ABSTRACT
A multilateral or bilateral mechanism is usually based upon a council, commission or a committee that is composed of the political repre sentatives of the contracting parties in which the trade disputes of the parties are to be resolved through negotiation, consensus and com promise. The principal political body may be assisted in its task by a secretariat or a panel of experts, but the panel or the secretariat does not have binding decision-making powers. The parties may approve the decisions of the panels or the secretariat, but the onus is on each party to carry out the accepted decisions of the political body. If the decisions are not carried out, certain measures may be sanctioned by the political body and imposed by the other parties to the agreement.
