WTO, ECOWAS Court partner to harmonize trade dispute mechanisms

By Fredrick Ameh

The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice have held engagements aimed at harmonizing legal mechanisms for resolving trade disputes.

The engagements held at the WTO headquarters, focused on bridging the gap between regional judicial systems and global trade rules while advocating for a progressive overhaul of the multilateral trading system to ensure fairness and inclusiveness.

The ECOWAS delegation led by Justices Ricardo Gonçalves, Sengu M. Koroma, Dupe Atoki, and Edward Amoako Asante noted that the visit is aimed to align West African regional dispute mechanisms with the WTO’s global Dispute Settlement System.

“We aim to leverage the WTO’s technical expertise to bolster the ECOWAS Court’s capacity in handling commercial litigations and to facilitate knowledge transfer by creating a roadmap for ongoing judicial collaboration between the Geneva-based organization and the Abuja-based court,” the delegation noted.

In her remarks, the WTO Director General, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that a robust legal framework is the backbone of stable trade.