Reports of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) and the Appellate Body (AB) are issued simultaneously in the three official languages of the Secretariat as public documents. They are posted immediately on the WTO website and also disseminated via Documents online. The Legal Services Division of the WTO produced (2001-2009) a useful updating document (available in Documents online) that contains a summary of each case cited:
WT/DS/OV/1-34 | Update of WTO Dispute Settlement Cases - New Developments since Last Update (2001-2009) |
WT/DS/OV/34 (26/01/2009): part 1; part 2 | |
WTO disputes : current status | |
WT/DSB/.../Add. ... | Dispute Settlement Body - Annual report (YEAR) - Overview of the State of Play of WTO Disputes - Addendum |
WT/DSB/64/Add.1 (1 November 2014): document |
WTO Nomenclature : Dispute Settlement and Appellate Body reports | |
Dispute Settlement Case Title (WT/DS[number]/[number]) | |
Request for Consultations (usually the first document in the case series) | WT/DS[number]/1 |
Panel Report | WT/DS[number]/R |
Appellate Body Report | WT/DS[number]/AB/R |
Article 21.3 Arbitration Report | WT/DS[number]/[number] |
Article 21.5 Panel Report | WT/DS[number]/RW |
Second Recourse to Article 21.5 Panel Report | WT/DS[number]/RW/2 |
Article 21.5 Appellate Body Report | WT/DS[number]/AB/RW |
Recourse to Article 22.6 Arbitration Report | WT/DS[number]/ARB/[Member] |
Examples:
Brazil - Export Financing Programme for Aircraft (WT/DS46) | |
Request for Consultations (usually the first document in the case series) | WT/DS46/1 |
Panel Report | WT/DS46/R |
Appellate Body Report | WT/DS46/AB/R |
Article 21.5 Panel Report | WT/DS46/RW |
Second Recourse to Article 21.5 Panel Report | WT/DS46/RW/2 |
Article 21.5 Appellate Body Report | WT/DS46/AB/RW |
United States - Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (WT/DS217) | |
Request for Consultations (usually the first document in the case series) | WT/DS217/1 |
Panel Report | WT/DS217/R |
Appellate Body Report | WT/DS217/AB/R |
Article 21.3(c) Arbitration Report | WT/DS217/14 |
Recourse to Article 22.6 Arbitration Report | WT/DS217/ARB/BRA |
The full text of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes is available as a searchable document (part of the Analytical Index) on the WTO website.
A summary of each dispute case, together with the full text of the report, is available on the WTO website under the Dispute Settlement trade topic:
The Appellate Body has also created the Appellate Body Repertory for analyzing the content of its rulings. This is the definitive reference tool for those interested in international trade law. It contains excerpts from WTO Appellate Body Reports, dating from the first Appellate Body Report adopted in May 1996, through to the sixty-eighth Report adopted in May 2005. The excerpts are organized according to the particular provision of the WTO Agreements examined, and by subject-matter. The Repertory also contains excerpts from Arbitration Awards issued pursuant to Article 21.3(c) of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes determining the 'reasonable period' for implementation of Dispute Settlement Body rulings, for which Appellate Body Members have acted as Arbitrators:
- Repertory of Reports and Awards (electronic version)
For quick reference, the Secretariat maintains listings of all reports issued to date:
- WTO Dispute Settlement reports and arbitration awards (last updated: 1 February 2024)
The Legal Services Division also maintains a Dispute Settlement Database which is accessible by password only from the WTO Members' site on the Internet.
- Copies of Dispute Settlement Reports are available for consultation in the WTO Library and also in WTO Depository Libraries
- Copies of Dispute Settlement Reports can be ordered from the Online bookshop
- Copies of "WTO Dispute Settlement: One-Page Case Summaries (1995-2012)" can be ordered from the Online bookshop
- Copies of "WTO Appellate Body Repertory of Reports and Awards 1995-2013" (5th Edition) can be ordered from the Online bookshop