2016 was a notable year in terms of the nation’s international dispute-resolution experience. Not long after Indonesia's first victory over Churchill Mining and Planet Mining at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”),[1] the country alas tasted defeat once again at the hands of the globe's largest trade forum, namely the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). This loss related to the importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products in a case which had been brought against Indonesia by New Zealand and the United States of America (“USA”). Moreover, this was by no means the first loss that Indonesia has had to endure at the hands of the WTO, however the country has also won cases too and has at times been dealt with more favorably by the WTO panel.
 
Prior to the WTO being constituted as a central pillar of the so-called Bretton-Woods system[2], the prevailing set of rules that governed international trade was known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This agreement was originally formulated in Havana way back in 1947 (“GATT 1947”). GATT 1947 was a provisional agreement however and thus lacked an institutionalized organizational system. Indeed, it wasn't until the Uruguay Round (GATT Trade Round 1986-1994) was concluded that the WTO was finally established as a permanent institution through the Marrakesh Agreement. This agreement ultimately established the World Trade Organization (“Marrakesh Agreement”) as a functional organization. The Marrakesh Agreement successfully set out a new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 formula, which comprised of provisions which had originally been set out in GATT 1947, along with a number of additional instruments (both GATT 1994 and 1947 will be collectively referred as “GATT 1994” in this edition of ILD).[3]
 
The significance of the WTO as regards the protection of international trade will be main subject of this edition of Indonesian Law Digest (ILD), which will address the basic mechanisms of the WTO and offer analysis of a number of recent disputes involving Indonesia and the WTO forum. The following key points will be tackled: