India appealed against panel reports in disputes over India’s sugar subsidies, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reported on Tuesday.

But the WTO Appellate Body remains inoperable.

In fact, a proposal presented by Mexico and supported by 121 WTO members calls for the restitution of the functioning of the Appellate Body, the last instance to resolve trade disputes and which has been inoperative since December 11, 2019.

Specifically, India has notified the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of its decision to appeal the reports of the Panels in charge of the disputes “India-Measures Concerning Sugar and Sugar Cane” (DS579, DS580, DS581), raised by Brazil, Australia and Guatemala.

Sugar

After the Panel reports were circulated to WTO Members on December 14, the appeal was circulated to WTO Members on January 11.

As there is still no agreement among WTO Members to fill the Appellate Body vacancies, there is no Appellate Body Section currently available to deal with this appeal.