Brussels, 28/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 25 January, the European Union formally requested consultations at the WTO over Thai customs practices which, it says, penalise European exports of wines and spirits to Thailand. The European Commission accuses Bangkok of systematically rejecting the declared price of EU products imported into Thailand and applying an arbitrary value instead. “These measures are arbitrary and damaging for EU companies seeking to do business in Thailand. We believe they are not compatible with WTO rules,” said European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in a press release. He went on, however, “We believe it will be possible to resolve this issue quickly and amicably”. The request for WTO consultations is the first stage before a formal complaint. If the consultations prove unsuccessful after 60 days, the EU will be entitled to ask for a WTO panel to be set up to rule on the legality of the Thai measures. In its reaction on Monday 28 January, Bangkok said it was ready to begin discussions on its customs practices applied to imports of wines and spirits from Europe, but denied that they were arbitrary. (E.H.)