International Trade Law News

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body has upheld earlier dispute settlement panel findings that Japan's import restrictions on U.S. apples are not justified and are in breach of Japan's WTO obligations. The U.S. commenced this action in March 2002 due to Japan's restrictions imposed on imported U.S. apples that were intended to protect Japanese plants from fire blight, a plant disease. In its appeal, the U.S. contended that there was no scientific evidence that mature apple fruit can transmit fire blight. The WTO Appellate Body agreed with the U.S. on many of its major claims in this dispute. Specifically, the Appellate Body upheld panel findings that Japan had acted inconsistently with its WTO obligations by maintaining its import restrictions on U.S. apples without sufficient scientific evidence and that Japan had acted inconsistently with its obligation to base the import restrictions on a risk assessment.