GD/196

EEC - Restrictions on Imports of Dessert Apples - Complaint by Chile

Other titles

EEC Dessert Apples (Source: GATT Analytical Index)

Parties

Complainant
Respondent
Third Parties

Products at Issue

Products at issue
Apples
Type of product
Agricultural
Product sub-type
Fruits and dried fruits

Related disputes

GATT
WTO

Key legal aspects

Legal basis
  • GATT Article XXIII:1
Claims raised
  • GATT Article I
  • GATT Article II
  • GATT Article XI
  • GATT Article XIII
  • GATT Part IV
Defences raised
  • n.a.

Adjudicators

Type Panel
Chairperson George A. Maciel (Brazil)
Other members Margaret Liang (Singapore), Thomas Cottier (Switzerland)

Report

Type Panel
Legal basis at issue
  • GATT Article XXIII:1
Claims at issue
  • GATT Article I
  • GATT Article II
  • GATT Article X
  • GATT Article XI:1
  • GATT Article XIII
  • GATT Part IV
Defences at issue
  • GATT Article XI:2
No of Pages (total / legal reasoning) 49
  • -
  • Judicial economy exercised
  • Not in report conclusions
  • Inconsistency found
  • Inconsistency found
  • Inconsistency found
  • Judicial economy exercised
  • Defence found to be inapplicable

Timeline

Request for consultations
  • (12/04/1988)
Request for establishment
Establishment
Composition
Report
Adoption of report

Outcome

Outcome of the proceedings
Report adopted
Additional Info L/6491 (18/04/1989) EEC – Restrictions on Imports of Dessert Apples – Complaint by Chile – Report of the Panel: The Panel first found that the system of restrictive licensing applied by the EEC to imports of apples from April through August 1988 constituted an import restriction or prohibition inconsistent with Article XI:1 of the General Agreement, and that the EEC had presented no arguments to refute this conclusion. The Panel found that the EEC measures taken under the intervention system for apples did not constitute marketing restrictions of a type which could justify import restrictions under Article XI:2(c)(i). From the statistics available to it, the Panel found that the 1988 surplus could not be considered a temporary one, and that therefore the EEC did not meet the conditions for imposing import restrictions under Article XI:2(c)(ii). The Panel recognized that, given its finding that the EEC measures were a violation of Article XI:1 and not justified by Article XI:2(c)(i) or (ii), no further examination of the administration of the measure would normally be required. Nonetheless, in view of the questions of great practical interest raised by both parties it considered it appropriate to examine the administration of the EEC measures in respect of Article XIII. The Panel found that this measure constituted a prohibition in terms of Article XIII:1, and that it was applied contrary to that provision since the like products of all third countries had not been similarly prohibited. The Panel then considered the EEC administration of the import quotas in light of the subsequent provisions which delineated more specific requirements to achieve the aim of Article XIII:1. The Panel found that the account taken of special factors by the EEC in allocating Chile's quota share did not meet the requirements of Article XIII:2(d). Concerning the notification of quotas and quota shares, the Panel considered that the allocation of back-dated quotas, that is, quotas declared to have already been filled at the time of their announcement, did not conform to the requirements of Article XIII:3(b) and Article XIII:3(c). The Panel also found that by allowing entry only to those goods en route for which an import licence had been issued prior to the Regulation's entry into force the EEC had added a requirement for which there was no basis in Article XIII. Further, the Panel found that the EEC had observed the requirement of Article X:l to publish the measures under examination "promptly in such a manner as to enable governments and traders to become acquainted with them", and noted that no time limit or delay between publication and entry into force was specified by this provision. However, it interpreted the requirements of this provision as clearly prohibiting the use of back-dated quotas, whose use by the EEC in the case of Chile had already been the subject of a finding under Article XIII.