IIIThe “matter referred to the DSB”
　As noted above, panel’s terms of reference are firstly the standard terms of reference provided for in Art. 7.1 of the DSU. Under those terms of reference, panels are required to examine the “matter referred to the DSB” by the complaint in its request for establishment. However, Art. 7 of the DSU itself does not shed any further light on the meaning of the term “matter”.
　Nevertheless, when read together with Art. 6.2 of the DSU, the precise meaning of the term “matter” prescribed in Art. 7 of the DSU becomes clear. Art. 6.2 specifies the requirements for a complaining Member to refer the “matter” to the DSB. In order to seek the establishment of a panel to hear its complaint, a Member must make, in writing, a “request for the establishment of a panel”. In addition to being the document which enables the DSB to establish a panel, the panel request is also usually identified in the panel''s terms of reference as the document setting out “the matter referred to the DSB”.
　For example, the Appellate Body rules in Brazil-Coconut (DS22) that: “We agree, furthermore, with the conclusions expressed by previous panels under the GATT 1947, as well as under the Tokyo Round SCM Code and the Tokyo Round Anti-dumping Code, that the ‘matter’ referred to a panel for consideration consists of the specific claims stated by the parties to the dispute in the relevant documents specified in the terms of reference. We agree with the approach taken in previous adopted panel reports that a matter, which includes the claims composing that matter, does not fall within a panel''s terms of reference unless the claims are identified in the documents referred to or contained in the terms of reference.” 5
　More explicitly, as observed by the Panel in India-Automotive Sector (DS146/DS175), “
　　　　]n the context of WTO dispute settlement, the notion of ‘matter’, as referred to in Article 7.1 of the DSU, determines the scope of what is submitted, and what can be ruled upon, by a panel. As confirmed by the Appellate Body in the Guatemala - Cement case, the matter referred to the DSB consists of two elements: the specific measures at issue and the legal basis of the complaint (or the claims). This appears to the Panel to be the most appropriate minimal benchmark by which to assess whether the conditions of res judicata could conceivably be met, if such a notion was of relevance.”.6

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