Mexico has requested consultations with the US over the latter’s compliance with global trade rules in a long-running dispute over “dolphin-safe” tuna labels, just weeks after Washington itself requested a compliance panel be established to determine whether recent changes to the policy are in line with WTO rules. In other dispute-related news, a debate broke out during Monday’s meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) over the US move to block the re-appointment of an Appellate Body member, in a move that was criticised by various other delegations as having potentially serious ramifications for the independence of that body. Mexico requests consultations with the US in tuna case Mexico’s request for compliance consultations in the tuna dispute ( DS381 ) regarding the US’ latest changes on “dolphin-safe” tuna labelling, comes shortly after the DSB established a compliance panel on the same issue, following two requests by the US. The parallel compliance panel processes, while themselves unusual on a procedural level, also come at a time when arbitration proceedings are already underway to determine the level of concessions that Mexico may suspend on a list of goods worth US$472.3 million annually against the US, following an earlier finding of WTO...