WORLD TRADE WT/DS67/3
10March 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1013)
Original: English
UNITED KINGDOM -CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION
OFCERTAIN COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
Request fortheEstablishment ofaPanel bytheUnited States
Thefollowing communication, dated 7March 1997, fromthePermanent Mission oftheUnited
States totheChairman oftheDispute Settlement Body, iscirculated attherequest ofthatdelegation.
_______________
Intheapplicable schedule oftariff concessions under theGATT 1994 (“ECSchedules ”),the
Government oftheUnited Kingdom hasagreed toabound tariff rateforautomatic dataprocessing
(ADP) equipment andunits under category 8471. Prior to1995, imports intotheUnited Kingdom
oflocalareanetwork (“LAN”)equipment andalltypes ofpersonal computers (PCs) weretreated as
ADP equipment dutiable under category 8471.
Since 1995, customs authorities intheUnited Kingdom havebeenapplying tariffs toimports
ofvarious types ofLAN equipment andtomultimedia PCsandpartsinexcess ofthose provided for
intheECschedules. These increases haveresulted fromthereclassification ofLAN equipment from
theADPcategory,8471,tocategory8517,“telecommunicationsapparatus”,andfromthereclassification
ofPCswithmultimedia capability fromcategory 8471toother categories withhigher dutyrates. For
example, PCsthathaveaCD-ROM drive havebeenreclassified tobedutiable under category 8521,
“video apparatus ”,andPCsthathavevideo tuner cards orprinted circuit boards allowing television
capability havebeenreclassified tobedutiable under category 8528, “televisions ”.
TheUnitedStatesconsidersthat,byreasonofthesemeasures,theUnitedKingdomhasincreased
duties onthese products above thebound rates, andhasafforded thecommerce oftheUnited States
treatment lessfavourable thanthatprovided forintheECschedules, incontravention oftheobligations
oftheUnited Kingdom under Article IIoftheGATT 1994. Inaddition, theapplication ofthesemeasures
bytheUnited Kingdom nullifies orimpairs, within themeaning ofGATT Article XXIII:1, benefits
accruing totheUnited States directly orindirectly under theGATT 1994.
Inacommunication dated 14February 1997 (WT/DS67/1), theGovernment oftheUnited
States requested consultations withtheGovernment oftheUnited Kingdom regarding these measures
pursuanttoArticle4oftheUnderstandingonRulesandProceduresGoverningtheSettlementofDisputes
(“DSU”)andArticle XXII:1 oftheGATT 1994. On24February 1997, theUnited Kingdom responded
byreferring theUnited States toaletter ofthesamedate,inwhich theEuropean Communities officially
informed theUnited States thattherequested consultations willnotbeentered into. TheGovernment
oftheUnited Kingdom having declined toenterintoconsultations andtheparties thereby having reached
themutual understanding thatnoconsultations willbeheld, theUnited States isproceeding directly
torequest theestablishment ofapanel under Article 4.3oftheDSU.
./.WT/DS67/3
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Accordingly, theUnited States respectfully requests theestablishment ofapanel toexamine
themeasures taken bytheUnited Kingdom, withstandard terms ofreference assetoutinArticle 7
oftheDSU.
TheUnited States asksthatthisrequest beplaced ontheagenda forthemeeting oftheDispute
Settlement Body scheduled tobeheldon20March 1997.