For the first time in its 10-year history, the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday opened to the public the proceedings of its dispute settlement body at the WTO headquarters.

Journalists, NGO representatives, scholars and others watched via closed-circuit broadcast from a separate room the proceedings of a dispute over the legality of the US and Canadian sanctions against the European Union in retaliation against Brussels' ban on hormone-treated beef imports.

The dispute panel agreed to make the meeting public at the request of the members involved.

Ambassador Don Stephenson, Canada's representative to the WTO, said "the closed process leaves the public, even parliamentarians and interested non-governmental organizations to imagine the worst of the process, and to question its legitimacy."

"Countries presenting reasoned arguments before impartial judges and under international law...is something that should be celebrated, not hidden away," he added.

The proceedings for this meeting of the panel are scheduled to continue until Thursday. The panel normally takes six to nine months to issue a final ruling.

Source: Xinhua