| WTO Rules Against US in Turtle Safe Shrimp Appeal |
10/11/98 Much to the dismay of conservationists, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has denied the United States appeal of a WTO Panel's earlier decision that the US was in breach of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for requiring imported shrimp to be caught using turtle safe methods.
The WTO's Appellate Body sided with the US on a couple of technical issues by stating that the Panel erred in claiming that it could not accept non-requested information from non-governmental sources, and that the United States turtle safe shrimp measure was outside the scope of Article XX(g) of GATT which covers regulations with environmental objectives. However, the Appeals Body ruled that the turtle-safe shrimp measure was being applied by the United States in a discriminatory manner against some countries which is contrary to the requirements of Article XX.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
| Background and further information |
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