Do World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Reports Affect the Obligations of Non-Parties?-Response to McNelis

Dispute Settlement Body reports affect the good faith obligations of non-parties to the disputes. The obligations in question are not merely founded on the principle of good faith; rather, their content is specifiable only in terms of good faith. DSB reports do not necessarily require instant acceptance and obedience; what they require of a Member acting in good faith depends on the circumstances. In the long run, of course, decisions of the DSB will "clarify the provisions" of the agreements, and issues on which good faith disagreement used to be possible will become issues on which a recalcitrant position manifests bad faith. But there will always be an area at the boundaries of what has been clarified up to that point, where Members have obligations that cannot be specified except as obligations to pay attention to what the DSB has said, and to be guided by a good faith concern for the integrity of the system as a whole.