EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – MEASURES AFFECTING THE APPROVAL AND MARKETING OF BIOTECH PRODUCTS
Document: Constitution of the Panel Established at the Requests of the United States, Canada and Argentina Note by the Secretariat
Date: 5 March 2004
Document codes: WT/DS291/24; WT/DS292/18; WT/DS293/18; WT/DS291/23; WT/DS292/17; WT/DS293/17
Complainant: Argentina
Respondent: EU
Third parties: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Taiwan, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Uruguay, U.S.
Dispute stage: Mutually Agreed Solution
Agreements cited: Art. 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6, 7, 8, 10.1, Annex B, Annex C  Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)Art. III:4, X:1, X:3(a), XI:1  GATT 1994Art. 2.1, 2.2, 2.8, 2.9, 2.11, 5.1, 5.2, 5.6, 5.8, 12  Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)Art. 4.2  AgricultureArt. I:1  GATT 1994

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – MEASURES AFFECTING THE APPROVAL
AND MARKETING OF BIOTECH PRODUCTS

Constitution of the Panel Established at the Requests
of the United States, Canada and Argentina

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its meeting on 29 August 2003, the Di spute Settlement Body (DSB) established a single
panel pursuant to the requests of the United Stat es in document , Canada in document
 and Argentina in document , in accordance with Article 9 of the Dispute
Settlement Understanding (DSU) (WT/DSB/M/155).

2. At that meeting, the parties to the dispute also agreed that the panel should have standard
terms of reference. The terms of reference are, therefore, the following:

"To examine, in the light of the relevant provisions of the covered agreements cited
by the United States in document WT/DS 291/23, Canada in document
and Argentina in document , the matter referred to the DSB by the
United States, Canada and Argentina in t hose documents, and to make such findings
as will assist the DSB in making the recommendations or in giving the rulings
provided for in those agreements."
3. On 23 February 2004, the United States, Canada and Argentina requested the Director-
General to determine the composition of the panel, pu rsuant to paragraph 7 of Article 8 of the DSU.
This paragraph provides:

"If there is no agreement on the panelists within 20 days after the date of the
establishment of a panel, at the request of either party, the Director-General, in
consultation with the Chairman of the DSB and the Chairman of the relevant Council
or Committee, shall determine the com position of the panel by appointing the
panelists whom the Director-General consid ers most appropriate in accordance with
any relevant special or additional rules or procedures of the covered agreement or
covered agreements which are at issue in th e dispute, after consulting with the parties
to the dispute. The Chairman of th e DSB shall inform the Members of the
composition of the panel thus formed no later than 10 days after the date the
Chairman receives such a request."
4. On 4 March 2004, the Director-General accordingly composed the Panel as follows:

Chairman: Mr. Christian Häberli

 Members: Mr. Mohan Kumar
 Mr. Akio Shimizu

5. Argentina (in respect of the United States' and Canada's complaints), Australia, Brazil,
Canada (in respect of the United States' and Ar gentina's complaints), Chile, China, Colombia,
El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, No rway, Paraguay, Peru, Chinese Taipei, Thailand,
Uruguay and the United States (in respect of Canada's and Argentina's complaints) have reserved their
rights to participate in the Panel proceedings as third parties.