Switzerland and 18 other WTO members establish interim appeals procedure for settling trade disputes
Bern, 30.4.2020 - Switzerland and 18 other WTO members officially informed the WTO on 30 April 2020 that they had agreed upon an interim appeals procedure in place of the WTO Appellate Body, which has been inoperative since December 2019. Under the temporary multiparty agreement, an arbitration tribunal will hear appeals based on existing WTO rules. The arrangement will remain in force until the Appellate Body becomes fully operational again. The Federal Council decided on 3 April 2020 that Switzerland should join the agreement.