In a ruling made on Wednesday, 21 December, the World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrators before whom an appeal was brought by the EU and Colombia over their dispute on frozen chips ruled mostly in favour of the EU. They found that Colombia was not justified in imposing the anti-dumping duties that it had implemented on imports of frozen chips from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.
This procedure is an alternative to the traditional WTO Appellate Body, which has been blocked for years. Both parties had decided to use it in July 2020, even before hearing the outcome of the initial arbitration. This judgment, which had circulated in October, already ruled against Bogotá (see EUROPE 13039/20).
Specifically, the WTO arbitrators confirmed that the anti-dumping investigation carried out by Colombia had not complied with the rules, particularly those on calculating the dumping margin and analysing the potential injury caused.
However, they disagreed with one of the initial panel’s rulings regarding the justification for the investigation: contrary to what the European Union was arguing, Colombia had sufficient evidence to launch an investigation, according to the ruling on appeal.
Nevertheless, the arbitrators upheld three of the four rulings made by the initial arbitration panel in October 2022 and have called on Bogotá to bring its measures in compliance with the arbitration.
The EU welcomed this decision, but it especially commended the alternative appeal procedure, which was able to produce results in fewer than 90 days. This was possible because the EU and Colombia approved the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which provides a way to circumvent the traditional Appellate Body.
“Today’s final ruling shows the value of resolving trade disputes through binding, independent adjudication via the MPIA. But the EU remains firmly committed to getting the WTO Appellate Body up and running again”, declared European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)