Non-trade issues at WTO, lack of legal experts worry India

India recently indicated that developing nations, including India, are facing a double disadvantage at the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB).

Concerns:

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.

Background:

India has been advocating that certain issues, including labour and environment, must be kept out of the WTO's purview and instead be dealt with by the global bodies concerned such as the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The developed world, however, is keen that the WTO addresses, what they call, global trade's new challenges, including labour and environment.

The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) makes decisions on trade disputes between governments that are adjudicated by the Organization.