. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/DS314/1 
G/L/684 
G/SCM/D61/1 
G/AG/GEN/66 
24 August 2004 
 
 (04-3525) 
 Original:   English 
 
 
 
MEXICO – PROVISIONAL COUNTERVAILING MEASURES 
ON OLIVE OIL FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
 
Request for Consultations by the European Communities  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 18 Augus t 2004, from the delegation of the European 
Communities to the delegation of Mexico and to th e Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement Body, is 
circulated in accordance with  Article 4.4 of the DSU. 
 
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  The European Communities hereby requests cons ultations with Mexico pursuant to Article 4 
of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Gove rning the Settlement of Disputes (the DSU), 
Article XXII of the General Ag reement on Tariffs and Trade 199 4 (GATT 1994), Article 30 of the 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures ( SCM Agreement ) and Article 19 of the 
Agreement on Agriculture , concerning the imposition of provi sional countervailing measures on 
imports of olive oil originating in the European Communities by Resolution of 18 May 2004 published in Diario Oficial de la Federación of 10 June 2004. 
 
 The European Communities considers that the initiation of the above-mentioned countervailing duty investigation and the subse quent imposition of provisional measures are 
inconsistent with Mexi co’s obligations under inter alia  Articles 10, 11 (in particular paragraphs 2, 3, 
4, and 9) 15, 16 and 17 (in particul ar Article 17.1(a) and (b)) of the SCM Agreement , and Article 13 
and/or Article 21.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture . 
  The inconsistencies include:  – the initiation of an investigation in the absence of sufficient evidence that a domestic industry 
is suffering injury as a result of subsidized imports, in violation of  Article 11.2 of the 
SCM Agreement  ; 
 – the failure by the Mexican authorities to revi ew the accuracy and ade quacy of the evidence 
provided in the application to determine whethe r there was sufficient ev idence to initiate an 
investigation, in violation of Article 11.3 of the SCM Agreement ; 
 
– the failure to establish whether the applicati on was made by or on behalf of the domestic 
industry of the like product, in violation of Article 11.4 of the SCM Agreement ; 
 – the imposition of provisional countervailing measu res despite the failure to correctly define 
the domestic industry, in violation of Articles 16 and 17.1 of the SCM Agreement;  
 WT/DS314/1, G/L/684,  
G/SCM/D61/1, G/AG/GEN/66 Page 2 
 
 – the failure to reject the application and to terminate promptly the investigation as soon as the 
Mexican authorities should have been satisfied th at there was insufficie nt evidence to initiate 
and/or proceed with the investigation, in violation of Article 11.9 of the SCM Agreement ; 
 
– the imposition of provisional counterva iling measures following the conduct of an 
investigation that was not initia ted in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of the 
SCM Agreement , in violation of Article 17.1(a) of the SCM Agreement;  
 – the imposition of provisional counterva iling measures following the conduct of an 
investigation that was not initiated in accordance with the provisions of the SCM Agreement  
and the Agreement on Agriculture , in violation of Article 10 of the SCM Agreement ; 
 – the imposition of provisional countervailing meas ures despite the non-existence of material 
injury or material retardation, in violation of Articles 15 and 17.1(b) of the SCM Agreement , 
notably Article 15.4;  
 – the imposition of provisional countervailing measu res despite the failure  to establish a causal 
link between the allegedly subsidized imports  and the alleged injury, in violation of 
Article 15.5 and 17.1(b) of the SCM Agreement ; 
 
– the initiation of a countervailing duty investig ation on imports of an agricultural product 
(olive oil) outside the circumstances c ontemplated in Article 13(b)(i) of the Agreement on 
Agriculture and/or in violation of Article 21.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture ;  
 – the imposition of provisional countervailing m easures on imports of an agricultural product 
(olive oil) outside the circumstances c ontemplated in Article 13(b)(i) of the Agreement on 
Agriculture and/or in violation of Article 21.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture; 
  The European Communities reserves the right to  raise additional claims and legal matters 
regarding the above-mentioned measures dur ing the course of the consultations. 
 
 The European Communities looks forward to receiving the reply of the Government of 
Mexico to this request to setting a mutu ally convenient date for consultations. 
 
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