WT/DS499/2  
 
11 November 2016  
(16-6280) Page: 1/7 
  Original: English  
 
  RUSSIA – MEASURES AFFECTING T HE IMPORTATION OF RA ILWAY EQUIPMENT  
 AND PARTS THEREOF  
REQUEST FOR THE ESTA BLISHMENT OF A PANEL  BY UKRAINE  
The following communication, dated 10 November 2016 , from the delegation of Ukraine  to the 
Chairperson of the Dispute S ettlement Body, is circulated pursuant to Article 6.2 of the DSU.  
 
_______________  
 
 
 My authorities have instructed me to request the establishment of a panel pursuant to 
Articles 4 and 6 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settleme nt of 
Disputes ("DSU")  and Article XXIII of the General Agreement o n Tariffs and Trade 1994 
("GATT  1994")  and Article 14 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade  1994 
("TBT  Agreement")  concerning certain measures imposed by the Russian Federation on  
importation of railway rolling stock, railroad switches, other railroad equipment, and parts thereof 
("railway products") from Ukraine.  
 On 21 October 2015 Ukraine requested consultations with the Russian Federation pursuant 
to Articles 1 and 4 of the DSU , Article XXII of the GATT 1994, and Article 14 of the 
TBT Agreement. This request was circulated on 26 October 2015 as document WT/DS499/1. The 
consultations were held on 4 December 2015  with a view to reaching a mutually agreed solution , 
but unfortunatel y failed to settle the dispute.  
 As a result, Ukraine respectfully requests that a panel be established to examine the 
measures at issue on the basis of the standard terms of reference as set out in Article 7.1 of the 
DSU. 
I. BACKGROUND  
 On 15 July 2011 th e Commission of the Customs Union1 of the Republic of Belarus, the 
Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation ("CU") approved Decision No. 710 adopting 
Technical Regulations No.  001/20112, No. 002/20113, and No.  003/20114 ("Technical Regulations") 
setting safety and technical requirements for placing on the market "railway rolling stock", "high -
speed rail transport" and "rail transportation infrastructure". The new Technical Regulations 
entered into force 3 years after their official publication, i. e. on 2 August 20145, and since that 
date all conformity assessment certificates for railway products have to be issued in accordance 
with the new procedures set forth in the Technical Regulations.  
 This decision was subsequently amended by Decision of the  Collegium of the Eurasian 
Economic Commission  No. 285 of 2 December 2013 "On Amendment of the Decision of the 
                                                
1 Presently, the Eurasian Economic Co mmission.  
2 Available at: 
http://www.eurasiancommission.org/ru/act/texnreg/deptexreg/tr/Documents/TR%20Podvignoisostev%20PID .
pdf  
3 Available  at: 
http://www.eurasiancommission.org/ru/act/texnreg/deptexreg/tr/Documents/TR%20HighSpeed%20PID.pdf  
4 Available at: 
http://www.eurasiancommission.org/ru/act/texnreg/deptexreg/tr/Documents/TR%20Infrastruktura%20PID.pdf  
5  Available at: http://www.eurasi ancommission.org/en/nae/news/Pages/01 -08-2014-2.aspx  WT/DS499/2  
 
