Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 9 • Number 1 • 19th January 2005
DSU Update: Sugar, Gambling, EC Customs Procedures, Revised Appellate Review Rules
On 13 January, the European Communities (EC) filed an appeal against a 15 October 2004 WTO panel decision that ruled that the EC subsidises its sugar exports beyond the level formally notified to the WTO in its schedule of commitments (see BRIDGES Weekly, 20 October 2004). The EU is appealing most of the panel’s findings, including the following: that surplus sugar (so-called C sugar) from the EC benefited from export subsidies; that the EC exported sugar in excess of its commitment levels in marketing year 2000/2001; and that a footnote in the EC’s schedule of commitments that exempted sugar imported from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) from the EC export reduction commitments had no legal effect.
On the same day, the US requested the establishment of a WTO panel to rule on the lack of uniform administration of customs laws and judicial procedures across the 25 European Union (EU) member states. This development follows unsuccessful consultations between the two countries on this matter launched in September 2004, when the US alleged that several EU council regulations on customs regulations were "complicating the efforts of US companies to export to the union." According to the US, companies in the field of agriculture, textiles and technology claimed that their products were often subject to varying sets of criteria for entry into different EU countries (see BRIDGES Weekly, 6 October 2004).
Earlier, on 7 January, the US notified WTO Members of its decision to appeal all major findings in a November 2004 panel ruling in favour of Antigua and Barbuda (see BRIDGES Weekly, 17 November 2004). The panel found that gambling restrictions at both the federal and state levels violated US market access commitments under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Among the findings appealed by the US are the following: the panel’s ruling that US market access commitments under its GATS schedule covering "other recreational services" included gambling services; the panel’s conclusion that the US failed to accord services and service suppliers of Antigua treatment no less favourable than that provided for under the terms and conditions agreed and specified in the US GATS schedule; and the panel’s finding that the US had declined Antigua’s invitation to engage in bilateral and/or multilateral consultations on the dispute.
Both the Gambling and Sugar appeals will be examined under the revised Working Procedures for Appellate Review which came into force on 1 January 2005 (see BRIDGES Weekly, 13 October 2004). The new rules (WT/AB/WP/5) introduce, among other changes, clearer requirements in a ‘Notice of Appeal,’ allow for its subsequent amendment, and introduces a ‘Notice of Other Appeal’ where a party to the dispute other than the original appellant wants to join in the appeal proceedings. The new rules also set an earlier deadline for appellants to file submissions in support of their argument - 7 days, rather than 10 days after the filing of the Notice of Appeal.
All documents related to the above-mentioned disputes are available at http://docsonline.wto.org.
ICTSD reporting.