US REQUESTS WTO PANEL IN US-EU BIOTECH DISPUTE
The US at the 18 August meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) requested the establishment of a panel to rule on its complaint against the EU’s de facto moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a number of marketing and import bans in certain EU member states (see BRIDGES Weekly, 14 May 2003). Requests were also submitted by Argentina, a third party to the US case, and Canada, which is initiating a separate dispute. The US requested that the complaints be assessed by a single panel. The request comes at the end of consultations initiated in May. According to US Ambassador Linnet Deily, the consultations had proven inconclusive and the EU did not "offer any scientific justification for its measure". The EU, in contrast, contended that it had been prepared to continue the consultation process, but that "to the EU’s dismay" the US had declared that the consultations had failed and immediately submitted its panel request. The EU continues to insist that its measures are justified under international law, citing inter alia the recently adopted Codex risk analysis principles and the precautionary approach provided for in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (to enter into force on 11 September) in support of its measures.
The EU is expected to block the request. The US can then make a second request at the 29 August DSB meeting — just prior to the fifth WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun — which the EU cannot block.
For further information on the dispute, see http://www.ictsd.org/issarea/environment/biotech_case.htm.
ICTSD reporting; "European Commission regrets the request for a WTO panel on GMOs," EC PRESS RELEASE, 18 August 2003.
The last meeting of the WTO Working Party handling Nepal’s membership negotiations approved all documents containing Nepal’s commitments on 15 August. The final approval of Nepal’s membership will be made at the fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in September. According to Dinesh Pyakural, Nepal’s Chief Negotiator, the WTO membership will enhance the country’s capacity and competitiveness on the international market through policy and legislative reforms that will be carried out. Nepal’s tariff rates have been bound at around 42 percent for agricultural products and around 24 percent for other products. Nepal concluded bilateral talks for the entry with India, New Zealand, the US, Australia, Japan, the EU, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and others. During talks, the US raised questions regarding Nepal’s proposed plant variety protection law, and whether Nepal would adopt the 1991 Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention (UPOV 91, which contains extensive protection for plant breeders to the prejudice of farmers’ rights). Dinesh Pyakural said Nepal rejected the kind of "WTO-plus" commitment the adoption of the UPOV 91 would entail. Nepal will become the 148th WTO Member 30 days after ratifying the agreement. Nepal and Cambodia, whose accession process was finalised in July (see BRIDGES Weekly, 28 July 2003), will be the first two least-developed countries to become WTO members.
"Nepal nears WTO membership," NEPALNEWS.COM, 16 August 2003; "We rejected WTO-plus terms: Commerce Secretary," NEPALNEWS.COM, 18 August 2003; "Nepal set to join WTO at Cancún Ministerial Conference," WTO PRESS RELEASE, 18 August 2003.