On The Dispute Settlement Mechanism Of The Trade In Services Agreement(TiSA) And China’s Countermeasures

As an attempt to establish new rules for global trade in services,TiSA is believed to be able to resolve the main barriers to service trade and establish a modern service trade rules system.In order to ensure that the new rules of service trade established by TiSA are implemented,it is necessary to establish a perfect dispute resolution mechanism to ensure the effective application of the clauses,the efficient resolutionof disputes,and the timely execution of decisions.The TiSA dispute settlement mechanism reflects the latest developments in the dispute settlement mechanism of regional trade agreements.Compared with the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,its innovation and breakthroughs are also very obvious.The objective of setting up the TiSA dispute settlement mechanism is to effectively and efficiently avoid and resolve disputes.Around this goal,the scope of application of the mechanism is limited,and only cases of "violation of lawsuits" are covered.Under the jurisdiction of such cases,the mechanism is set up.Consultation procedures,expert group procedures,and mediation procedures,compared to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,although the basic procedures have been reduced,but they pay more attention to procedural rules and strict deadlines.The consultation procedure is a necessary procedure for dispute settlement but not a procedure that must be carried out.If one party refuses to negotiate or negotiate and cannot resolve the dispute,it will enter the expert group procedure.The expert group procedure is the core procedure for the settlement of disputes in TiSA,and it is also the most innovative and breakthrough part of the entire dispute resolution mechanism.This is reflected in the fact that the expert group procedure is a "one final cut".In order to better deal with the issues of efficiency and fairness,the mechanism guarantees from the following aspects:First,establish a higher standard of expert group roster and member selection rules;Second,the expert group procedures clear rules and deadlines,if When it comes to seasonal service cases,it is more stringent;third,the scope of functions of the expert group is expanded.If information support and technical support can be sought,the functions of interpreting provisions have more explicit provisions;Fourth,the transparency of the expert group procedure is higher.If it is clearly stipulated that "Friends of the Court" should be accepted to allow third parties to participate,the hearing should be open to the public except for confidential information;Fifth,the implementation of the panel decision report has strict procedures and deadlines.At the same time,the mechanism also innovated the trade retaliation methods of the four winning parties.The TiSA dispute settlement mechanism encourages the disputing parties to adopt various methods to achieve satisfactory solutions for all parties.Therefore,in addition to consultation procedures and expert group procedures,mediation procedures are also one of them.Also for the sake of efficiency and rule-consciousness,the mechanism abandoned mediation and mediation.Instead,it adopted a more "judicialized" mediation,which was demonstrated by the mediator’s choice,the start of the mediation process,and the rules of the mediation process.Requirements and termination of mediation procedures.This set of more complete dispute resolution procedures also reflects the progress of the mechanism,that is,the means of dispute resolution has changed from"power-oriented" to "rule-oriented",and the dispute resolution method is a combination of political methods and legal methods and more emphasis on "Judicialization."Of course,the inadequacies of the TiSA dispute settlement mechanism are also obvious:the narrow scope of jurisdiction of the mechanism,and the failure to entertain "non-violation" cases will ultimately be unfavorable to the realization of the TiSA goal;the provisions of the consultation process are too broad,and some of the clauses are not designed enough.Perfection is not conducive to the parties to the dispute to make full use of the consultation process;the sharing of expenses is not reasonable enough to be tilted to the winning party and the developing country.In addition,there are omissions in the text.This needs to be revised and improved in subsequent negotiations.The TiSA dispute resolution mechanism also involves legal issues such as interpretation of terms,adjudication of precedents,transparency,special and differential treatment,enforcement review and enforcement supervision,and competition and regulation of jurisdiction.The analysis of these legal issues is clear.The legal basis for the establishment of the mechanism reflects the innovation,breakthrough and progress of the mechanism.China is currently vigorously promoting the development of the service industry.Joining TiSA is of great significance in deepening service reform and accelerating thedevelopment of service trade.At the same time,it is also able to maintain the right to speak in the new rules of international trade in services,prevent marginalization,and properly handle the TiSA dispute.Of course,the solution mechanism has become a proper one.China’s strategy in responding to the TiSA dispute settlement mechanism is to actively seek to join the TiSA negotiations,study and study the TiSA text,learn to use the TiSA dispute settlement rules,strengthen legislation,establish a sound legal system for service industries and service trade,cultivate and absorb trade dispute resolution professionals,etc..In addition,China should also handle the issue of "one country,four seats" in the mainland,Hong Kong,Macau and Taiwan that may exist under the TiSA framework.