COLOMBIA – ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES ON FROZEN FRIES FROM BELGIUM, GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS COMMUNICATION FROM THE PANEL
Document: panel report
Date: 19 September 2022
Document codes: WT/DS591/6
Complainant: EU
Respondent: Colombia
Third parties: Brazil, China, Honduras, India, Japan, Russia, Turkey, U.S.
Dispute stage: Panel
Agreements cited: Art. 1, 2.1, 2.4, 2.4.1, 2.6, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 5.3, 5.8, 6.1.2, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.5.1, 6.8, 6.9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 11.1, 12.2, 12.2.2, 18.1, Annex II  Anti-dumpingArt. 10  Customs valuationArt. VI  GATT 1994

COLOMBIA – ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES ON FROZEN FRIES FROM
BELGIUM, GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS
COMMUNICATION FROM THE PANEL
The following communication, dated 16 September 2022, was received from the Chairperson of the
Panel with the request that it be circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body.

On 13 July 2020, the European Union and Colombia notified to the DSB their mutual agreement,
"pursuant to Article 25.2 of the [DSU] to enter into arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU to decide
any appeal from any final panel report as issued to the parties " in the above-mentioned dispute
(Agreed Arbitration Procedures).1 In its Working Procedures for these proceedings, the Panel took
"note of the Agreed Procedures for Arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU in this dispute notified by
the parties on 13 July 2020 () and of the joint requests of the parties to the Panel
formulated therein".2

On 29 August 2022, the Panel, having consulted with the parties, adopted t he Additional Working
Procedures to facilitate arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU (Additional Working Procedures).3 On
the same day, the Panel issued its Final Report to the parties and informed them that the Panel
Report would be circulated to Membe rs, after translation into French and Spanish, on
19 September 2022.

According to paragraph 4 of the Agreed Arbitration Procedures, "[f]ollowing the issuance of the final
panel report to the parties, but no later than 10 days prior to the anticipated date of circulation of
the final panel report to the rest of the Membership, any party may request that the panel suspend
the panel proceedings with a view to initiating the arbitration under these agreed procedures." Given
that the circulation of the Final Report was scheduled for 19 September 2022, the 10-day deadline
for requesting the suspension under the Agreed Arbitration Procedures would have expired on
Friday, 9 September 2022 – an official holiday for the WTO.

9 September 2022 being a WTO holiday, Colombia, on 6 September 2022, informed the Panel of its
intention "to present the Request for Suspension envisaged in paragraph 4 of the Agreed Procedures
for Arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU (WT/DS591/3/Rev.1) to the Panel on
Monday 12 September 2022" and noted that it was "Colombia's understanding that, in accordance
with the DSB Decision on 'Expiration of Time -Periods in the DSU', WT/DSB/M/7, this Request
presented on 12 September 2022 [would] be deemed to have been filed within 10 days prior to the
circulation of the final Panel Report to the WTO Membership, which is set for 19 September 2022".
On the same date, the European Union informed the Panel that it had taken note of Colombia's
communication and that it agreed with Colombia t hat a suspension request filed on
12 September 2022 would be deemed to have been filed in accordance with the 10-day deadline set
forth in paragraph 4 of the Agreed Arbitration Procedures. On 7 September 2022, the Panel informed
the parties that it had taken note of the parties' communications dated 6 September 2022.

1 Agreed procedures for arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU, WT/DS591/3 (fn omitted). The parties
revised these procedures on 20 April 2021, WT/DS591/3/Rev.1.
2 Working Procedures of the Panel (Panel Report, Annex A-1), para. 33.
3 Additional Working Procedures of the Panel to facilitate arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU (Panel
Report, Annex A-5).

On 12 September 2022, the Panel received a communication from Colombia requesting the Panel to
suspend its work in this dispute in accordance with Article 12.12 of the DSU in order to facilita te
arbitration under the Agreed Arbitration Procedures. 4 According to paragraph 4 of the Agreed
Arbitration Procedures "su ch request by any party is deemed to constitute a joint request by the
parties for suspension of the panel proceedings for 12 months pursuant to Article 12.12 of the DSU".

Upon receipt of this suspension request, on 13 September 2022, the Panel instructed the Dispute
Settlement (DS) Registry to "transmit immediately the original English language version of the final
Panel Report … to the pool of arbitrators", in accordance with paragraph 2 of the Additional Working
Procedures. Following the translation of the Panel Report into Spanish and French, and in accordance
with paragraph 1 of the Additional Working Procedures, the Panel "transmi t[ted] the final Panel
Report in the three working languages of the WTO (the 'Translated Report ') to the parties,
third parties and the pool of arbitrators" on 16 September 2022.

Paragraph 3 of the Additional Working Procedures provides that "[o]nce the Translated Report has
been transmitted to the parties, third parties and the pool of arbitrators, the Panel shall grant the
request to suspend the Panel proceedings and indicate when suspension takes effect". The Panel
hereby informs the Disput e Settlement Body of its decision of 16 September 2022 to grant the
request to suspend the panel proceedings effective the same day. The Panel will therefore not
circulate its final Report to Members unless the Panel is requested to resume its work within the
time-period that is specified in Article 12.12 of the DSU.

The Panel recalls paragraph 6 of its Additional Working Procedures, which states that "[o]nce
transmitted to the parties, third parties and the pool of arbitrators, the original final Panel R eport
and/or the Translated Report remain confidential" until the filing of a "Notice of Appeal".

In the event that a "Notice of Appeal" is filed, in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Additional
Working Procedures, the record of the Panel proceedings wil l be transmitted to the arbitrators "as
soon as possible" after they are appointed.

Paragraph 4 of the Additional Working Procedures also requires the Panel to "consult with the
third parties concerned with a view to transmitting, as part of the Panel re cord, the third -party
submissions, third-party oral statements and third -party responses to questions." Pursuant to this
provision, the Panel sought the views of the third parties by a letter dated 14 September 2022.

The Panel requests that this communication be circulated to Members.