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  Commission of the CU No.  710 of 15 July 2011" allowing for a tr ansitional period, i.e. until 
1 August 2016, during which the conformity assessmen t certificates issued prior to the entry into 
force of the above -mentioned Technical Regulations continue to be valid, and the products with 
such certificates are allowed to be produced, placed on the market, and utilised in the Russian 
Federation.  
II. THE MEASURES AT ISSUE  
 Since 2014, the conformity assessment certificates issued by the Federal Budgetary 
Organization "Register of Certification on the Federal Railway Transport" (FBO "RC FRT") to 
Ukrainian producers of railway products prior to the entry i nto force of the Technical Regulations 
have systematically been suspended.  
 Moreover, Ukrainian producers have not been able to obtain new conformity assessment 
certificates based on the Technical Regulations from the certification bodies in the Russian 
Federation. The applications submitted by Ukrainian producers to the FBO "RC FRT" have 
systematically been rejected or returned without consideration.  
 Furthermore, the conformity assessment certificates issued by the authorities in the Republic 
of Belarus and in the Republic of Kazakhstan have not been recognized by the authorities of the 
Russian Federation. In fact, the relevant authorities of the Russian Federation, including its 
Ministry of Transport and the Federal Agency for Railway Transport, decided that Technical 
Regulation No.  001/2011 is applicable only to goods produced in the CU countries. Consequently, 
the authorities of the Russian Federation concluded that the conformity assessment certificates 
issued to Ukrainian producers in other CU countri es were not valid in the territory of the Russian 
Federation and that the railway products of these producers could neither be imported nor 
registered for operation in the territory of the Russian Federation.  
 The measures at issue covered in this panel re quest are:  
1) The systematic prevention of Ukrainian producers from exporting their railway products 
to the Russian Federation by way of suspension of their valid conformity assessment 
certificates, refusal to issue new conformity assessment certificates and the non -
recognition of conformity assessment certificates issued by the competent authorities of 
other members of the CU namely the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of 
Kazakhstan. This practice is evidenced by instructions of the authorities of the Rus sian 
Federation listed in Annexes I, II and III.  
2) The suspensions of conformity assessment certificates, the rejections of new applications 
for conformity assessment certificates and the refusals to recognize valid conformity 
assessment certificates issued by other CU countries with regard to Ukrainian producers 
as mentioned in Annexes I, II and III.  
3) Technical Regulation No. 001/2011 "On safety of railway rolling stock", read together 
with the Protocol of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation regarding 
issuance by certification authority of the Customs Union of the certificates of conformity 
for products manufactured by third -countries No. A 4 -3 adopted on 20 January 2015 and 
the instructions mentioned in Annex III.  
 As a result of the measures  described above, certain Ukrainian producers have been 
effectively banned from exporting railway products to the Russian Federation. Following the 
implementation of the measures at issue, exports of such products from Ukraine to the Russian 
Federation, wh ich had reached USD 1.7 billion in 2013, decreased to USD 600 million in 2014 and 
to only USD 110 million in 2015.  
III. LEGAL FRAMEWORK  IN THE RUSSIAN FEDER ATION  
The above measures of the Russian Federation are based on several instruments which together 
provide a legal framework applicable in the territory of the Russian Federation for the placing on 
the market of railway products. These instruments include:  
 Decision of the Commission of the Customs Union No. 710 of 15 July 2011 "On Adoption 
of technical r egulations of the Customs Union 'On Safety of Railway Rolling Stock', 'On WT/DS499/2  
 
