US, New Zealand Move Against Indonesia at WTO on Agro Products

The United States and New Zealand have separately notified the WTO Secretariat, on 30 August 2013, of requests for consultations with Indonesia over measures imposed by Indonesia on the importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products.

Both members allege that the measures imposed by Indonesia restrict their exports and appear to be inconsistent with several articles of GATT 1994, the Agriculture Agreement, the Import Licensing Agreement and the Agreement on Pre-shipment Inspection.

They refer to the application of discretionary or non-automatic import licences and quotas, import restrictions, pre-shipment inspections that cause delays and are applied on a discriminatory basis, and less favourable treatment of imported products than of “like” domestic products.

Further information will be available within the next few days in documents WT/DS465/1 and WT/DS466/1

What is a request for consultations?

The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.