EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – SELECTED CUSTOMS MATTERS
Document: Request for Consultations by the United States
Date: 27 September 2004
Document codes: WT/DS315/1; G/L/694
Complainant: U.S.
Respondent: EU
Third parties: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea
Dispute stage: Appellate Body
Agreements cited: Art. X:3, X:1  GATT 1994

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES – SELECTED CUSTOMS MATTERS

Request for Consultations by the United States

 The following communication, dated 21 Sept ember 2004, from the delegation of the
United States to the delegation of the European Communities and to the Chairperson of the Dispute
Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.

 My authorities have instructed me to request consultations with the European Communities
pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement
of Disputes ("DSU"), and Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994
("GATT 1994") regarding

(a) the non-uniform administration by the European Communities of laws,
regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of the kind
described in Article X:1 of the GATT 1994 pertaining to the classification
and valuation of products for cust oms purposes and to requirements,
restrictions or prohibitions on imports, and

(b) the failure of the European Communiti es to institute judicial, arbitral or
administrative tribunals or procedures for the purpose, inter alia , of the
prompt review and correction of admi nistrative action relating to customs
matters.

 We understand the principal laws and regulations of the European Communities pertaining to
the aforementioned subject matter to be:

• Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the
Community Customs Code, including all annexes thereto, as amended (the "Code");

• Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions
for the implementation of Council Regula tion (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992
establishing the Community Customs Code , including all annexes thereto, as
amended (the "Commission Regulation");

• Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical
nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, including all annexes thereto, as
amended (the "Tariff Regulation");

• the Integrated Tariff of the European Communities established by virtue of Article 2
of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical

nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, including all annexes thereto, as
amended (the "TARIC"); and

• for each of the above laws and regulati ons, all amendments, implementing measures
and other related measures.

 "Administration" includes administration through all means, including but not limited to laws,
regulations, handbooks, manua ls, and administrative practices of customs authorities of member
States of the European Communities.

 While the Code, the Commission Regulation, th e Tariff Regulation, the TARIC, and related
measures set forth certain rules regarding the cl assification and valuation of goods for customs
purposes, they appear to leave to the discretion of national customs authorities decisions in a number
of key areas of customs administration. This has r esulted in disparate administration of these customs
measures in a number of respects including, but not limited to, the following:

• Differences in the classification and valuation of goods;

• Differences in procedures for the classification and valuation of goods, including the
provision of binding classification and valuation information to importers;

• Differences in procedures for the entry and release of goods, including use of
automation in some member States but not others, different certificate of origin
requirements, different criteria among member States for the physical inspection of
goods, different licensing requirements fo r importation of food products, and
different procedures for processing express delivery shipments;

• Differences in procedures for auditing entry statements after goods are released into
the stream of commerce in the European Communities;

• Differences in penalties and differences in procedures regarding the imposition of
penalties for violation of customs rules; and

• Differences in record-keeping requirements.

 Furthermore, Articles 243 through 246 of the C ode expressly provide that EC member States
are responsible for the implementation of appeals pr ocedures. Accordingly, appeals procedures vary
from member State to member State, and the abilit y to obtain review of a customs decision by a
tribunal of the European Communities does not appear to arise until after an importer or other
interested party has pursued review through national administrative and/or judicial tribunals.

 The United States believes the foregoing manner of administering the Code, the Commission
Regulation, the Tariff Regulation, the TARIC, and related measures to be inconsistent with the
obligation of the European Communities under Article X:3(a) of the GATT 1994 to administer "in a
uniform, impartial and reasonable manner" the laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative
rulings of general application referred to in Article X:1 of the GATT 1994. Moreover, this
arrangement appears to be inconsistent with the obligation of the Eu ropean Communities under
Article X:3(b) of the GATT 1994.

 We look forward to receiving your reply to this request and to fixing a mutually acceptable
date for consultations.