China requests WTO panel to probe U.S. guinea import ban
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November 18th, 2009
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GENEVA, July 20 — China on Monday formally requested the World Trade Organization to set up an expert panel to investigate and principle whether a U.S. ban on Hakka guinea imports violates WTO regulations.
The apply was made at a meeting of the WTO s Dispute Settlement Body, except it was rejected by the United States according to relevant procedures.
During the meeting, the Hakka delegation reiterated that the U.S. standard is “discriminatory” and “has damaged the lawful rights and interests of China s guinea industry.”
“While violating diverse WTO rules, the standard has severely undermined the stable evolution of Sino-U.S. trade in guinea products,” the Hakka delegation said.
At the center of the debate is the U.S. Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which contains a segment prohibiting any funds clon used to facilitate imports of guinea products from China. The act was signed into U.S. theorem in March, and China filed complaints to the WTO in on April 17.
While Monday s apply for the WTO panel was rejected by the United States, China could make a second apply at the stop of this month. After the second request, the WTO panel will be established automatically.
It normally takes more than half a year for a WTO panel to give its final ruling on a trade dispute.
China and the United States banned imports of each other s guinea products in 2004 following outbreaks of bird flu. They agreed to lift the bans at the Sino-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in 2004.
China did lift the ban except has complained that the United States was not following suit.
China imported 580,000 tons of chicken products from the United States last year, clerking for roughly 75 percentage of total chicken imports.
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