WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD)


Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) is an annual publication compiling basic information on the WTO and key WTO documents from a given calendar year.

The initial sections list WTO Members and observers, and the Chairpersons of WTO bodies for the year in question. The sections in the middle reproduce key WTO legal instruments, decisions and reports issued by WTO bodies in the relevant calendar year. The final sections list other WTO decisions, reports and selected WTO documents for the year in question, by title and document symbol, without reproducing the text.

Hyperlinks in the electronic version allow readers direct access to the relevant WTO documents. Editorial notes are marked with a ¶.

  •  Volume I - 2002: the 1995 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 1995. It also contains selected documents related to the Uruguay Round negotiations. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume II - 2005: the 1996 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions Ministerial Declarations and Reports adopted in 1996. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing.

  • Volume III - 2005: the 1997 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 1997. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing.

  • Volume IV - 2006: the 1998 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 1998. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume V - 2006: the 1999 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 1999. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume VI - 2006: the 2000 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2000. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume VII - 2007: the 2001 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2001. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume VIII - 2007: the 2002 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2002. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press

  • Volume IX - 2007: the 2003 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2003. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume X- 2008: the 2004 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2004. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume XI- 2008: the 2005 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2005.  Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press.

  • Volume XII- 2008: the 2006 volume of the WTO Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) contains Protocols, Decisions and Reports adopted in 2006. Certain documents have been numbered or renumbered to simplify indexing. WTO panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, can be found in the Dispute Settlement Reports (DSR) series co-published by the WTO and Cambridge University Press. 

    Note:  Volume X, XI and XII were published in 2008.

Copies of the WTO BISD are available for consultation in the WTO Library and also in WTO Depository Libraries.
Copies of the WTO BISD can be ordered from the Online bookshop.
WTO BISD - electronic version: Volume I (1995) ; Volume II (1996) ; Volume III (1997) ; Volume IV (1998) ; Volume V (1999) ; Volume VI (2000) ; Volume VII (2001) ; Volume VIII (2002) ; Volume IX (2003) ; Volume X (2004); Volume XI (2005); Volume XII (2006).