Canadian Valerie Hughes will be among the arbitrators.Ottawa—Canada and 22 other countries have agreed to an interim mechanism to keep the World Trade Organization functioning as a global trade referee during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Valerie Hughes, an Ottawa lawyer and trade expert, was named one of the arbitrators on the Multi-party Interim Arrangement (MPIA), which will hear appeals from countries dissatisfied with WTO panel reports on trade disputes.International Trade Minister Mary Ng said the MPIA's creation “provides continuity for our businesses by preserving Canada's right to a two-stage dispute settlement at the WTO among the 23 MPIA member countries. Canada continues to work with all WTO members to find a permanent multilateral solution to the Appellate Body impasse, as well as with interested WTO members who wish to join the MPIA.”The MPIA became necessary because President Trump sandbagged the WTO Appellate Body, which used to issue binding decisions on disputes among countries.Canada and its MPIA allies are committed to collaborate with WTO member partners “to ensure an open, stable, and predictable rules-based trading system as we work to help our people and businesses recover from the effects of the pandemic,” Ng said.“Canada welcomes the conclusion of the process to select arbitrators for the MPIA—the final step needed to implement the arrangement—and thanks all members for their collaboration. An exceptional group of arbitrators has been confirmed, and the MPIA is now fully operational.It took a lot of behind-the-scenes work to pull together the MPIA. Ottawa trade guru Peter Clark says establishing it “is an essential step toward maintaining the credibility and effectiveness of the international dispute settlement process. The Arbitrators have clearly been carefully selected, they ooze credibility and I would be very hard pressed to find a Canadian better than Val Hughes to be a member of this august group.”The MPIA ensures that participant WTO members will continue to benefit from a functioning 2-step dispute settlement system in the WTO including the availability of an independent and impartial appeal stage. All other WTO members can join the MPIA, “which is designed to offer stability to WTO dispute settlement, despite the Appellate Body's paralysis,” a statement from the 23 countries said.The MPIA will operate under the WTO framework, based on a provision in the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding for dispute arbitration. It is based on the usual WTO rules applicable to appeals, but also contains some novel elements to enhance procedural efficiency.“The interim appeal arrangement is not intended to supplant the WTO's Appellate Body. This is a stopgap measure. As soon as the Appellate Body is again able to operate, appeals will be brought before the Appellate Body.”In addition to Canada, the MPIA supporters include Australia, Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the European Union, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine and Uruguay.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.