WORLD TRADE WT/DS13/6
27March 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1294)
Original: English
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -DUTIES ONIMPORTS OFGRAINS
Request fortheEstablishment ofaPanel bytheUnited States
Thefollowing communication, dated 26March 1997, fromthePermanent Mission oftheUnited
States totheDispute Settlement Body, iscirculated attherequest oftheUnited States.
______________________
TheEuropean Communities ("EC") haveadopted areference pricesystem touseindetermining
theduties applicable toimports ofgrains (wheat, rye,barley, corn, sorghum andrice). These measures
areincludedinCommissionRegulationNos.1502/95(L147/13),1817/95(L175/23),1906/95(L182/9),
1573/95 (L150/53), and1818/95 (L175/25), andother relevant citations.
These measures appear toresult intheapplication ofhigher ratesofduties toshipments of
U.S.grains thanispermitted under theECWTO tariffschedule andtodiscriminate against U.S.exports
ofgrains. These measures appear tobeinconsistent withtheobligations oftheECunder theGeneral
AgreementonTariffsandTrade1994("GATT1994")andtheAgreementonImplementationofArticleVII
oftheGATT 1994,particularly inlightoftheso-called "margin ofpreference" tariffbinding undertaken
bytheEC.Theprovisions ofthese agreements withwhich these measures appear tobeinconsistent
include, butarenotlimited to,thefollowing:
(1) GATT 1994, Articles I,II,VIIandX;and
(2) Agreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994, Articles 1through
9,11,22andAnnex I.
These measures alsoappear tonullify orimpair thebenefits accruing totheUnited States directly
orindirectlyunderthecitedagreements,includingwithinthemeaningofGATT1994ArticleXXIII:1(b).
Inacommunication dated 19July1995 (WT/DS13/1), theGovernment oftheUnited States
requested consultations withtheECregarding thesemeasures pursuant toArticle 4oftheUnderstanding
onRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement ofDisputes ("DSU"), Article XXIII oftheGATT
1994, andArticle 19oftheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIIoftheGATT 1994.
Consultations were heldon13September 1995, buttodatethedispute remains unresolved.
Accordingly, theUnited States respectfully requests theestablishment ofapanel toexamine
thematter withstandard terms ofreference assetoutinArticle 7oftheDSU.
TheUnitedStatesasksthatameetingoftheDisputeSettlementBodybeconvenedwithin15days
ofthedateofthisletter toconsider thisrequest fortheestablishment ofapanel.