Kono blames WTO dispute settlement system as dysfunctional

May 24, 2019

Paris--Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono criticized Thursday the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system as totally dysfunctional.

Referring to the WTO Appellate Body's ruling in favor of South Korea's ban on Japanese seafood imports, Kono told an unofficial ministerial meeting of the free trade organization in Paris that it was extremely regrettable that the settlement system failed to work at all.

All import restrictions on Japanese products should be removed, he urged.

"I called for drastically reforming the dispute settlement system," Kono told reporters after the meeting of some 30 major WTO member economies.

Ahead of Japan hosting a Group of 20 meeting of trade and digital economy minsters next month, Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko told the WTO meeting that rules on e-commerce and industrial subsidies need to be developed. Jiji Press