WTO to take up U.S.-China broiler complaint Monday

14/12/2011 12:00 - 356 Views

The World Trade Organization will decide on Dec. 19 whether to strike a dispute panel to hear the complaint the U.S. government registered against China's imposition of punitive antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of U.S. broiler products.

The WTO Dispute Settlement Body will take up the panel request when it meets Dec. 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. Under WTO rules, China can block the panel request, but only once. If that is the case, a panel will be automatically set up next month, should American officials renew their request.

The U.S. took its complaint to the trade watchdog in September. To this point, consultations between China and the U.S. have apparently failed to resolve the dispute.

"The U.S. claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with various provisions of the (WTO) Anti-Dumping Agreement related to the process of the antidumping investigation as well as the antidumping duty determination at issue," WTO explained in a summary of the case posted on its website.

The complaint from the U.S. Trade Representative's office also alleges that China's import duties violate the WTO Subsidies & Countervailing Measures Agreement, as well as other international trade agreements.

After a panel is established, it will take about a year before any initial ruling is issued.

By Ian Elliott

Source: feedstuffs.com