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  Safety of High -Speed Rail Transport  ' and 'On Safety of Rail Transportation 
Infrastructure'";  
 Decision of the Collegium of the Commission of the Eurasian Economic Commission  
No. 285 of 2 December 2013 "On Amendment of the Decision of the Commission of the 
CU No.  710 of 15 July 2011";  
 Customs Union Technical Regulation No. 001/2011 "On Safety of Railway Rolling Stock" 
adopted by the Decision of the Commission of the C ustoms Union No.  710 of 
15 July 2011;  
 Customs Union Technical Regulation No. 002/2011 "On Safety of High -Speed Rail 
Transport" adopted by the Decision of the Commission of the Customs Union No.  710 of 
15 July 2011;  
 Customs Union Technical Regulation No. 003/2011 "On Saf ety of Rail Transportation 
Infrastructure" adopted by the Decision of the Commission of the Customs Union 
No. 710 of 15 July 2011;  
 Chapter 10 and Protocol on Technical Regulation to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic 
Union of 29 May 2015;  
 The Agreement o n Uniform Principles and Rules of Technical Regulation in the Republic 
of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation;  
 Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 184 -FZ "On Technical Regulation" of 
27 December 2002 (with subsequent amendm ents);  
 Orders of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation No. 137 of 14 November 
2005 "On the organization of work for numbered accounting of rolling stock, containers, 
operated on the roads of general use" and No. 266 of 25 July 2012 "On Approv al of the 
administrative regulations of the Federal Railway Transport Agency concerning public 
service for implementation of numbered accounting of the railroad rolling stock and 
containers".  
IV. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE COMPLAINT  
 In Ukraine 's view, the measur es described in Section II above are inconsistent with the 
Russian Federation 's obligations under the following provisio ns of the GATT 1994 and the 
TBT Agreement:  
1. Article 5.1.1 of the TBT Agreement, because the procedures for assessing conformity applied 
by the Russian Federation grant access for Ukrainian suppliers of the like products under 
conditions less favourable than those accorded to suppliers of like products of national origin or 
originating in any other country, in a comparable situation;  
2. Article  5.1.2 of the TBT Agreement, because the procedures for assessing conformity are 
applied by the Russian Federation with a view to or with the effect of creating unnecessary 
obstacles to international trade;  
3. Article 5.2.2 of the TBT Agreement, because the c ompetent bodies of the Russian Federation 
do not promptly examine the completeness of the documentation of Ukrainian producers 
applying for conformity assessment certificates and do not inform applicants in a precise and 
complete manner of all deficiencies ; and because the competent bodies of the Russian 
Federation do not transmit as soon as possible the results of the conformity assessment in a 
precise and complete manner to the applicants so that corrective actions may be taken if 
necessary;  
4. Article 5.2.3  of the TBT Agreement, because the information requirements for conformity 
assessment procedures are not limited to what is necessary to assess conformity and 
determine the fees;  
5. Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement, because the measures at issue accord less f avourable 
treatment to like products originating in Ukraine than that accorded to like products of national 
origin and to like products originating in any other country;  WT/DS499/2  
 
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  6. Article I:1 of the GATT 1994, because the products of Ukrainian origin are not accorde d 
immediately and unconditionally any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted to like 
products of any other country;  
7. Article III:4 of the GATT 1994, because the measures at issue accord less favourable 
treatment to like products originating in Ukr aine than to like products of national origin;  
8. Article X:3(a) of the GATT 1994, because the relevant laws, regulations and decisions are not 
administered in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner;  
9. Article XI:1 of the GATT 1994, because through the meas ures at issue the Russian Federation 
instituted and maintains prohibitions or restrictions other than duties, taxes or other charges 
on imports of Ukrainian products;  
10. Article XIII:1 of the GATT 1994, because through the measures at issue the Russian 
Federa tion applies prohibitions or restrictions on imports from Ukraine, while imports of the 
like product from all other third countries or exportation of the like product to all other third 
countries is not similarly prohibited  or restricted . 
These violations nullify or impair benefits accruing to Ukraine directly or indirectly under the 
covered agreements within the meaning of Ar ticle XXIII:1 of the GATT 1994.  
Ukraine asks that this request be placed on the agenda for the meeting of the Dispute 
Settlement Body  expected to be held on 23 November 2016.  
 
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  WT/DS499/2  
 
- 5 - Annex I: Suspension of conformity assessment certificates  
No.  Name of the Ukrainian producer at issue  Name of the authority of the 
Russian Federation  Date and number of cover letter and 
decision  of the Russian authority at 
issue  
1 PJSC «Dneprovagonmash » FBO "RC FRT "1 Cover letter of 08.08.2015  
Instruction No.  1767 of 08.08.2014  
2 PJSC «Dneprovagonmash » FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 03.10.2014  
Instruction No.  1837 of 03.10.2014  
3 PJSC «Dniprope trovsky Strilotchny Zavod»  FBO "RC FRT " Instruction No.  1922 of 27.02.2015  
4 PJSC «Dnipropetrovsky Strilotchny Zavod»  FBO "RC FRT " Instruction No.  1921 of 27.02.2015  
5 PJSC «Kremenchuk Steel Works»  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 11.02.2015 No. 01425  
Instru ction No.  1908 of 11.02.2015  
6 PJSC «Kremenchuk Steel Works»  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 17.07.2014 No. 08997  
Instruction No.  1704 of 16.07.2014  
7 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 08.10.2014 No. 12422  
Instruction No . 1842 of 08.10.2014  
8 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 11.02.105 No. 01424  
Instruction No.  1907 of 11.02.2015  
9 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 18.05.2015 No. 05276  
Instruction  No. 1998 of 18.05.2015  
10 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 06.07.2015 No. 07297  
Instruction No.  2034 of 06.07.2015  
                                                
