ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: The director-general of World Trade Organization (WTO) has nominated chairman, National Tariff Commission, Dr Faizullah Khilji, as member of the three-member panel on an anti-dumping dispute between the United States and Argentina.

Other members of the panel are from Australia and New Zealand.

The US, it may be noted, had re-imposed anti-dumping duty after a sunset review against dumped imports of Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina. It was the latter country which requested that such a panel be constituted. (These goods concern the two pipes in which an oil drill is encased).

Under WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism, if a member country believes that any benefit accruing to it directly or indirectly under the agreement is being nullified or impaired as the result of the failure of another contracting party to carry out its obligations under the agreement, the complaining member may first request consultation with the other member. The two thus seek to resolve the dispute within 60 days.

If these consultations do not produce a satisfactory result, the complaining member requests the establishment of a panel consisting of three persons chosen from member countries that are not party to the dispute.

Panels are to be chosen from among well-qualified experts in international trade or a person who has served as a senior trade policy official of or in a WTO member country.

The panel is required to make an objective assessment of the facts and legal issues involved in the case and to submit a report to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of WTO within nine months.

This report stands as accepted unless all WTO members, acting through their DSB, decide by consensus within 30 days against its adoption, or if one of the parties to the dispute voices its intention to appeal.

The decision of the WTO director-general to include Dr Khilji in the panel is seen by experts as a tribute to the competence and technical acumen of the commission which is the designated anti-dumping investigating authority in Pakistan and has the knowledge and experience in administering the anti- dumping law.

It may be recalled that the commission has so far initiated three anti-dumping investigations under Pakistan’s Anti-dumping Duties Ordinance 2000.