Common use of Proposals for review Clause in Contracts

Proposals for review. In a 1994 Decision on the Application and Review of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes,157 Ministers agreed on a full review of WTO dispute settlement rules and procedures by 1 January 1999. Although the Dispute Settlement Body in special sessions started this review in 1997 and extended the deadline until 31 July 1999,158 Members could not agree on possible amendments of the DSU.159 On the same issue, the 2001 Doha Declaration provided: “We agree to negotiations on improvements and clarifications of the Dispute Set- tlement Understanding. The negotiations should be based on the work done thus far as well as any additional proposals by Members, and aim to agree on improve- ments and clarifications not later than May 2003, at which time we will take steps to ensure that the results enter into force as soon as possible thereafter.”160 However, the May 2003 deadline also passed without Members’ coming to an agreement. On 24 July 2003, the General Council acknowledged that the DSB special session needed more time to conclude its work and extended the deadline for the special session until May 2004.161