WORLD TRADE WT/DS67/1
G/L/152
20February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0654)
Original: English
UNITED KINGDOM -CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION
OFCERTAIN COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
Request forConsultations bytheUnited States
Thefollowing communication, dated 14February 1997, from thePermanent Mission ofthe
United States tothePermanent Mission oftheUnited Kingdom andtotheDispute Settlement Body,
iscirculated inaccordance withArticle 4.4oftheDSU.
_______________
Myauthorities haveinstructed metorequest consultations withtheGovernment oftheUnited
Kingdom pursuant toArticle 4oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement
ofDisputes andArticle XXII oftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994 (“GATT 1994")
regarding tariffreclassification bythecustoms authorities oftheUnited Kingdom ofLocal AreaNetwork
(“LAN”)equipment andpersonal computers (“PCs”)withmultimedia capability.
SinceJune1995,customsauthoritiesintheUnitedKingdomhavebeenapplyingtariffstoimports
ofLAN equipment inexcess ofthose provided forintheEuropean Communities ’Schedules (“EC
Schedules ”)under theGATT 1994. Those products were previously dutiable asautomatic data
processing equipment under category 8471, but,asaresult ofthecustoms authorities ’actions, are
nowsubject tothehigher tariff ratesapplicable tocategory 8517, “telecommunications apparatus ”.
Theresult hasbeentoraisethetariff applied toimports ofsuchproducts intotheUnited Kingdom
from 3.5percentto7.5percent, which isabove therateprovided forintheECSchedules.
Inaddition, since 1995, customs authorities intheUnited Kingdom haveincreased tariffs on
imports ofcertain personal computers from3.5percentto14percent,which isabove therateprovided
forintheECSchedules. These increases haveresulted fromthereclassification ofPCswithmultimedia
capability fromcategory 8471toother categories withhigher dutyrates. Forexample, PCsthathave
aCD-ROM drive havebeenreclassified tobedutiable under category 8521, “video apparatus ”,and
PCsthathavevideo tuner cards orprinted circuit boards allowing television capability havebeen
reclassified tobedutiable under category 8528, “televisions ”.
Asaresult ofthesemeasures, theUnited States considers thatitscommerce hasbeenaccorded
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. TheUnited States reserves
therighttoraiseadditional factual claims andlegalmatters during thecourse oftheconsultations.
Welookforward toreceiving yourreply tothisrequest andfixing amutually convenient time
forconsultations.