WORLD TRADE WT/DS62/4
13February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0546)
Original: English
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION
OFSOME COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
Request fortheEstablishment ofaPanel bytheUnited States
Thefollowing communication, dated 11February 1997, from thePermanent Mission ofthe
United States tothePermanent Delegation oftheEuropean Commission andtotheDispute Settlement
Body, iscirculated attherequest ofthatdelegation.
_______________
On23May1995, theCommission oftheEuropean Communities adopted Regulation (EC)
No.1165/95, reclassifying certain local areanetwork ("LAN") adapter cards from category 8471,
"automatic dataprocessing machines andunits thereof", tocategory 8517, "telecommunications
apparatus". Thatregulation entered intoforce on14June1995. Theresult wastoraisethetariff
applied toimports ofsuchproducts intotheEuropean Communities from3.5percentto7.5percent,
which isabove therateprovided forintheEuropean Communities 'Schedules ("ECSchedules") annexed
totheMarrakesh Protocol totheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994 ("GATT 1994").
Since June1995, customs authorities intheEuropean Communities, including butnotlimited
tothose intheUnited Kingdom andIreland, havebeenapplying tariffs toimports ofalltypes ofLAN
equipment -including hubs, in-line repeaters, converters, concentrators, bridges androuters -inexcess
ofthose provided forintheECSchedules. Those products werepreviously dutiable asautomatic data
processing equipment under category 8471, but,asaresult ofthecustoms authorities 'action, arenow
subject tothehigher tariff ratesapplicable tocategory 8517, "telecommunications apparatus".
Inaddition, since 1995, customs authorities intheEuropean Communities, particularly those
intheUnited Kingdom, haveincreased tariffs onimports ofcertain personal computers ("PC's")from
3.5percentto14percent,which isabove therateprovided forintheECSchedules. These increases
haveresulted fromthereclassification ofPCswithmultimedia capability fromcategory 8471toother
categories withhigher dutyrates. Forexample, PCsthathaveaCD-ROM drive havebeenreclassified
tobedutiable under category 8521, "video apparatus", andPCsthathavevideo tuner cards orprinted
circuit boards allowing television capability havebeenreclassified tobedutiable under category 8528,
"televisions".
Asaresult ofECRegulation 1165/95 andthemeasures taken withrespect toLAN equipment
andPCswithmultimedia capability, theUnited States considers thatitscommerce hasbeenaccorded
treatment lessfavourable thanthatprovided forintheECSchedules, incontravention oftheobligations
oftheEuropean Communities anditsmember States under Article IIoftheGATT 1994.
./.WT/DS62/4
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Inaddition, theapplication ofthese measures bytheEuropean Communities anditsmember
States nullifies orimpairs, within themeaning ofGATT Article XXIII:1(b), benefits accruing tothe
United States directly orindirectly, under theGATT 1994.
Inacommunication dated 8November 1996 (WT/DS62/1), theGovernment oftheUnited
States requested consultations withtheEuropean Communities regarding these measures pursuant to
Article 4oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement ofDisputes ("DSU")
andArticle XXII:1 oftheGATT 1994. Consultations wereheldon23January 1997, butdidnotresult
inaresolution ofthedispute.
Accordingly, theUnited States respectfully requests theestablishment ofapanel toexamine
thematter withstandard terms ofreference assetoutinArticle 7oftheDSU.
TheUnited States asksthatthisrequest beplaced ontheagenda forthemeeting oftheDispute
Settlement Body scheduled tobeheldon25February 1997.