Geneva, 22 August 2026: The World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) is scheduled to hold a special meeting on Friday, 28 August 2026. The meeting comes against the backdrop of ongoing WTO dispute settlement proceedings, including the dispute between Indonesia and the European Union concerning EU anti-dumping measures on imports of fatty acid.
The Indonesia–EU dispute, identified as WT/DS622, was initiated after Indonesia requested the establishment of a WTO panel on 14 November 2024 under the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), GATT 1994 and the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement. The DSB established the panel on 18 December 2024.
The panel proceedings examined, among other issues, Indonesia’s challenge to the European Union’s continuation of an anti-dumping investigation after the withdrawal of the written application that had initiated the investigation. The application was originally filed on 18 October 2021, and the European Commission initiated the investigation on 30 November 2021.
On 24 August 2022, the applicant notified the European Commission that it was withdrawing its anti-dumping application. The Commission nevertheless informed interested parties that the investigation would continue under the applicable procedures until a formal decision was taken.
Indonesia subsequently argued that the EU’s continuation of the investigation was inconsistent with Article 5.6 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement, among other provisions.
The WTO panel conducted substantive meetings with the parties in October 2025 and February 2026 and issued its Final Report on 15 June 2026.
Current DSB Chair
The current Chair of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body is Ambassador Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota of Brazil.
The upcoming Friday, 28 August 2026 special meeting will therefore be closely watched by WTO Members and the international trade community, particularly in light of continuing discussions surrounding the WTO dispute settlement system.
