Common use of Appointment of Arbitral Tribunals Clause in Contracts

Appointment of Arbitral Tribunals. 1 If the consultations fail to settle a dispute within 60 days after the date of receipt of the request for consultations, the Party which made the request for consultations may make a written request to the other Party to appoint an arbitral tribunal. The request shall include a statement of the claim and the grounds on which it is based. 2 The arbitral tribunal shall consist of three members. Each Party shall appoint an arbitrator within 30 days of the receipt of the request, and the two arbitrators appointed shall designate by common agreement the third arbitrator, who shall chair the tribunal. The latter shall not be a national of either of the Parties, nor have his or her usual place of residence in the territory of one of the Parties, nor be employed by either of them, nor have dealt with the case in any capacity. 3 If the chair of the tribunal has not been designated within 30 days of the appointment of the second arbitrator, the Director-General of the WTO shall at the request of either Party appoint the chair of the arbitral tribunal within a further one month's period. 4 If one of the Parties does not appoint an arbitrator within 30 days of the receipt of the request, the other Party may inform the Director-General of the WTO who shall appoint the chair of the arbitral tribunal within a further 30 days and the chair shall, upon appointment, request the Party which has not appointed an arbitrator to do so within 14 days. If after such period that Party has still not appointed an arbitrator, the chair shall inform the Director-General of the WTO who shall make this appointment within a further 30 days. 5 For the purposes of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4, any person appointed as a member or chair of the arbitral tribunal by either Party or by the Director-General of the WTO must be a well-qualified governmental or nongovernmental individual, and can include persons who have served on or presented a case to a WTO panel, served in the Secretariat of the WTO, taught or published on international trade law or policy, or served as a senior trade policy official of a Member of the WTO. The Parties recognise that the arbitral tribunal should be composed of individuals of relevant technical or legal expertise.