. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/DSB/M/229 
3 May 2007 
 (07-1834) 
Dispute Settlement Body 
10 April 2007  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 10 April 2007  
 
Chairman:  Mr. Bruce Gosper (Australia) 
 
 
1. India – Measures affecting the importation and sale of wines and spirits from the 
European Communities 
(a) Request for the establishment of a panel by the European Communities (WT/DS352/4) 
1. The Chairman  drew attention to the communica tion from the European Communities 
contained in document WT/DS352/4, and  invited th e representative of the European Communities to 
speak. 
2. The representative of the European Communities  said that the issue with regard to which the 
EC was requesting the establishment of a panel was long-standing and of very serious concern to the 
EC.  Since 1998 the EC had expressed grave concerns regarding restrictions on market access for the 
EC wine and spirits applied by India.  At that time, India had applied quantitative restrictions, which 
had been removed only after the EC had initiated fo rmal dispute settlement procedures pursuant to the 
DSU provisions.  Upon removal of the quantitative r estrictions, India had introduced several other 
measures, in the form of duties, which had continue d to restrict the access of EC wines and spirits to 
India's market.  In particular, India applied an a dditional duty and an extra additional duty to imported 
wines and spirits at aggregate levels exceeding tho se set forth in the tariff schedule of India.  The 
application of those duties constituted a clear violati on of India's obligations under Article II:1 of the 
GATT 1994.  On 20 November 2006, the EC had, th erefore, requested consultations with India 
pursuant to Article 4 of the DSU, with a view to  reaching a mutually satisfactory solution of the 
matter.  Those consultations, which had been held  on 20 and 21 December 2006 in India, had not 
unfortunately led to an amicable solution.  U nder the circumstances, the EC was requesting the 
establishment of a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU. 
3. The representative of India  said that his delegation was extremely disappointed at the EC's 
decision to seek a panel on this issue at this stage. As Members were aware, and as the EC had 
mentioned, India had been working closely with the EC following its request for consultations in 
November 2006.  India had had a detailed two-day process of extensive consultations in New Delhi 
and had done its best to provide all the information at hand.  India had since then also been working 
very closely with the EC to come to a mutually satisfactory solution and still believed that the parties 
were headed in that direction.  Therefore, India believed that, at this stage, the EC's request was 
extremely premature and was unable to accept it. 
 WT/DSB/M/229 
Page 2  
 
  4. The representative of the United States
 said that his country shared the EC's concern that the 
additional and extra additional duties imposed by India on imported wine and distilled spirits 
appeared to be inconsistent with India's WTO obligations.  For that reason, on 6 March 2007, the 
United States had also requested consultations with India with respect to its duties on imports of wine 
and distilled spirits from the United States.  The United  States looked forward to its consultations with 
India and hoped that India would resolve these dis putes by eliminating any WTO-inconsistent duties. 
5. The DSB took note  of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter. 
 
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