GD/109
Spain - Measures Concerning the Domestic Sale of Soyabean Oil - Recourse to Article XXIII:2 by the United States
Other titles
Spain Soyabean Oil (Source: GATT Analytical Index)
Products at Issue
| Products at issue |
Soyabean oil
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| Type of product |
Agricultural
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| Product sub-type |
Vegetable fats and oils
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Related disputes
| GATT | |
| WTO |
Key legal aspects
Adjudicators
| Type | Panel |
| Chairperson | J. J. Real (Uruguay) |
| Other members | Mr. Furulyas (Hungary), M. Besson (Switzerland) |
| No of Pages (total / legal reasoning) | 17 |
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Timeline
| Request for consultations | |
| Request for establishment | |
| Establishment | |
| Composition | |
| Report |
Outcome
| Outcome of the proceedings |
Report issued
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| Additional Info | L/5142 (17/06/1981) Spain - Measures concerning Domestic Sale of Soyabean Oil - Recourse to Article XXIII:2 by the United States - Report of the Panel: The Panel was established upon request by the United States to examine Spain's measures concerning domestic sales of soyabean oil. The Panel found that the Spanish measures, including such measures as packaging limitations and bottling restrictions, but in particular the consumption quota, had not had restrictive effects on the imports of soyabeans from the US, and that the internal price of soyabean oil was not set at a level that weakened the economic incentive to process and sell soyabean oil in the Spanish market. Consequently, the Panel concluded that the measures were not inconsistent with the provisions of Article III:1. The Panel also found that soyabean oil produced in Spain, whether from imported or domestically-grown soyabeans, was considered a Spanish product, and that no other oil could be considered to be "like" that of soyabean oil. Since Article III:4 was concerned only with treatment of imports being "no less favourable than that accorded to like products of national origin", the Spanish measures were not inconsistent with this provision. The Panel could not entirely exclude the possibility that the Spanish measures, although not conflicting with the GATT, could have had some effects on Spanish exports of soyabean oil in such a way as to displace exports of soyabean oil by the US from some of its traditional markets, and thus possibly nullifying or impairing benefits accruing to the US in the sense of Article XXIII:1(b) and (c). The Panel therefore suggested that the Contracting Parties recommend to Spain that it accord sympathetic consideration to any concrete representations which the US might wish to make in relation to this matter. L/5161 (26/06/1981) United States: Comments to the Report of the Panel (19/06/1981) L/5188 (25/09/1981) Spain: Observations on the Comments by the United States to the Report of the Panel (14/09/1981) C/M/152 (21/12/1981) Minutes of Council Meeting (03/11/1981) "The Council took note of the Panel Report in documents L/5142 and Corr.1. The Council also took note of the statements by representatives and of the points raised in documents L/5161 and L/5188." (Original underlined) C/M/241 (08/06/1990) Minutes of Council Meeting (16/05/1990) Discussion on the adoption of the Panel Report on United States - Restrictions on the Importation of Sugar and Sugar-Containing Products Applied under the 1955 Waiver and under the Headnote to the Schedule of Tariff Concessions (L/6631) "Mr. Lindén, Special Adviser to the Director-General, said that to his knowledge there had been only one such precedent where the Council had taken note of a panel report [L/5142 and L/5142/Corr.1] (…) The United States had not agreed to adoption of the report and its opinion had been shared by many other contracting parties [See C/M/149, C/M/151 and C/M/152]." (Original underlined) |