Strasbourg, 15/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - By 92 votes for and one against, the European Parliament adopted a joint resolution tabled by four political groups (EPP-ED, PES, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL) on the strategy that should be adopted to put an end to the suspension on the imports of Spanish clementines decreed by the United States. It urges the Commission to "engage in a procedure at the WTO against the United States should an immediate solution not be found" and, while waiting for a settlement to the conflict, submit proposals aimed at compensating people affected by this unilateral decision. Parliament goes as far as establishing a link between the United States' attitude regarding clementines to that adopted over steel products. It considers this dispute as a "trade barrier, not as a plant health issue" (even though the source of the problem stems from the discovery of fly larvae in deliveries of Spanish clementines: Ed.). It claims that these measures have as goal to "exclude Community clementines from the American market to the benefit of its own production of citrus fruit and that of other third countries".
Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Franz Fischler (who stipulated that this issue would also be dealt with by Commissioners David Byrne and Pascal Lamy) declared that Spain considered that the best and fastest solution to settle this dispute was to bilaterally negotiate an amendment to the working programme (protocol), in force since 1983 between the to parties, on the export of citrus fruit, with the Americans themselves. The new protocol would be submitted for approval by the United States before the next delivery campaign in October, the Austrian Commissioner stipulated. "That may seem optimistic but, in April at the latest, we shall know if it is possible". He recalled that Spain had officially asked the Commission, on 14 February, to analyse whether the ban on the import of these products was compatible with WTO provisions, to possibly take a complaint to Geneva. He stipulated that the Commission was to submit this question to Geneva on 20 and 21 March to the SPS committee (responsible for verifying the respect of the Agreement on the implementation of the WTO health and plant health measures). At this stage, the Commission considers that there is a situation of violation of basic WTO trade rules, he said. Fischler drew attention to the fact that European citrus fruit farmers had asked American courts for the ban to be lifted. According to him, "it seems that it is the best way of proceeding from a legal point of view". Mr. Fischler, moreover, said that there was no provision providing for immediate compensation for this type of case. "Nevertheless, the Commission will do al it can for the negative effects of the American measures to be as limited a possible for the sectors concerned", he assured them.