GATT procedures considered not to consititute GATT disputes

A number of GATT proceedings could be mistaken for disputes, but do not meet all of the criteria established by this database.

For instance, when GATT contracting parties took a decision to establish a “panel” in the broader sense of the term – that is, as a group mandated to discuss an issue more generally, this database did not classify it as a GATT dispute. Most of these cases dealt with discussions on quantitative restrictions, subsidies, balance of payment matters, safeguards, customs unions or renegotiations of schedules of concessions, and typically involved consultations under relevant provisions of the GATT 1947 other than Articles XXII or XXIII.

For more information, please refer to GATT Disputes: 1948-1995, Volume 1, page 15.