| | |  Editorials | Environmental | October 2008 
Mexico Launches Trade Dispute with U.S. Over Tuna
 Jonathan Lynn - Reuters
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Mexico has launched a dispute with the United States at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over U.S. rules which Mexico says prevent its tuna from being labelled "dolphin-safe," a WTO document shows.
A note from Mexico dated Oct. 24 and published on the WTO website said Mexico wanted to consult with the United States under WTO rules because it believed U.S. labelling of its tuna was unfair.
The request rekindles a trade dispute that goes to the heart of the question of whether trade rules should take environmental considerations into account. This row centres on the use and abuse of purse seine nets.
Mexico said U.S. measures prohibited Mexican tuna from being labelled as "dolphin-safe", even though the tuna was harvested in a way that conformed to "dolphin-safe" standards agreed by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.
At the same time, Mexico said U.S. rules allowed similar tuna products from other countries, including the United States itself, to be labelled "dolphin-safe".
"It appears that Mexican products are accorded treatment less favourable than like products of national origin and like products originating in any other country," it said.
This broke WTO rules by not giving Mexican products the same treatment as those from other countries, it said.
The case revived an earlier dispute between the two neighbours at the WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
In 1991 Mexico had complained to the GATT that the United States was banning its exports of tuna because they did not comply with U.S. standards to protect dolphins that could be caught in purse seine nets used to catch tuna.
A GATT dispute panel said the United States could not ban Mexican tuna imports just because the way the tuna was caught did not satisfy U.S. regulations, and that GATT rules did not allow one country to take trade action to enforce its own laws in another country.
But the panel did conclude that a U.S. policy requiring tuna products to be labelled "dolphin-safe" was permissible as long as it did not discriminate between trading partners or between domestic and foreign products.
Under WTO rules, Mexico and the United States now have 60 days to resolve the question, otherwise Mexico can ask for a WTO dispute panel to settle the row.
(Editing by Louise Ireland) |
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