US Asks WTO To Investigate EU Customs Practices
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
23 September 2004

Transatlantic trade relations suffered another setback this week after the United States government asked the World Trade Organisation to investigate EU customs procedures, which it alleges are being applied inconsistently.

The US complaint stems from the fact that many important aspects of customs administration in the EU are handled differently by different member states, resulting in administrative inconsistencies. Consequently, the US argues that its firms are put at a competitive disadvantage.

"Today our exporters face a common market with non-common customs practices,” observed United States Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, adding that:

“We hope that the consultations we have requested today will help address some of the problems faced by US exporters, and in the process strengthen the integration of the EU.”

Meanwhile, the European Commission stated that it regretted the US decision to take its complaint to the WTO “rather than using the bilateral EU-US Joint Customs Cooperation Committee, which would have provided a better forum for resolving these issues.”

“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,” it announced, concluding:

“The consultations will give us an opportunity to explain to the US that we fully comply with all WTO rules relating to customs matters.”

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