EU Hails Victory In WTO Case Against Russian Duties

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

30 January 2017

The European Commission has hailed victory in a World Trade Organisation case concerning Russian anti-dumping duties on certain light commercial vehicles from Germany and Italy.

The Commission said that the measures concern light commercial vehicles between 2.8 tonnes and 3.5 tonnes in weight; van-type bodies; and diesel engines with a cylinder capacity not exceeding 3.000cm cubed, designed for the transport of cargo of up to two tonnes or for the combined transport of cargo and passengers.

The measures were adopted by the Eurasian Economic Union and currently apply to EU exports to its member countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The Commission explained that the case concerns Russia specifically, because when the EU brought the case before the WTO in 2014, Russia was the only member of the Eurasian Economic Union bound by WTO rules.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström commented: "I am glad to see a very clear ruling by the WTO against one of the unfair, protectionist, and anti-competitive measures that we see today in Russia. The duties on light commercial vehicles are not in line with commitments by Russia at the time it joined the WTO. Those measures now have to be removed. I hope to see Russia honoring its international obligations and respecting this ruling without delay."

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