WTO Rules in Favor of U.S. in Dispute Involving Exports of Apples to Japan
A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel today issued a report ruling in favor of the U.S. in a long-running dispute involving the exports of apples to Japan ("Japan -- Measures affecting the importation of apples" (DS245)). The U.S. has maintained that that Japan has unfairly banned U.S. apples for the past 20 years using unscientific fire blight restrictions. Fire blight is a disease unique to certain fruit trees.
The U.S. won earlier WTO proceedings against the Japanese restrictions, and in this most recent proceeding challenged Japan's attempts to bring its restrictions into conformity with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). In this segment of the proceeding the WTO panel held that Japan's current import regime violates several provisions of the SPS Agreement and recommended that the Dispute Settlement Body request Japan to bring the phytosanitary measure in dispute into conformity with its obligations under the SPS Agreement.
In the event that Japan fails to comply with the recommendations and rulings of the WTO, the U.S. could move forward with its request for WTO authorization to impose $143.4 million a year in trade sanctions, the U.S. estimate of U.S. apple exports to Japan in the absence of the import restrictions. This figure would be subject to arbitration at the WTO.
The WTO's decision can be found at the following links:
www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/245rw-1_e.pdf (Panel report - 138 pages)
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
