European Communities – Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs, Complaint by the United States (WT/DS174): Table of Annexes B to D

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The European Communities (hereinafter “the EC”) is of the view that the requests for the establishment of the Panel made by Australia (hereinafter: Australian request) and by the United States (hereinafter: United States request) do not meet the requirements of Article 6.2 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).

The Panel requests fail to identify the specific measure at issue in the present dispute. Moreover, the Panel requests do not provide a brief summary of the legal basis of the complaint sufficient to present the problem clearly.

The respect of the requirements of Article 6.2 DSU is an essential precondition for the jurisdiction of a Panel. Where a complaining party has failed to clearly set out its claim in accordance with Article 6.2 DSU, the Panel does not have jurisdiction.

Moreover, the deficiencies of the Panel requests seriously prejudice the due process rights of the EC as a defending party. As a defending party, the EC is entitled to know the case it has to answer. The Panel requests in the present case do not meet the minimum requirements necessary for ensuring a fair and orderly conduct of the dispute settlement proceedings.

Given these fundamental concerns, the EC requests that the Panel issue a preliminary ruling regarding Article 6.2 DSU.

THE REQUIREMENTS OF ARTICLE 6.2 DSU

Article 6.2 DSU sets out the following minimum requirements with which any Panel request must comply:

The request for the establishment of a panel shall be made in writing. It shall indicate whether consultations were held, identify the specific measures at issue and provide a brief summary of the legal basis of the complaint sufficient to present the problem clearly.

The content and purpose of Article 6.2 DSU

In Korea – Dairy, the Appellate Body held that Article 6.2 of the DSU imposes four separate requirements:

When parsed into its constituent parts, Article 6.2 may be seen to impose the following requirements. The request must: (i) be in writing; (ii) indicate whether consultations were held; (iii) identify the specific measures at issue; and (iv) provide a brief summary of the legal basis of the complaint sufficient to present the problem clearly.