Brussels, 30/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union and the United States have managed to settle one of the large number of disputes that have been poisoning their trade relations, this time concerning customs duty levied by Belgium in 1997 and 1998 on "Uncle Ben's" rice imports produced by the US agrifood giant Mars Inc. Using "rather over-zealous" analyses (according to an EU expert), Belgium had levied customs duties for untreated rice to the rice in question, under the common customs scheme. This was challenged by the US company in a Belgian court, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the WTO in Geneva. The European Commission has reached agreement with the US, which has agreed to withdraw its suit, in return for a refund of the duty unduly charged by the Belgian customs services (around EUR 3 million).