Feb 22, 1990

PANEL REPORT ON U.S. WAIVER PUT OFF.

GENEVA, FEBRUARY 20 (BY CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN)— The GATT Council Tuesday put off action on a GATT panel ruling that the U.S., in imposing some fees on imports of sugar and restricting imports of sugar and some products sugar had not acted contrary to the terms and conditions of the 1955 waiver granted by GATT.

Action on the panel report was put off till the next meeting, at the instance of the EEC, which had brought the complaint. EEC said it was not happy with the panel ruling and was still examining the implications.

The Council also put off action on the U.S. annual report on the implementation of the waiver in respect of its Agriculture Adjustment Act. In due course, the Council would have to establish a working party to examine it.

A GATT spokesman noted that the GATT was now running a few years behind in this and is yet to consider and take actions on U.S. reports for the year 1987/88.

The Council also put off action on an U.S. request for the establishment of a panel to adjudicate its complaint that Thailand was violating its GATT obligations in restricting imports of cigarettes and in levying some internal duties, which affected imports more than domestic products.

U.S. delegate, Rufus Yerxa said that consultations on this issue had been going on for four years, the latest in GATT on February 5, without yielding satisfactory results.

But the Thai delegate, Amb. Chao Saicheva said as far as his government was concerned they were still in the process of consultations and a mutually satisfactory solution could still be reached and hence was not in a position to accept the panel request at this meeting.

In other actions, the Council approved the report of the working party and the protocol of accession in respect of Tunisia. The issue would now go to a vote of the Contracting Parties, and when approved by two-thirds would open the way for Tunisia to sign the protocol and accede to the GATT.

There are now 96 Contracting Parties, and the way has been cleared for the accession of Bolivia, Costa Rica and now Tunisia.

The Council also agreed on the terms of reference of the working party on Bulgaria's accession. While Bulgaria had applied as long back as 1986, and the Council had approved reference of the application to a working party, there had been a deadlock over the terms of reference, mainly over U.S. objections relating to Bulgaria's central planning.

In the terms now agreed upon, the working party will consider the comparability of Bulgaria's foreign trade regime with the GATT, inter alia, with regard to GATT provisions on national treatment, non-discrimination, state trading, subsidies and safeguards.

The Council also agreed to set up a working party to go into Poland's application for renegotiations of its original terms of accession, which were based on Poland as a centrally-planned economy, and providing for an assured annual growth in imports.

On the question of non-implementation by South Korea of the panel ruling against over beef imports, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. complained that in the consultations so far, South Korea had not been able to provide or agree on a timetable for the end to the restrictions, but had been willing to offer only increased imports for 1990.

The GATT spokesman said that South Korean delegate, Amb. Sang Ock Lee said that every effort had been made to reach agreement on imports, pending an in-depth study on Korea's livestock industry as a preliminary to establish a working time table for implementing the panel's ruling, and that Korea had offered to have a joint study.