Servansing Chosen to Fill WTO Appellate Body Position

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September 17, 2014

    Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing of Mauritius has been selected as the next Appellate Body member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  The former WTO Ambassador will serve on the Appellate Body for four years and is eligible to serve a second term.  He is replacing David Unterhalter from South Africa, who completed his two term service in December 2013.  The selection process was delayed due to the meeting in Bali last December.  After interviews in July and conferences with 51 delegations, Servansing was finally selected from seven candidates.  Servansing was added to the candidate pool in May, after the selection committee could not come to an agreement among the initial candidates.  Since Unterhalter was from South Africa, African leaders wanted the candidate to also be an African native in order to maintain representation on the panel.

    Servansing has extensive experience within the WTO.   In addition to serving as the Ambassador to Mauritius, he acted as Chair of the Committee on Trade and Environment for the WTO from 2005-2006.  From 2007-2009 he was on the Committee on Trade and Development for the WTO.  Servansing was head of the Work Programme on Small Economies and chaired the African Group in Geneva back in 2007.  From 2004-2006 and again from 2008 to 2012, he coordinated the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group in Geneva.

    The Appellate Body of the WTO, located in Geneva, Switzerland, is comprised of seven individuals that listen to disputes from member nations.  The WTO describes the panel as a body “that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by WTO Members.”  They can then “uphold, modify or reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel.”  Their decisions must be followed by the member nations.

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