Dispute Settlement/Appellate Body Reports

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/1-34Update 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 ReportWT/DS[number]/R
Appellate Body ReportWT/DS[number]/AB/R
Article 21.3 Arbitration ReportWT/DS[number]/[number]
Article 21.5 Panel ReportWT/DS[number]/RW
Second Recourse to Article 21.5 Panel ReportWT/DS[number]/RW/2
Article 21.5 Appellate Body ReportWT/DS[number]/AB/RW
Recourse to Article 22.6 Arbitration ReportWT/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 ReportWT/DS46/R
Appellate Body ReportWT/DS46/AB/R
Article 21.5 Panel ReportWT/DS46/RW
Second Recourse to Article 21.5 Panel ReportWT/DS46/RW/2
Article 21.5 Appellate Body ReportWT/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 ReportWT/DS217/R
Appellate Body ReportWT/DS217/AB/R
Article 21.3(c) Arbitration ReportWT/DS217/14
Recourse to Article 22.6 Arbitration ReportWT/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:

For quick reference, the Secretariat maintains listings of all reports issued to date:

The Legal Services Division also maintains a Dispute Settlement Database which is accessible by password only from the WTO Members' site on the Internet.