The EU has welcomed the decision of Vietnam to join the Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) for WTO members. The MPIA now covers 58 World Trade Organization (WTO) members and 59.5 per cent of world trade.

The arrangement guarantees participants access to a dispute settlement system, in the absence of a functioning Appellate Body in the WTO. It ensures that rules can be enforced and trade disputes resolved in an orderly way, without appealing ‘into the void’ at the WTO.

“I welcome Vietnam among the MPIA’s participants. The MPIA supports rules-based trade, and each new adhesion increases the stability of multilateral trading relations. I stress that the MPIA is open to all WTO members,” commissioner for trade and economic security Maroš Šefcovic said.

The EU welcomed Vietnam’s accession to the WTO’s Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which now includes 58 members covering 59.5 per cent of global trade.
The MPIA provides a functional dispute settlement system amid the WTO Appellate Body’s inactivity.
It ensures rule enforcement and fair arbitration, with independent experts hearing appeals.

The MPIA was put in place in 2020 and has since proven its effectiveness in many WTO disputes, most recently in the EU dispute with China on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Under the MPIA, appeals are heard by arbitrators selected randomly from the pool of 10 set up by the countries participating in the MPIA. It comprises persons of recognised authority, with demonstrated expertise in law, international trade and the WTO agreements. It is open to all members, to offer a practical tool for appeal arbitration, pending the restoration of a reformed and fully functioning WTO dispute settlement system, the European Commission said in a press release.

As of June 1, 2025, the MPIA has an updated pool of appeal arbitrators to ensure that appeals are heard by independent arbitrators of the highest calibre.

The current MPIA members are Australia, Benin, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the European Union (and its Member States), Guatemala, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Japan, Macao (China), Mexico, Malaysia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)