Brussels, 21/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 May, the EU called for the opening of consultations at the WTO with Russia on the anti-dumping duty brought in by Moscow on imports of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) from Germany and Italy.
The EU takes the view that the anti-dumping duty imposed by Russia on imports of commercial vehicles from Europe - 23% on vehicles from Italy and 29.6% on those from Germany - contravene WTO rules, on both procedural and substantive grounds. “The duties (…) are significantly hampering access to the Russian market”, the Commission stresses in a press release. “The trade restrictions are incompatible with WTO law and mean that exports of LCVs from Germany and Italy have not benefited from the concessions made by Russia in relation to its WTO accession in 2012”, the European executive adds.
The Eurasian Economic Commission (Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia) decided on 14 May 2013 to bring in anti-dumping duties on imports of LCVs from Germany, Italy and Turkey (the tax stands at 11.1% for the last of these). As neither Belarus nor Kazakhstan are members of the WTO, the request for consultations was addressed to Russia only.
The products concerned are LCVs of a gross weight of between 2.8 and 3.5 tonnes, van-type bodies and diesel engines of up to 3000 cm3, designed for the transport of goods of up to 2 tonnes or combined goods and passenger transport.
In 2012, EU exports of LCVs to Russia broke the €100 million mark, but has fallen since Russia introduced a recycling tax on certain imported vehicles in September 2012. The EU has already challenged Russia before the WTO over this matter (DS 462).
The consultations, which are the starting point in the formal dispute settlement procedure at the WTO, last for 60 days. If the parties fail to reach a satisfactory solution after this period, the plaintiff may ask for the issue to be brought before a special group to rule on the dispute. (EH)