Geneva: The World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed at its meeting on December 20, 2021 to establish a new dispute panel at the request of the European Union, to examine Russian measures affecting EU access to commercial procurement by state— related entities.
The EU’s first request was blocked by Russia at a DSB meeting on November 29, 2021.
The European Union submitted its second request for a panel to rule on several measures adopted by the Russian government which the EU claims form part of a broader import substitution programme aiming to replace, through a mix of restrictions and incentives, imported goods or services provided by foreign entities with domestic goods or services provided by Russian entities.
The EU referred to its statement on the matter made at the November 29 DSB meeting and said it maintains its request for the establishment of a panel.
Russia also referred to its statement made at the November 29 DSB meeting and said it regretted the EU’s decision to further pursue its request for a panel. Russia is confident its measures fully comply with its WTO obligations, Russia said.
The DSB agreed to the establishment of a panel. Australia, Korea, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland, the United States Canada, China, Japan, Ukraine and India reserved their third party rights to take part in the proceedings.
On November 29, the EU had claimed that Russia had taken on certain commitments within the framework of the WTO as regards to procurement by staterelated entities for commercial purposes. These commitments included non- discrimination between domestic and imported products and between services from Russian and foreign entities. However, for several years Russia had developed measures that seriously disadvantage EU companies when selling goods and services to Russian state-related enterprises and other entities through commercial procurement, the EU noted.
The EU said it had raised the issue a number of times bilaterally as well as in the WTO fora, but no solution was found. It said that in 2019 the value of published tenders by Russian state-owned enterprises amounted to 23.5 trillion roubles, or approximately EUR 290 billion, which was equivalent to around 20% of Russia’s GDP.
The EU requested WTO dispute consultations with Russia on 22 July this year, with the consultations taking place on 13 September. While the meeting was useful in clarifying certain points, it did not resolve the issue, the EU said.
The EU called on Russia to remove the measures or to bring them into compliance with WTO rules. To this end, it added, the EU requests the establishment of a panel to fully assess the measures.
Russia had said that it regretted the decision by the EU to request the establishments of the panel. It had claimed it engaged constructively in consultations and provided a detailed explanation of its laws and regulations at issue, with a view to resolving the dispute. It had further said it was confident that its measures were in compliance with its WTO obligations and that it was ready and willing to continue consulting with Brussels on the matter. In light of this, Russia said it was not in the position to support the EU’s request for the establishment of the panel. The DSB had then taken note of the statements and agreed to revert to the matter if requested by a member.
– global bihari bureau
