. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/DS315/8 
14 January 2005 
 
 (05-0192) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – SELECTED CUSTOMS MATTERS 
 
Request for the Establishment of  a Panel by the United States
 
  
 The following communication, dated 13 January 2005, from the delegation of the 
United States to the Chairperson of the Dispute Settl ement Body, is circulated pursuant to Article 6.2 
of the DSU.  
_______________ 
 
  The United States considers that the manner in which the European Communities ("EC") 
administers its laws, regulations, decisions and rulin gs of the kind described in Article X:1 of the 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994") is not uniform, impartial and 
reasonable, and therefore is inconsistent with Ar ticle X:3(a) of the GATT 1994.  For purposes of this 
request, the laws, regulations, decisions and rulings  (collectively, "measures") that the European 
Communities fails to administer in such a manner pertain to the classification and valuation of 
products for customs purposes and to requirements, restrictions or prohibitions on imports.  The 
measures consist of:    
• Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the 
Community Customs Code, including all anne xes thereto, as amended (the "Code"); 
 
• Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of  2 July 1993 laying down provisions 
for the implementation of Council Regula tion (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 
establishing the Community Customs Code , including all annexes thereto, as 
amended (the "Commission Regulation"); 
 
• Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical 
nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, including all annexes thereto, as amended (the "Tariff Regulation"); 
 
• the Integrated Tariff of the European Communities established by virtue of Article 2 
of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical 
nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, including all annexes thereto, as 
amended (the "TARIC"); and 
 
• for each of the above laws and regulati ons, all amendments, implementing measures 
and other related measures. 
 
 Administration of these measures in the Europ ean Communities is carried out by the national 
customs authorities of EC member States.  Such administration takes numerous different forms.  The United States understands that the myriad forms of  administration of these measures include, but are WT/DS315/8 
Page 2  
 
 not limited to, laws, regulations , handbooks, manuals, and administrative practices of customs 
authorities of member States of the European Communities.    Lack of uniform, impartial and reasonable admi nistration of the above-identified measures is 
manifest in differences among member States in a number of areas, including, but not limited to, the 
following:  
 
• classification and valuation of goods; 
 
• procedures for the classification and valua tion of goods, including the provision of 
binding classification and valuation information to importers; 
 
• procedures for the entry and release of goods, including different certificate of origin 
requirements, different criteria among member States for the physical inspection of goods, different licensing requirements fo r importation of food products, and 
different procedures for processing express delivery shipments;   
 
• procedures for auditing entry statements afte r goods are released into the stream of 
commerce in the European Communities; 
 
• penalties and procedures regarding the im position of penalties for violation of 
customs rules; and 
 
• record-keeping requirements. 
  In addition, the European Communities has failed to maintain, or institute as soon as 
practicable, judicial, arbitral or administra tive tribunals or procedures for the purpose, inter alia , of 
the prompt review and correction of administra tive action relating to customs matters.  The 
above-identified measures, incl uding in particular Articles 243 through 246 of the Code, expressly 
provide that EC member States are responsible for the implementation of procedures for appeals from 
decisions by member State customs authorities.  Accordingly, the ability to obtain review of a 
customs decision by a tribunal of the European Co mmunities does not arise until after an importer or 
other interested party has pursued review through na tional administrative and/or judicial tribunals.  
For this reason, the European Communities is in breach of Article X:3(b) of the GATT 1994. 
  The EC measures are also inconsistent with Article X:1 of the GATT 1994.  
 On 21 September 2004, the United States requ ested consultations with the European 
Communities pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing 
the Settlement of Disputes  ("DSU") and Article XXII:1 of the GATT 1994 (WT/DS315/1).  The 
United States held consultations with the Eur opean Communities in Geneva on 16 November 2004.  
Unfortunately, these consultations did not resolve the dispute.   
 
 Accordingly, the United States respectfully re quests the Dispute Settlement Body to establish 
a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU to examine this matter with standard terms of reference as set 
out in Article 7.1 of the DSU.  
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