[ EU Product List of Countermeasures Journal of the European Communities 13sep02 ]
Brussels-- The Commission has today brought forward a list of products that could be subject to countermeasures, for consideration by the European industry. The amount of the list exceeds the amount awarded by the WTO in order to allow for exclusions of products following the consultation procedure. The list is published in today's Official Journal of the European Communities (OJ C217, 13/9/2002).
On 30 August the European Union was granted by the WTO the right to impose countermeasures in the form of tariffs on imports of certain goods from the US. The tariffs can be up to 100 percent ad valorem, to a maximum of US $ 4,043 million per year.
On that occasion EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said "the fundamental EU objective is not retaliation as such but to ensure the repeal of the WTO incompatible FSC/ETI legislation which provides an illegal export subsidy to US firms. However, it must be clear that if the compliance process does not deliver swift results, the Commission will not hesitate to propose the adoption of countermeasures."
In an attempt to minimise the negative consequences that any eventual countermeasures could create for European industry, the Commission has selected only products for which imports of that product from the US represent a maximum 20% of total imports into the EU. The products included cover a wide range of goods selected from the 46 chapters of the Common Customs Tariff already notified to the WTO in November 2000. The exact definition of the CN codes can be obtained via internet.
The Commission invites European industry to present their comments on the list within 60 days from the date of publication, i.e. before 12 November 2002. Comments must be supplied in the required format while a special electronic address (trade-d3-fsc-comments@cec.eu.int) has been created for the purpose. Having received the comments of European industry, the Commission will consult Member States before notifying the final list to the WTO.
For further information see: IP/00/1321, MEMO/00/84, IP/00/1094, IP/00/186, IP/01/1214, IP/02/1250
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