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NOTE:
This summary has been prepared by the WTO Secretariat’s Information and
Media Relations Division to help public understanding about developments
in WTO disputes. It is not a legal interpretation of the issues, and it is
not intended as a complete account of the issues. These can be found in
the reports themselves and in the minutes of the Dispute Settlement
Body’s meetings.
DS322: US — Measures relating to zeroing and sunset reviews
The DSB established a review panel
under Article 21.5 of the DSU at the request of Japan (WT/DS322/27) to
determine whether the US had fully complied with the rulings in this case.
Japan pointed out that this request was submitted under the ad hoc
procedural agreement between the US and Japan (WT/DS322/26) on how to
proceed under DSU Articles 21 and 22.
The US regretted that Japan had requested a compliance panel and said that
in line with their procedural agreement, the panel would be established at
the present meeting. The US said that some of the measures identified in
Japan's panel request (WT/DS322/27) appeared not to be measures taken to
comply with the DSB's rulings in this case as they pre-dated Japan's
original request for consultations and the DSB's adoption of the rulings in
this case. The US maintained that these measures could not properly be
within the scope of an Article 21.5 proceeding.
China; the EC; Hong Kong, China; Norway and Chinese Taipei reserved their
3rd-party rights.
DS291,
DS292 &
DS293: EC — Measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech
products
Under the item dealing with surveillance of implementation of DSB rulings,
the EC reported that there continued to be good-faith cooperation in this
case between the EC and the three complainants — Argentina, Canada and the
US. Reporting progress in the process of pending applications, the EC said
that in addition to the seven new GM products authorized in 2007, one GM
product (GA 21) was authorized on 28 March 2008. Four other products were
due to be approved soon, said the EC, and two more draft authorization
decisions were due to be discussed in the EC Council in the near future.
The US welcomed the status report by the EC and noted that despite the
expiry of the reasonable period of time for implementation on 11 January
2008, the EC had still not brought its measures into conformity with its WTO
obligations. The US recalled that it had requested consultations in this
case in May 2003 and said that the commercial impact of this dispute was
significant and growing. The US acknowledged that the EC had recently given
approval to GA 21, but said that this highlighted the complexity of the EC's
approval process and the need for urgent reform. The US noted that despite
the positive views of EC's own scientific bodies regarding the safety of GA
21, it took nearly 10 years from the date of the application for approval to
be given. The US hoped that the EC would take the necessary steps to resolve
this dispute and obviate the need for the US to pursue further proceedings
under the DSU.
Argentina welcomed the approval of GA 21 and said that it was looking
forward to working with the EC and other co-complainants to resolve the
outstanding issues.
Canada said that it was closely monitoring progress. Canada was disappointed
by the recent Romanian ban on the cultivation of the biotech product MON810
and expected the EC to take the necessary steps to address such safeguard
measures imposed by its member states. It was Canada's further expectation
that a mutually satisfactory solution to this dispute would be found before
the expiry of the reasonable period of time in June 2008.
The EC responded by defending its regulatory regime and said that Romania
had neither notified nor implemented the alleged safeguard measure.
DS217: US — Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000:
implementation of the recommendations adopted by the DSB
The EC and Japan had inscribed this item on the agenda. They noted that the
US had recently distributed more than US$262 million to US companies and
that the CDSOA continued to have a negative impact on them and other WTO
members. They requested the US to furnish information on the steps it
intended to take to stop the transfer of anti-dumping and countervailing
duties to its industry. The EC said that it had recently adopted a
regulation which would bring down the level of retaliatory measures applied
in this dispute to US$ 33.38 million. This amount reflected the
proportionate decrease of the amount disbursed to US companies from duties
collected on EC products in the latest distribution of November 2007. The
list of products that would remain subject to the 15% additional import duty
was communicated on 3 April 2008 for circulation to the DSB (WT/DS217/53).
Brazil, Canada, China, India and Thailand also spoke, urging the US to bring
its measures into full conformity with the DSB's recommendations and
rulings.
The US responded by saying that, given the repeal of the Deficit Reduction
Act, the US had taken all necessary actions to implement the DSB's rulings
and that no purpose would be served by providing status reports to the DSB.
The US said that it was inappropriate for members to make unilateral
determinations that the US was still in breach of its WTO obligations and
that there was no basis for the claim that the CDSOA was causing trade
distortions. In that regard, the US recalled that the adverse effects claim
made by one member under the SCM Agreement in the dispute settlement
proceedings was found to have no legal basis. Regarding the EC's revision of
the level of suspension of concessions, he said that the US would be
reviewing the matter and that it was imperative that members respected the
awards given by arbitrators. The EC responded that in establishing the new
level, it had taken into account the recent data made available by the US
and that it had acted consistently with the arbitration award.
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The next DSB meeting is scheduled to take place on 20 May 2008.
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