Brussels, 05/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Led by the EU and the United States, a dozen member countries of the WTO are complaining about obstacles to import set in place by Argentina since 2008.
At the meeting of the WTO's Council for Trade in Goods on 30 March, a dozen member countries expressed their concerns about the import licences adopted by Argentina. In a joint declaration, Australia, South Korea, the United States, Israel, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Panama, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey, supported by Mexico, regretted the fact that since 2008, Argentina has considerably extended the list of products subject to import licences, including laptop computers, home appliances, air conditioners, tractors, machinery and tools, cars and car parts, plastics, chemicals, tyres, toys, footwear, textiles and apparel, luggage, bicycles and paper products. These countries also spoke out against the announcement made in January 2012 by Buenos Aires of new regulations to step up the requirements for product acceptance, which will create long delays and increase costs for exporters. China, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong also expressed their concerns. Argentina maintains that these measures are compatible with WTO rules. (EH/transl.fl)