Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Regional Trade Agreements: Past, Present and Future

The paper examines various types of mechanisms for resolving interstate disputes provided for by regional trade agreements and provides a typology of them. It is noted that modern regional trade agreements are evolving towards the use of independent judicial or arbitration mechanisms that issue binding decisions on disputes, with ad hoc arbitration tribunals leading by a significant margin. In practice, however, the proliferation of regional trade agreements has not led to an increase in the number of trade disputes being dealt with under the relevant regional mechanisms. The vast majority of such mechanisms remain unused due to the fact that states parties to such agreements still prefer to consider disputes between themselves at the level of the World Trade Organization, despite the termination of the activities of the WTO Appellate Body. Regional mechanisms are used primarily to resolve disputes that concern issues outside the WTO (such as compliance with labour standards, health and safety, and the environment).

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