WTO Circulates Adverse Panel Reports in Dispute Complaints Targeting Indian
Sugar Subsidies
·
Domestic Subsidy
beyond 10% Committed in AoA
·
Export Subsidy
Violates Prohibition
·
Brazil Australia
and Guatemala Succeed in Challenge
On 14 December the WTO circulated the panel reports
in the cases brought by Brazil, Australia and Guatemala in “India — Measures Concerning Sugar and Sugarcane”
(DS579, DS580, DS581).
The summary below was up-to-date at 14 December 2021
Complaint by Brazil (See also DS580 and DS581)
On 27 February 2019, Brazil requested consultations with India concerning
domestic support allegedly provided by India in favour
of agricultural producers of sugarcane and sugar (domestic support measures), as
well as all export subsidies that India allegedly provides for sugar and sugarcane
(export subsidy measures).
Brazil claimed that the domestic support measures appear to be inconsistent
with:
·
Articles 3.2, 6.3 and 7.2(b) of the
Agreement on Agriculture.
Brazil claimed that the export subsidy measures appear to be inconsistent
with:
·
Articles 3.3, 8, 9.1 and 10.1 of the
Agreement on Agriculture.
On 11 March 2019, Guatemala requested to join the consultations. On
12 March 2019, Costa Rica and the European Union requested to join the consultations.
On 13 March 2019, Australia requested to join the consultations. On 14 March 2019,
Thailand requested to join the consultations.
On 11 July 2019, Brazil requested the establishment of a Panel. At
its meeting on 22 July 2019, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel.
At its meeting on 15 August 2019, the DSB established
a panel. Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the European
Union, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan, Panama, the Russian Federation, Thailand
and the United States reserved their third-party rights.
On 16 October 2019, Brazil requested the Director-General
to compose the panel. On 28 October 2019, the Director-General composed the panel.
On 27 April 2020, the Chair of the panels in DS579,
DS580 and DS581 informed the DSB that, due to the complex procedural and factual
nature of the disputes and in light of the harmonized timetables adopted to that
date, the panels estimated to issue their final reports to the parties not before
the second quarter of 2021. 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 14 December 2021, the panel report was circulated
to Members.