UNITED STATES - RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF COTTON AND MAN-MADE UNDERWEAR
Document: Original: Spanish UNITED STATES - RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF COTTON AND MAN-MADE UNDERWEAR Request for Consultations by Costa Rica
Date: 15 January 1996
Document codes: WT/DS24/1
Complainant: Costa Rica
Respondent: U.S.
Third parties: India
Dispute stage: Appellate Body
Agreements cited: Art. 2, 6, 8  Textiles and Clothing

UNITED STATES - RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS
OF COTTON AND MAN-MADE UNDERWEAR
Request for Consultations by Costa Rica
The following communication, dated 22 December 1995, from the Permanent Mission of
Costa Rica to the Permanent Mission of the United States and to the Dispute Settlement Body, is
circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.
The Government of Costa Rica requests consultations with the United States under Article 4
and the other relevant provisions of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement
of Disputes, Article XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, and the corresponding
provisions of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), in connection with the introduction and
implementation of quantitative restrictions on Costa Rican exports of cotton and man-made fibre
underwear (Category 352/652). The restrictions were established in a directive by the United States
Committee for the implementation of textiles agreements and published in the Federal Register of
23 June 1995 (60 FR 121, page 32653).
The Government of Costa Rica considers that these restrictions are not compatible with the
obligations assumed by the United States under the ATC; in particular, those under Article 6.
On 27 March 1995, the Government of the United States requested consultations with Costa Rica
on the aforementioned textiles category under Article 6 of the ATC. After the bilateral consultations
had broken down and restrictions were placed on Costa Rican exports, on 21 July the Textiles Monitoring
Body (TMB) reviewed the matter. It found that serious damage, as envisaged in paragraphs 2 and
3 of Article 6, had not been demonstrated. It could not reach consensus on the existence of actual
threat of serious damage. It recommended that "... further consultations be held between the
United States and the parties concerned, with a view to arriving at a mutual understanding, bearing
in mind the above, and with due consideration to the particular features of this case, as well as equity
considerations" (G/TMB/R/2).
The parties held further bilateral consultations on 16 and 17 August, but these did not lead
to a mutually satisfactory understanding. Discussions in the TMB during its subsequent review on
19 October reaffirmed its previous conclusions (G/TMB/R/2, first two sentences of paragraph 16).
On this occasion, the TMB "considered its review of the matter completed" (G/TMB/R/5).

The TMB procedure has now been concluded without the matter being resolved because the
Government of the United States, despite not having been able to prove the existence of an actual threat
of serious damage, continues to apply unilateral restrictions.
The Government of Costa Rica considers that these restrictions nullify or impair benefits directly
or indirectly accruing under the aforesaid Agreements.
I await your response to this request so as to fix a mutually convenient date for the consultations.