06/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - After appeal, WTO upholds its decision against the Filipino import regime on spirits. On 21 December 2011, the WTO appellate body upheld the decision by the dispute settlement body in August which found against the Philippines on taxes imposed on imported distilled alcohols. The dispute settlement body found on behalf of the EU and the United States in their complaints to the WTO (DS 396 and DS 403) about the excise tax regime that was put in place in the Philippines in 1997 and toughened in 2004. According to the complainants, the regime has led to tax rates being imposed on imported spirits that are 10 to 50 times greater than those imposed on locally produced spirits. (EH/transl.rt)