Which WTO body serves as the forum for members’ dispute-settlement decisions?

The WTO body serving as the forum for members’ dispute-settlement decisions is the Dispute Settlement Body.

The DSB is composed of representatives of all WTO members, usually diplomats based in Geneva. It establishes dispute panels, adopts panel and appellate reports when the required procedures allow, and monitors implementation of rulings and recommendations.

The body is not a separate court with independent membership. It is the General Council meeting in a different capacity under the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

The DSB’s consensus procedures were designed to prevent a losing party from blocking the establishment of a panel or adoption of a report. The Appellate Body, created under the same dispute-settlement system, reviewed legal issues, but the DSB itself remains the formal institutional forum for dispute administration.