The new Tuna-Dolphin WTO dispute could be trouble for the system, which is bad, but will have some very interesting legal issues, which is good (or fun to follow, anyway). Among other things, there will be issues related to: (1) choice of forum as between NAFTA and the WTO; (2) environmental exceptions; (3) national treatment; and (4) the TBT Agreement, including its relationship to the GATT. On the choice of forum issues, see here and here; for some thoughts on the latter two issues, DSC subscribers only see here.
So who has the very difficult task of adjudicating these issues? The panel has just been composed with the following members: Mario Matus, Franz Perrez, Sivakant Tiwari. Here are brief bios I found on the web for each:
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and to United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since October 2005. He is currently Chair of the WTO General Council. He has also chaired the Committee on Trade and Environment in Special Session and the Working Group on the accession of Ukraine to the WTO.
He served before as Director for Bilateral and Multilateral Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chief Trade Negotiator of the Chilean FTAs with China, European Union, EFTA, Korea, Trade Coordinator for Chile-US and Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), as well as APEC Senior Official (2000-2005) and Chair of various Groups. Chair of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG).
From 1994 to 1998 he was Minister in charge of Trade at the Embassy of Chile to the United States in Washington D.C. His other posts have been Trade Advisor to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs (1992-1993) and Delegate to the GATT during the Uruguay Round negotiations (1987-1991).
He has been Professor and Visiting Professor of Law and International Relations in various universities in Chile and the United States.
He has a Law degree from Universidad de Chile (1980) and Law, Economics, and International Politics at Oxford University, Queen Elizabeth House, St. Edmund Hall (1986-1987)
WTO panelist, SIECA panelist and other bilateral FTAs.
Franz Perrez is the head of the Global Affairs Section in the Swiss Agency for the Environment, and a lecturer of international environmental law at the University of Bern School of Law.
Before joining the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Dr. Perrez was legal counsel to the Department of Public International Law, the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, and legal advisor in the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. As such, he has served as the Swiss representative to the WTO committee on trade and environment.
Dr. Perrez currently represents Switzerland in international environmental negotiations, namely in the areas of international environmental governance, sustainable development, chemicals, wastes and forest policy. He has published widely in the area of international environmental law, the relationship between trade and environment, and public international law; his most recent publication is “How to Get Beyond the Zero-Sum Game between State and Non-State Actors in International Environmental Governance” (2009).
Mr Tiwari, a national of Singapore, is presently a Senior State Counsel and Head of the International Affairs Division in the Attorney-General's Chambers, Singapore.Mr Tiwari first served (on secondment from the Legal Service) in the Ministry of Defence and was the Head of its Legal Department. He was later Head of the Civil Division in the Chambers from 1987 - Jun 1995. He is presently the Head of the International Affairs Division.Mr Tiwari led the evidence in major Inquiries in Singapore: Spyros Inquiry (1978), Cable Car Inquiry (1984), Hotel New World Inquiry (1988) - the last two being Presidential Commissions of Inquiries. He has also appeared in various cases in the High Court of Singapore. He has led many bilateral and multilateral negotiations on behalf of Singapore, including that involving the Singapore-Johore Boundary Agreement and the Singapore-Malaysia dispute over Pedra Branca.He was the Legal Adviser to the Singapore delegation to the Uruguay Round negotiations and has represented Singapore in the negotiations for the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and many ASEAN negotiations and meetings.In the area of intellectual property, Mr Tiwari is the Chairman of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation and leader of the Singapore delegation to that Group, the APEC Intellectual Property Experts Group and WIPO meetings. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the APEC IP Experts Group and was leader of the Singapore delegation to the WIPO Conference on the WIPO Copyrights Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.Mr Tiwari has presented papers and participated at numerous workshops and international conferences on the Law of the Sea, trade, intellectual property rights, civil aviation etc.