1 Federal Budgetary Organization "Register of Certification on the Federal Railway Transport".   
  WT/DS499/2  
 
- 6 - No.  Name of the Ukrainian producer at issue  Name of the authority of the 
Russian Federation  Date and number of cover letter and 
decision  of the Russian authority at 
issue  
11 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 07.09.2015 No. 09999  
Instruction No.  2093 of 07.06.2015  
12 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 09.10.2014 No. 12794  
Instruction No.  1844 of 09.10.2014  
13 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 08.06.2015 No. 06223  
Instruction No.  2021 of 08.06.2015  
14 PJSC "Kryukov railway car building works"  FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 18.05.2015 No. 05284  
Instruction No.  1998 of 18.05.2015  
15 PJSC "Poltavhimmash " FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 27.01.2015 No. 00630  
Instruction No . 1884 of 27.01.2015  
16 PJSC "Poltavhimmash " FBO "RC FRT " Cover letter of 11.02.2015 No. 01418  
Instruction No.  1901 of 11.02.2015  
Annex II: Refusal and/or annulment of issuance of new conformity certificates  
No. Name of the Ukrainian producer at issue  Name of the authority of 
the Russian Federation  Date and number of cover letter and 
decision of the Russian authority at issue  
1 PJSC «Dneprovagonmash » FBO "RC FRT "1 Decision of 02.10.2014 No.  12206  
2 PJSC «Dnipropetrovsky Strilotchny Zavod»  FBO "RC FRT " Decision of 09.02.2015 No.  01305  
3 PJSC «Kremenchuk Steel Works»  FBO "RC FRT " Decision of 23.01.2015 No.  00543  
 
 
 
 
                                                
1 Federal Budgetary Organization "Register of Certification on the Federal Railway Transport".   
  WT/DS499/2  
 
- 7 - Annex III - Rejection of conformity certificates issued in countries of the Customs Union  
No. Name of the Ukrainian 
producer concerned  Name of the authority of the 
Russian Federation  Date and number of cover letter and decision of the Russian 
authority at issue  
1 LLP "Kamkhor Vagon " 
(Astana, Kazakhstan)  Federal Railway Transport 
Administration of the Ministry of 
Transport of the Russian Feder ation Letter No. B/ Ч 35/4779 ас dated 04.02.2015  
2 JSC "Kryukov railway car 
building works"  Federal Railway Transport 
Administration of the Ministry of 
Transport of the Russian Federation  Letter from Federal Railway Transport Administration of the 
Ministry  of Transport of the Russian Federation to JSC "Russian 
Railways " accompanied to Protocol No. A 4 -3 of 20.01.2015 of the 
Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation regarding issuance 
by the certification authority of the Customs Union of the 
certifica tes of conformity for products manufactured by third -
countries.  
3 JSC "Kryukov railway car 
building works"  Federal Railway Transport 
Administration of the Ministry of 
Transport of the Russian Federation  Protocol of the 61st Meeting of the Commission of th e Rolling Stock 
of 22-24 March 2016 and the annexed Dissenting Opinion of the 
Federal Railway Transport Administration of the Ministry of 
Transport of the Russian Federation (Saratov, Russian Federation).  
 
 
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