RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/DS14/6
27September 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-2843)
Original: Spanish
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -TRADE DESCRIPTION OFSCALLOPS
Request byChile fortheEstablishment ofaPanel
Thefollowing communication, dated 25September 1995, fromthePermanent Mission ofChile
totheChairman oftheDispute Settlement Body iscirculated attherequest ofthatdelegation.
_______________
Inaccordance withmycommunication dated 14September, Ihereby inform youthaton
23September the60-day consultation period provided forintheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures
Governing theSettlement ofDisputes expired.
Unfortunately, despite ourefforts, these consultations didnotleadtoamutually satisfactory
resolution oftheissue arising outofthetrade description ofChilean scallops ontheFrench market.
Consequently, Chile wishes toconfirm thaton27September itwillrequest theestablishment
ofapanel tostudy thematter intheterms setforth inthenoteattached tomycommunication of
14September 1995.1
1Annex todocument WT/DS14/5, alsoannexed tothiscommunication.
./.WT/DS14/6
Page2
ANNEX
Ihavethehonour torefertothetrade description ofmolluscs ofthegenus Pectinidae.
On24July1995, theGovernment ofChile requested theEuropean Union toholdconsultations
concerning theFrench Government Order (NOR MERP9300051 A)of22March 1993andamendments
thereto relating totheofficial names andpermitted tradedescriptions ofmolluscs ofthegenus Pectinidae
(scallops). Inaccordance withArticle 4oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures Governing
theSettlement ofDisputes (DSU), thatrequest wascirculated toMembers oftheWorld Trade
Organization on31July1995 (WT/DS14/1).
TheGovernment ofChile requested consultations inorder tofindasolution tothetrade
descriptionproblemcausedbytheabove-mentionedOrder,whichimposestheuseofthetradedescription
"pétoncle" forthepectinid mollusc ofChilean origin asfrom 1January 1996. Thistermentails a
tradeinjury asontheFrench market itisassociated withaproduct oflower quality andpricecompared
withthetraditional description of"Coquilles St.Jacques" or"Noix deSt.Jacques" under which the
Chilean product wassoldinthatmarket.
Chile andtheEuropean Union heldconsultations inGeneva on10August 1995 withaview
toreaching asatisfactory resolution ofthematter. Previously, Chile hadassociated itself withthe
consultations heldbyCanada withtheEuropean Union on19June1995 onthissame matter.
Unfortunately, theconsultations failed tosettle thedispute andfurther consultations arenot
likely tobeproductive. Inaccordance withArticle XXIII ofGATT 1994, Article 14oftheAgreement
onTechnical Barriers toTrade andArticles 4and6oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures
Governing theSettlement ofDisputes (DSU), Chile hereby requests thatapanel beestablished atthe
nextmeeting oftheDispute Settlement Body scheduled for27September 1995.
Chile requests thatthepanel consider andfindthattheOrder andthesubsequent amendments
thereto are:
(a) inconsistent withArticles 2and12oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade;
(b) inconsistent withArticle IIIofGATT 1994;
(c) inconsistent withArticle IofGATT 1994; and
(d) nullifying andimpairing benefits accruing toChile pursuant totheWTO.
Chile requests thatthepanel beestablished withthestandard terms ofreference assetoutin
Article 7oftheDSU. Chile further requests thatthisrequest fortheestablishment ofapanel beincluded
intheagenda ofthemeeting oftheDispute Settlement Body scheduled for27September 1995.