Brazil continues its spirited defence of the import ban of retreaded tyres, which has been challenged by the EU.
In its second submission, which was filed on 11 August, Brazil reiterated that the ban and the fines it imposes to secure compliance with the import prohibition were justified under environmental and health grounds, and thus covered by the general exceptions of GATT Article XX. It dismissed the EU’s claim that the import ban was merely a measure to protect the Brazilian retreading industry. Brazil also stressed that no economically or environmentally sound alternatives to the ban were available, noting that the EU itself has not been able to identify any alternative that would allow Brazil to achieve its chosen level of protection (see Bridges Year 10 No.4, page 14 for further details).
Seven Brazilian civil society organisations, together with the Center for International Environmental Law, have submitted an amicus curiae brief to the panel, in which they argued that the retreaded tyres exported by the EU were ‘in the final lifecycle stage’ and would thus augment the tyre waste problems of the importing country. In effect, the groups said, “trade in retreaded tyres shifts the tyre waste disposal problem from Europe to South America. For this reason, Brazil and a large number of other developing countries ban or restrict the imports of used and retreaded tyres, to allow for retreading of tyres in their own territory. In light of the life-cycle approach, an Article XX defense avails to safeguard these environmental and public health measures.”
The Brazilian government has taken the unusual step of making all of its written submissions and oral statements in the tyre dispute publicly available. They can be accessed in English and in Portuguese at http://www.mre.gov.br/portugues/ ministerio/sitios_secretaria/cgc/ pneus.asp.
The panel ruling is expected in December.