Brussels, 22/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission reacted with both irritation and "regret" at the announcement made on Tuesday in Washington by the US Representative for Trade, Robert Zoellick, according to which the USA has requested the opening of formal consultations at the WTO for protesting against the absence of a common and uniform customs administration in the European Union. According to the US government, this lack of uniformity in the EU's customs system is penalising US exports and particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The problem is not a new one, but it has taken on a new dimension after EU enlargement on 1 May, according to Washington. Mr Zoellick complained "Many important aspects of customs administration in the EU are handled differently by different Member States' customs authorities, resulting in inconsistencies from State to State. Although the EU is a customs union, there is no single EU customs administration. The approach of presidential elections is certainly a reason for the timing of the complaint. In a communiqué released by European Commissioner Pascal Lamy's spokesperson it declared that, "We regret the US move to bring this issue to the WTO rather than using the bilateral EU-US Joint Customs Council, which would have provided a better forum for resolving these issues". The spokesperson stated that "We now hope that any disagreement over this matter can be satisfactorily resolved in consultations and that we do not need to move to litigation" adding, "the consultations will give us an opportunity to explain to the US that we fully comply with all WTO rules relating to customs matters". European Commission sources affirm that the US complaint at the WTO has no legal basis given that according to the Commission, the EU fulfils all its customs obligations laid down by the WTO. The Commission therefore asserts that "WTO law does not require any WTO member to establish a centralised structure dealing with customs". The Commission has also set up several legal, institutional and administrative tools under the responsibility of the Commission to ensure a uniform customs treatment in different Member States. The US on the other hand, see the WTO rules as clearly stipulating that Member States have to apply their customs legislation in a "uniform, impartial and reasonable way". They also expect them to set up courts that can revise and possibly correct administrative action taken in the customs domain. Mr Zoellick says that none of these conditions are met by the EU, which creates problems for US exporters, for example when products are classified (and therefore taxed) differently in one Member State from another. WTO consultations can last up to 60 days, possibly followed by the setting up of an appropriately constituted panel.