WTO NEWS: 2003 PRESS RELEASES

Press/343
28 May 2003
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

WTO chief urges governments to find way forward in negotiations on DSU

Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi urged WTO Member Governments today to find a pragmatic way forward in their negotiations on improvements and clarifications to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).

“I urge negotiators not to disregard all the intellectual energy they have contributed collectively over the past 15 months towards an agreement on improvements and clarifications to the dispute settlement system,” he said. “Under the leadership of Ambassador Péter Balás of Hungary, chairman of the DSU negotiations, delegations have worked extremely hard and imaginatively. I remain confident that negotiators will find a pragmatic way forward.”