator shall circulate its report within 60 days
after the date of expiry of the reasonable period of time.
The reasonable period of time in
this dispute, as agreed between the parties, expired on 19 June 2016.
Following the United States' request to the DSB for authorization to suspend
concessions or other obligations in accordance with Article 22.2 of the DSU and
India's objection to the United States' proposed level of suspension of
concessions or other obligations, the matter was referred to arbitration, as
required by Article 22.6 of the DSU, on 19 July 2016.
The Arbitrator in this dispute
was constituted on 29 June 2017 and comprised the three original panelists. The
timetable adopted by the Arbitrator, in consultation with the parties, provided
for an arbitration process parallel to the Article 21.5 proceedings in this
dispute, and envisaged the circulation of its Decision to the WTO membership
and the general public on 23 March 2018.
The Arbitrator wishes to inform
the DSB that, as previously notified to the DSB, the parties, on numerous
consecutive occasions beginning in March 2018, jointly requested the Arbitrator
to postpone the issuance of its Decision. These requests, which were accepted
by the Arbitrator, were made in conjunction with simultaneous requests to
extend the timelines for the remaining steps in the parallel Article 21.5
proceedings.
On 8 July 2022, the Arbitrator
accepted the parties' latest request to postpone issuance of its Decision, and
now expects to issue its Decision in October 2022.
Accordingly, the Arbitrator has
been unable to comply with the time-limits provided for in Article 22.6 of
the DSU.
I would be grateful if you would
circulate this letter to the Members of the DSB.