Accès aux marchés

On 27 November 1995 the Philippines requested consultations with Brazil in respect of a countervailing duty imposed by Brazil on the Philippine’s exports of desiccated coconut. The Philippines claimed that this duty was inconsistent with WTO and GATT rules.

On 22 December 1995 Costa Rica requested consultations with the United States concerning US restrictions on textile imports from Costa Rica. Costa Rica alleged that these restrictions were in violation of the ATC agreement.

The EC requested consultations on 21 June 1995 and Canada and the US on 7 July 1995. The complainants claimed that spirits exported to Japan were discriminated against under the Japanese liquor tax system which in their view levies a substantially lower tax on “shochu” than on whisky cognac and white spirits.

The complaint concerned a French Government Order laying down the official name and trade description of scallops. Complainants claimed that this Order will reduce competitiveness on the French market as their product will no longer be able to be sold as “Coquille Saint-Jacques” although there is no difference between their scallops and French scallops in terms of colour size texture appearance and use i.e. it is claimed they are “like products”. Violations of GATT Articles I and III and TBT Article 2 were alleged.

The US appealed on 21 February 1996. On 22 April the Appellate Body issued its report modifying the panel report on the interpretation of GATT Article XX(g) but concluding that Article XX(g) was not applicable in this case. The Appellate Report together with the panel report as modified by the Appellate Report was adopted by the DSB on 20 May 1996.

"World Tariff Profiles" provides a unique collection of data on tariffs imposed by WTO members and other economies. It is jointly published by the WTO the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)