G/C/W/694  
14 April 2014  
(14-2328)  Page: 1/2  
Council for Trade in Goods  Original: Spanish  
 
  STATEMENT BY THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC ON ITEM 2.I OF THE AGENDA OF THE 
MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS OF 9 APRIL 2014: 
"EUROPEAN UNION - RESTRICTIO NS ON THE IMPORTATION OF 
BIODIESEL FROM THE ARGENT INE REPUBLIC: MINISTERIAL 
ORDER OF THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN NO. IET/822/2012 
OF 20 APRIL 2012 AND RESOLUTION NO. 1173 OF 
24 JANUARY 2014 OF THE STATE SECRETARIAT 
FOR ENERGY OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, 
ENERGY AND TOURISM OF THE 
KINGDOM OF SPAIN" 
The following statement, delivered by the Argentine Republic at the meeting of the Council for Trade 
in Goods of 9 April 2014, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Argentina.  
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Argentina's biodiesel sector is remarkable for its environmental and social sustainability. 
This, combined with the technology, scale and level of integration of the soybean production chain as a whole, has made it one of the most efficient biodiesel sectors in the world. Until the European Union imposed import restrictions, Argentina was the main supplier of biodiesel 
to Spain and the European Union. 
 Spanish Ministerial Order No. IET/822/2012 instituted de jure discrimination against biodiesel 
not produced in the European Union. Argentina raised this matter before this Council at its meeting 
on 22 June 2012 and at the meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on 13 June 2013. 
 
Following the request filed with the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on 17 December 2012 for the establishment of a panel, Spain abolished the aforementioned de jure discrimination 
through Ministerial Order No. IET/2736/2012, published on 22 December 2012. Argentina made 
it known that it would continue to monitor the scope and effective implementation of the amended 
Spanish legislation so that its application would not lead to renewed discrimination.  
The process of selecting firms for the allocation of biofuel quotas for computing compliance with 
the mandatory biofuel targets based on the requ irements in Ministerial Order No. IET/822/2012 
was carried out in Spain in 2013. Believing that the de jure discrimination had been abolished, 
nine top Argentine businesses, some of them worl d leaders in the export of soy-based products, 
participated in the allocation process. All these businesses were regular suppliers to the European market, including the Spanish market. However, under Resolution No. 1173 of 24 January 2014 of its State Secretariat for Energy, published in the Official Journal 
on 4 February 2014, Spain finalized the administrative procedure for the allocation of biodiesel 
volumes to be supplied in 2014 and 2015, and excluded all the Argentine firms that had applied for allocation of these quotas. 
 
Resolution No. 1173/14 prevents non-European Unio n biodiesel from entering the Spanish market, 
including the latter's main supplier, Argentina. By preventing non-EU companies from participating 
in the most relevant market segment, Spain is maintaining the objective prior to the amendment 
of Ministerial Order No. IET/822/2012, namely th e exclusion from its market of all biodiesel 
of non-EU origin.  G/C/W/694 
- 2 - 
  In Argentina's opinion, the exclusion of Argentine biodiesel and, more generally, of non-EU 
biodiesel aims to protect a bloated industry that  is incapable of competing with other efficient 
biodiesel producers and exporters, such as Argentin a. The Spanish industry has insufficient access 
to raw materials, and lacks the degree of vertical integration or scale of production that would 
allow it to compete effectively without the aid of measures of this kind. Thus, one of the member 
States of the European Union has resorted to de facto  discrimination in order to protect 
its industry, by applying measures which Argentina considers to be inconsistent with the 
European Union's WTO commitments. This runs counter to the efforts that are incumbent upon all 
Members in curbing protectionism.  The economic impact is considerable, given that over US$1.1 billion in Argentine exports go to 
Spain each year. 
 In addition to the import barrier that Spain has established, there are other measures taken 
by the European Union against Argentina's biodiesel exports, which Argentina has already 
challenged under the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, including an anti-dumping measure that is currently being appealed before the Dispute Settlement Body and an investigation on alleged 
subsidies which had to be terminated due to lack of evidence. 
 These measures have started to have serious repercussions on production and employment in Argentina, considering announcements made about the closure of several production plants 
and the ensuing redundancy of workers. This is  a clear example of how the European Union's 
protectionism undermines development.  
Argentina urges the European Union to take measures in order to re-establish free access 
to its biodiesel imports market without delay, regardless of the origin of these imports, and, at the same time, to bring into conformity any of its members' domestic legislation that may 
run counter to the WTO rules, in particular Resolution No. 1173/14. 
 In view of the foregoing, our country respectfu lly requests that the WTO Secretariat take note 
of these protectionist measures, Resolution No. 1173/14 of January 2014 of the State Secretariat 
for Energy and its predecessor, Ministerial Order No. IET/822/2012, so that they may be included 
in the next reports on the monitoring of trad e measures, issued by the WTO Director-General 
for the G-20 and the WTO Trade Policy Review Mechanism. 
 
Argentina will keep this Council and the Membership informed of developments in this matter.  
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