The Appellate Body is a standing institute established by the DSB. The main function of the Body is to hear the appeals from panel cases[18] and to issue the Appellate Body report within 60 days.[19] An Appellate Body report shall be adopted by the DSB and unconditionally accepted by the parties to the dispute unless the DSB decides by consensus not to adopt the report within 30 days following its circulation to the Members.[20] 　　 　　
　　After the DSB adopt the panel report or Appellate Body report, the adopted panel or Appellate Body recommendations will be implemented under the monitor and surveillance of the DSB within defined reasonable time. At the moment, parties may negotiate compensation pending full implementation. Within 60 days after the expiry of the reasonable period of time, the DSB may authorise retaliation pending full implementation which is regarded as the last procedure of the dispute settlement. So the full course of a dispute to its first report in consultation and panel-decision stages will take about one year. If the dispute is appealed to the Appellate Body, the time period increases to 15 months.[21] 　　 　　
　　Compared with the past GATT 1947 dispute settlement system, several new features of the DSU are as followings:[22] 　　
　　1. a strict time-frame for every stage of the dispute settlement process is fixed;　　
　　2. the DSB was established to minister the operation of the DSU;　　
　　3. explicit procedures for consultations were established;　　
　　4. panels can be formed automatically if the parties fail to settle the dispute within 60 days of consultations;　　
　　5. standard terms of reference can be used and impartial panels are established expeditiously;　　
　　6. perhaps most importantly, panel and Appellate Body reports are automatically adopted unless there is a consensus to the contrary by the DSB;　　
　　7. the Appellate Body was created to review legal issues and interpretations of panels;　　

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