Members Adopt Panel Ruling in
Australia-Indonesia Paper Duty Dispute
At a meeting of the WTOs Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on
27 January, members adopted a panel ruling in a dispute initiated by Indonesia
regarding anti-dumping duties imposed by Australia on imports of A4 copy paper
from Indonesia.
Indonesia
said a number of important issues related to the conduct of anti-dumping
proceedings was raised in the DS529 dispute, including the determination of
"normal value" (i.e. the domestic market price) for the product under
investigation and the calculation of certain costs of production, with the
panel finding in Indonesia's favour on these points.
Indonesia thanked Australia for its spirit of cooperation in agreeing not to
appeal the panel ruling.
Australia
said that while it was disappointed with the outcome, it intended to work
closely with Indonesia in order to ensure prompt implementation of the
findings. It said the dispute addressed important systemic issues not
previously considered, notably with respect to the interpretation of
"particular market situation" under Article 2.2 of the Anti-Dumping
Agreement, where it welcomed the panel's findings on this issue.
Russia
said it had numerous concerns with the panel ruling which it said undermined
the security and predictability of the multilateral trading system. Among other
complaints, Russia criticized the panel's interpretation of the term
"particular market situation", which it said would allow
investigators to find dumping where no dumping exists. Thailand thanked the
panel for its clear and well-written report and said it would follow this
matter closely.
The
DSB then adopted the panel report.
The
European Union reiterated its request that the United States cease transferring
anti-dumping and countervailing duties to the US domestic industry, arguing
that every such disbursement was a clear act of non-compliance with the rulings
on this matter. Canada supported the EU statement, while the United States said
it has taken all actions necessary to implement the ruling.
DS316:
European Communities and Certain Member States Measures Affecting Trade in
Large Civil Aircraft: Implementations of the recommendations adopted by the DSB
The
United States said that once again the European Union has failed to provide a
status report to the DSB concerning dispute DS316. The European Union repeated
that the matter is subject to new compliance proceedings and thus there was no
obligation on the EU to submit a status report.
Mexico,
speaking on behalf of 120 members (Nepal becoming the latest co-sponsor),
introduced once again the group's proposal to start the selection processes for
six vacancies on the Appellate Body. The increasing and considerable number of
members submitting the proposal reflects a common concern over the current
situation in the Appellate Body that is seriously affecting its workings as
well as the workings of the overall dispute settlement system against the best
interest of members, Mexico said for the group.
Nearly
20 members then took the floor to comment. Most of those speaking reiterated
the importance of resolving the impasse over the appointment of new members as
soon as possible and re-establishing a functioning Appellate Body. Many said it
was the obligation of members to begin the process, as Article 17.2 of the
WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) requires members to fill Appellate
Body vacancies as they arise. China said the present paralysis means that 10
pending appeals are suspended until the Appellate Body resumes functioning and
that 33 pending panel disputes are also facing a potential legal limbo should
the paralysis continue.
Several
delegations noted the declaration by 17 WTO members in Davos on 24 January to
develop a multi-party interim appeal arrangement that will allow the
participating WTO members to preserve a functioning and two-step dispute
settlement system at the WTO in disputes among them. Japan said it noted this
development with great interest but that any attempt to adopt measures of a
provisional nature must serve the purpose of finding a long-lasting
solution.
The
United States repeated that it was still not in the position to support the
proposal and that the systemic concerns that it previously identified remain
unaddressed. The fundamental problem is that the Appellate Body is not
respecting the current, clear language of the DSU and members cannot find
meaningful solutions to this problem without understanding how we arrived at
this point, the US said. Without an accurate diagnostic, members cannot assess the
likely effectiveness of any potential solution.
The
DSB chair noted that, in his role as facilitator, he put forward a draft
decision on the functioning of the Appellate Body (WT/GC/W/791)
which did not secure consensus at the General Council's 9 December 2019
meeting. It was up to members to see how this work will be taken forward
in the future, he said. The chair also noted Director-General Azevedo's statement on 9 December
informing members that he would be undertaking more intensive high-level
consultations on how to resolve the matter.
China
presented its first status report regarding its implementation of the WTO
ruling in DS511,
"China - Domestic Support for Agricultural Producers". China
told the DSB that its government agencies have conducted intensive
consultations aiming to implement the ruling and that, given the complexity of
measures at issue and the sensitivity of the subject matter, the internal
process was still ongoing. China said it will accelerate the internal process
and fulfil its implementation obligations in due course.
The
United States thanked China for its statement and its readiness to accelerate
the implementation process, and said it looked forward to hearing more detail
from China on its implementation plan.
Brazil
presented a further status report with regards to the implementation of the WTO
ruling in DS472 and DS497,
"Brazil Certain Measures Concerning Taxation and Charges." Brazil
said that it enacted a law on 26 December bringing two challenged measures into
conformity with WTO requirements and that, for the remaining programmes at issue, the measures either expired before the
issuance of the WTO ruling or were revoked or replaced. Brazil is therefore in
full compliance with the WTO ruling, it declared.
The
European Union and Japan, which initiated the complaint against Brazil, said
they were still analysing whether Brazil's recent
actions brought it into full compliance. Japan said it still had concerns that
certain eligibility requirements for tax credits remain unchanged and that
certain implementing orders remain in force that constitute prohibited
subsidies.
The
United States presented status reports with regard to DS184,
"US Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Hot-Rolled Steel Products from Japan", DS160,
"United States Section 110(5) of US Copyright Act", DS464,
"United States Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures on Large
Residential Washers from Korea", and DS471,"United
States Certain Methodologies and their Application to Anti-Dumping Proceedings
Involving China".
The European Union presented a status report with regard to DS291,
"EC Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech
Products".
Indonesia
presented its status reports in DS477 and DS478,
"Indonesia Importation of Horticultural Products, Animals and Animal
Products".
Morocco
said that the anti-dumping measure at issue in its dispute with Turkey in DS513,
"Morocco Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Hot-Rolled Steel from
Turkey", expired on 26 September 2019, and that Morocco therefore did not
need to take any further action to ensure compliance with the ruling.
Turkey
said it agreed Morocco did not need to take any further action with regard to
the anti-dumping measure at issue but said it trusted Morocco would take the
ruling fully into account in future anti-dumping determinations. Turkey also
said it regretted that Morocco's anti-dumping measure has now been replaced by
a safeguard measure.