A WTO dispute settlement panel has ruled in favor of the U.S. in the latest installment of the long-running dispute over the European Union’s ban on imports of hormone-treated beef. The ruling will reportedly allow the U.S. to maintain the $116.8 million in trade sanctions it has imposed against various EU products since 1999.
The EU had argued that a 2003 amendment to its beef import ban brought it into compliance with an earlier WTO ruling. The EU further claimed that the U.S. had broken WTO rules by making a unilateral determination that this change was insufficient and by continuing its sanctions against the EU as a result. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, however, the WTO found that the amended ban “continues to be scientifically unjustified” and “still fails to satisfy the requirements of the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.” While the panel did find that the U.S. should have used WTO procedures to keep its sanctions in place, press reports added, it ruled that the failure to do so was offset by the EU’s continued noncompliance.
World Trade/Interactive
