EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION OF FROZEN BONELESS CHICKEN CUTS
Document: Request for the Establishment of a Panel by Brazil
Date: 22 September 2003
Document codes: WT/DS269/3; WT/DS269/1
Complainant: Brazil
Respondent: EU
Third parties: China, Thailand, U.S.
Dispute stage: Appellate Body
Agreements cited: Art. II:1, XXIII  GATT 1994

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION OF
FROZEN BONELESS CHICKEN CUTS
Request for the Establishment of a Panel by Brazil
The following communication, dated 19 September 2003, from the Permanent Mission of
Brazil to the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated pursuant to Article 6.2 of the
DSU.
On 11 October 2002, Brazil requested consultations with the European Communities (EC)
pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of
Disputes (DSU) and Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994).
That request was circulated to the WTO Members on 16 October 2002 as document ,
"". On
5 December 2002 and on 19 March 2003, Brazil and the EC held consultations in Geneva with a view
to reaching a mutually agreed solution. Unfortunately, consultations failed to settle the dispute.
Therefore, Brazil hereby requests that a Panel be established pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU
and Article XXIII of the GATT 1994,with standard terms of reference as set out in Article 7 of the
DSU.
The specific measures at issue are Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2002, published in
the Official Journal of the EC on 9 July 2002, concerning the classification of certain goods in the
Combined Nomenclature (CN), and the EC Commission Decision, published in the Official Journal of
the EC on 12 February 2003, concerning the validity of certain binding tariff information (BTI) issued
by the Federal Republic of Germany.
Regulation No. 1223/2002 provides a new description for the product under the CN code
0207.14.10. By virtue of Regulation No. 1223/2002, goods described as "Boneless chicken cuts,
frozen and impregnated with salt in all parts. They have a salt content by weight of 1,2% to 1,9%.
The product is deep-frozen and has to be stored at temperature of lower than -18°C to ensure a shelf-
life of at least one year." are now classified under CN code 0207.14.10. Products under CN code
0207.14.10 are subject to a tariff of 102.4 €/100kg/net.
Prior to Regulation No. 1223/2002, the product "boneless chicken cuts, frozen and
impregnated with salt in all parts", was classified as salted meat under CN code 0210.99.39.
Products under CN code 0210.99.39 are subject to an ad valorem duty of 15.4%. Subsequent to the
issuance of Regulation No. 1223/2002, the Commission of the EC published a Decision addressed to
the Federal Republic of Germany reporting that all BTIs previously issued by Member States, which
classified the products concerned as salted meat of CN code 0210, ceased to be valid. In particular,
this Decision informed that Germany had erroneously issued BTIs classifying frozen products

containing between 1.9% and 3% of salt under CN code 0210. The reason given was that products
"consisting of boneless chicken cuts which have been frozen for long-term conservation and have a
salt content of 1.9% to 3% are similar to the products covered by Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2002".
According to the Commission of the EC, "[t]he additio n of salt in such quantities is not such as to
alter the products' character as frozen poultry meat of heading 0207". Thus, the Commission Decision
instructed Germany to withdraw the BTIs issued on frozen poultry meat containing between 1.9% and
3% of salt.
As a result of these measures, the product boneless chicken cuts, frozen with a salt content of
1.2% or more, which was previously classified as salted meat, is now classified as frozen chicken,
subject to a tariff rate in excess of the bound ra te for salted meat in the EC's Schedules under
GATT 1994.
Accordingly, Brazil considers that its commerce of salted chicken to the EC has been
accorded treatment less favourable than that provided in the EC Schedule for the product, in
contravention of the EC's obligations under Articles II:1(a) and II.1(b) of the GATT 1994. These EC
measures produce distortions in trade, which nullify and impair, within the meaning of GATT
Article XXIII, benefits accruing to Brazil under the GATT 1994.
Brazil asks that this request for the establishment of a Panel be placed on the agenda of the
next meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, which is scheduled to take place on 2 October 2003.