WORLD TRADE WT/DS102/2
G/L/194
G/AG/GEN/14
ORGANIZATION G/LIC/D/14
G/TRIMS/D/10
20October 1997
(97-4565)
Original: English
PHILIPPINES -MEASURES AFFECTING PORK AND POULTRY
Communication from thePhilippines
Thefollowing communication, dated 15October 1997, from thePermanent Mission ofthe
Philippines tothePermanent Mission oftheUnited States andtheDispute Settlement Body iscirculated
attherequest ofthePhilippines.
_______________
Onbehalf ofmyauthorities, Iacknowledge receipt ofyourrequest, dated 7October 1997,
forconsultations pursuant toArticle 4oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures Governing the
Settlement ofDisputes (DSU), Article XXII ofGATT 1994, andtherelevant provisions ofthe
Agreements onAgriculture, onImport Licensing andonTrade Related Investment Measures, onthe
matter concerning thePhilippines implementation ofitstariff ratequotas forporkandpoultry.
Inotewithdeepregret thattheUnited States makes thisrequest against thebackground where
formal consultations hadalready beenrequested onthesame subject last1April 1997, andthatwe
hadbelieved thattheconcerns oftheUnited States hadsince beenadequately addressed.
Youwillrecall thatthePhilippines readily consulted withtheUnited States andwithother
Members which requested tojointheconsultations (theEuropean Communities andCanada) on
30April 1997.
Youwillalsorecall thefollowing saidconsultations, theappropriate domestic procedures in
thePhilippines werecommenced inJuly,ascommitted totheUnited States andotherparties, toconsider
revisions toAdministrative Order No.9(AO9), which implemented Republic ActNo.8178. Bythe
endofAugust, arevision ofAO9 wasalready inplace intheform ofAdministrative Order No.8
(AO8), which inturnbecame effective on22September 1997.
Ineednotemphasize thatAO8isaproduct ofintense consultations notonlywiththeconcerned
sectors inthePhilippines, butalsowiththeUnited States, whose delegation waswellplaced toprovide
comments anditsposition throughout theprocess oftherevision inManila, andwasformulated on
thebasis ofwritten comments from other Members whojoined -andwhodidnotjoin, butwere
nonetheless interested in-theconsultations.
./.WT/DS102/2, G/L/194,
G/AG/GEN/14, G/LIC/D/14,
G/TRIMS/D/10
Page2
Ialsoneed tonotethatAO8 wasexpeditiously implemented inresponse totheincessant
diplomatic representations oftheUnited States.
ThePhilippines believes thatA08isaserious andsincere response totheconcerns ofthe
United States andother parties; andthatatthesametimeitisconsistent withourtradition offulfilling
allourcommitments intheWTO.
Unfortunately,theUnitedStates,on24September1997,presentedthePhilippineswithadditional
demands withtheendinviewoffurther revisions toAO8, including thedeletion ofaprovision that
theUnited States itself hadinsisted onduring theJuly-August revision exercise.
These demands wereappropriately andpromptly transmitted fortheearnest consideration of
myauthorities, whointurnhavenothadample opportunity toconsider thesaiddemands.
Intandem withthese developments, parallel moves bytheUnited States tostage areview of
thebenefits wereceive fromtheGeneralized System ofPreferences (GSP), perhaps asretribution for
ouralleged inability tofulfil commitments intheWTO, areatbestlamentable. TheGSPissue is
obviously notwithin theambit oftheWTO andshould notbepursued further inthiscontext.
Itherefore trustthatyouwillappreciate theregretful circumstances under which Ireceive the
United States 'newrequest forconsultations.
Nonetheless, asaresponsible Member oftheWTO, andonbehalf ofmyauthorities, Iaccept
yourrequest forconsultations pursuant toparagraphs 2and3ofArticle 4oftheDSU, andwishto
indicate thatwewillbeavailable forsaidconsultations onamutually agreed schedule.