DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

DS: Panama — Measures concerning the importation of certain products from Costa Rica

This summary has been prepared by the Secretariat under its own responsibility. The summary is for general information only and is not intended to affect the rights and obligations of Members.

  

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Summary of the dispute to date

The summary below was up-to-date at

Consultations

Complaint by Costa Rica

On 11 January 2021, Costa Rica requested consultations with Panama regarding measures on the importation of a number of products originating in Costa Rica, including: strawberries, dairy products, bovine, pork, poultry and turkey meat products, fish food, fresh pineapple, and plantains and bananas.

Costa Rica claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with:

  • Articles 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.3, 5.1, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 6.1, 7, 8 and Annexes B and C of the SPS Agreement;
     
  • Article 4.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture; and
     
  • Articles I:1 and XI:1 of the GATT 1994.

On 19 January 2021, Nicaragua requested to join the consultations. On 27 January 2021, Bolivia requested to join the consultations.

 

Panel and Appellate Body proceedings

On 19 August 2021, Costa Rica requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on 30 August 2021, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel.

At its meeting on 27 September 2021, the DSB established a panel. Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Russian Federation, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom, and the United States reserved their third-party rights.

On 12 January 2022, Costa Rica requested the Director-General to compose the panel. On 24 January 2022, the Director-General composed the panel.

On 13 June 2022, the Chair of the panel informed the DSB that the beginning of the panel's work had been delayed due to a lack of Spanish-speaking personnel in the Secretariat available to staff disputes and, therefore, the panel did not expect to issue its final report to the parties prior to the second half of 2023. The Chair apprised the DSB that the report would be available to the public once it was circulated to the Members in all three official languages, and that the date of circulation depends on completion of translation. On 11 October 2023, the Chair of the panel informed the DSB that, due to the delayed start of the work, the complexity of the dispute and the large number of claims involved, the panel expected to issue its final report to the parties at the end of the third quarter of 2024.

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