Introduction

This article refers to the legal grounds and public policy considerations for extending special and differentiated treatment to developing countries in the WTO dispute settlement process. As shall be noted, 80 developing countries, or 54% of the 148 Members of the WTO, have never participated as complainants or respondents in this process and, therefore, have never sought the benefit of this special treatment. In addition, the existing special treatment provisions are very general, not legally enforceable and have rarely been applied. A majority of these ...