Legal news
and practices in Russia12.07.2014
Russia blocks EU panel request on pork ban
At the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) meeting on 10 July, the European Union requested the establishment of a panel on what it said were restrictions by the Russian Federation on imports of live pigs, pork and other pig products from the EU. Russia opposed the panel request, and the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel to examine this dispute.
DS475: Russian Federation — Measures on the importation of live pigs, pork and other pig products from the European Union
The European Union said that Russia had maintained an EU-wide restriction against imports of live pigs, pork and other pig products since January 2014. The restrictions were based on four cases of African swine fever (ASF) detected in Lithuania and Poland. In the EU\'s view, there was no scientific reason to ban imports from the entire EU.
The EU also noted that Russia had itself suffered numerous outbreaks of ASF but it did not apply similar measures in its own territory, thereby discriminating between EU products and its own domestic products. Furthermore, the EU noted that Russia also treated EU products less favourably than those products imported from certain neighbouring countries that had also reported cases of ASF.
The EU believed that Russia was in breach of its obligations under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. Consultations were held with Russia but they did not resolve the matter, hence the EU\'s request for the establishment of a panel.
Russia said that it was confident of the scientific justification for the measures which were in conformity with the relevant international standards and requirements. Furthermore, the measures were not discriminatory and were not applied on products from the entire EU, only Poland and Lithuania. Russia regretted the EU\'s request for the establishment of a panel and believed that the matter should be resolved through consultations. Russia, therefore, was not in a position to agree to the establishment of a panel.
The DSB deferred the establishment of a panel to examine this dispute.
WTO: 2014 NEWS ITEMS
10 July 2014
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
www.wto.org
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