Short title: India-Batteries
Complainant: Bangladesh
Respondent: India   
Request for Consultations received: 28 January 2004
 
Summary up-to-date at 5 January 2007
 
Other settled or inactive cases
 
Complaint by Bangladesh.
 
This is the first dispute involving an LDC Member as a principal party to a dispute. On 28 January 2004, Bangladesh requested consultations with India concerning a certain anti-dumping measure imposed by India on imports of lead acid batteries from Bangladesh. Bangladesh is particularly concerned about the following aspects of the investigation by the Indian authority leading to the imposition of the definitive anti-dumping duties:

      
          o Initiation of the investigation, notwithstanding the unsubstantiated claim of the applicants that the application was “by or on behalf of the domestic industry”; and failure to immediately terminate the investigation, notwithstanding the negligible volume of imports from Bangladesh;


    * determination of margin (determination of normal value; apparent adoption of constructed value; determination of export price; and comparison between normal value and export price);    

      
          o determination of injury and causation (examination of import volume, the effect on prices, and the impact on domestic producers of like products; inclusion of imports from Bangladesh in the assessment of the effects of imports; evaluation and examination of relevant factors; and examination of the causal link between the imports and the alleged injury);


    * treatment of evidence (failure to consider information submitted by the interested parties from Bangladesh; treatment of information submitted by the applicants as confidential; failure to disclose to the interested parties the “essential facts under consideration which form the basis for the decision to apply definitive measures” and other relevant information)


    * failure to provide the parties and give public notice of “all relevant information on the matters of fact and law and reasons which have led to the imposition of final measures”.

 
Bangladesh considers that the foregoing Indian measure is inconsistent with: Article VI of GATT 1994, including Articles VI:1, VI:2 and VI:6(a); Articles 1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, 5.4, 5.8, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.8 (including para. 3 of Annex II), 6.9 and 12.2 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement. Furthermore, Bangladesh considers that, as a result of the imposition of the anti-dumping duties, India may be acting inconsistently with its obligations under Articles I:1 and II:1 of GATT 1994. Bangladesh also considers that the benefits accruing to it directly or indirectly under the WTO Agreement are being nullified or impaired pursuant to Articles XXIII:1(a) and XXIII:1(b), respectively, of GATT 1994.
 
On 11 February 2004, the European Communities requested to join the consultations.
 
On 20 February 2006, the parties informed the DSB of a mutually satisfactory solution to the matter raised by Bangladesh.  The measure which was addressed in the request for consultations has been terminated by India’s Customs Nofication No. 01/2005 dated 4 January 2005.