RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/DS24/2
27February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0710)
Original: Spanish
UNITED STATES -RESTRICTIONS ONIMPORTS
OFCOTTON AND MAN-MADE FIBRE UNDERWEAR
Request fortheEstablishment ofaPanel byCosta Rica
Thefollowing communication, dated 22February 1996, fromthePermanent Mission ofCosta
RicatotheChairmanoftheDisputeSettlementBodyiscirculatedattherequestofthePermanentMission
ofCosta Rica.
_______________
On22December 1995, theGovernment ofCosta Ricarequested consultations withthe
United States under Article 4andtheother relevant provisions oftheUnderstanding onRules and
Procedures Governing theSettlement ofDisputes (DSU), Article XXIII oftheGeneral Agreement
onTariffs andTrade 1994, andthecorresponding provisions oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing
(ATC), inconnection withtheintroduction andimplementation ofquantitative restrictions onCosta
Rican exports ofcotton andman-made fibreunderwear (Category 352/652). Therestrictions were
established inadirective bytheUnited States Committee fortheimplementation oftextiles agreements
andpublished intheFederal Register of23June1995 (60FR121,page32653). Therequest for
consultations wasdistributed toMembers on15January 1996 asdocument WT/DS24/1.
Itwason27March 1995 thattheGovernment oftheUnited States called consultations with
Costa Ricaontheabove-mentioned category oftextiles, under Article 6oftheATC. Thecallfor
consultations wasmade public through publication intheFederal Register of21April 1995(60FR77,
page19891). After thebilateral consultations hadbroken down andrestrictions wereplaced onCosta
Rican exports, on21JulytheTextiles Monitoring Body (TMB) reviewed thematter. Itfound that
serious damage, asenvisaged inparagraphs 2and3ofArticle 6,hadnotbeendemonstrated. Itcould
notreach consensus ontheexistence ofactual threat ofserious damage. Itrecommended that"...
further consultations beheldbetween theUnited States andtheparties concerned, withaviewtoarriving
atamutual understanding, bearing inmind theabove, andwithdueconsideration totheparticular
features ofthiscase,aswellasequity considerations". Theparties heldfurther bilateral consultations
on16and17August, without reaching amutually satisfactory understanding. Discussions intheTMB
during itssubsequent review on19October confirmed itsprevious conclusions. Onthatoccasion,
theTMB "...considered itsreview ofthematter completed".
After theconclusion oftheTMB procedure, andasaresult oftherequest submitted byCosta
Ricaon22December, thetwoGovernments heldconsultations on18January and1February 1996.
Costa Ricarequested theconsultations forthepurpose ofachieving asettlement ofthedispute caused
bytheintroduction oftheabove-mentioned quantitative restrictions andinorder toassess their
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Page2
compatibilitywiththeATC,astheGovernmentconsidersthattheyimpairornullifythebenefitsafforded
bytheWorld Trade Organization (WTO) andbytheATC inparticular.
Unfortunately, these consultations didnotserve toproduce asolution tothedispute, andso
theGovernment ofCosta Ricarequests theestablishment ofapanel under theterms ofArticle XXIII
oftheGATT 1994, Articles 4and6oftheDSU andthecorresponding provisions oftheATC.
TheGovernment ofCosta Ricarequests thatthepanel beestablished withthestandard terms
ofreference setoutinArticle 7oftheDSU. Atthesame time, itrequests areview andafinding
bythepanel that:
1. Thequantitative restriction introduced bytheUnited States isinconsistent with
Articles 2,6and8oftheATC;
2. Themeasure inquestion nullifies orimpairs thebenefits accruing toCosta Ricafrom
theWTO andunder theATC inparticular;
3. TheGovernment oftheUnited States should withdraw themeasure.
TheGovernment ofCosta Ricarequests theconvening ofaspecial meeting oftheDispute
Settlement Body within thenext15days, inaccordance withArticle 6oftheDSU, andasksthatthis
request fortheestablishment ofapanel beincluded intheagenda forthemeeting.
Iwould askyoutocommunicate theabove totheMembers oftheWTO.