The name is absent

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multilateral agency where decisions are made by consensus — to agree on the qualifying countries. The
difficulty comes, not in adding countries to the qualifying list, but in excluding or graduating them from
the list. Keck and Low (2005) discuss other proposals that refine the criteria and make them rule-specific.
This approach does not alter the need for political decisions, but in diffusing the decision-taking among a
number of rules, it might lessen the political difficulty. On the other hand, it envisages a more laborious
process. In this context, it is also worth noting that it has proved feasible for the UN to establish, and
periodically review, its list of least developed countries.¹⁶ Moreover, what is at stake for other members
of the WTO in agreeing to a list of countries that might err on the side of generosity, is very minor. The
importance of these countries in world trade is miniscule. In their analysis of the role of these countries in
the Doha Round, Mattoo and Subramanian (2004) drew up a list of 62 countries whose combined share in
world imports of goods and services was a mere 1.1 percent.

6. Procedural Justice

Though broad agreement may be reached on the fairness of the adopted rules, this does not assure
agreement on the fairness of their application. Conflicting parties may have quite different interpretations
of the rules, being influenced not only by raw self interest but also by their particular normative and
causal beliefs. Whichever way contested rules are applied, they are not likely to satisfy all the affected
parties. All that can be accomplished is to ensure that the procedures for interpretation and application of
the rules are themselves fair. A number of the WTO’s rules and agreements are, in fact, designed and
implemented with the objective of establishing such procedural justice not only in dispute settlement, but
also in such other matters as measures dealing with unfair trade and the negotiating process.

Most would agree that the dispute settlement machinery established as part of the Final Act of the
Uruguay Round has generally worked well. A number of developing countries have successfully used the
machinery, and it has proved important in resolving disputes among the leading trading nations. The task

¹⁶ First established in 1971, the list contained 25 countries, and it now numbers 50. The reasons for the increase
appear to have been several; these include the broadening and refinement of the criteria, improvements in data, the

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