November 21, 1999 | Dow Jones Newswires | By Ray Brindal; 612-6208-0902; [email protected]
CANBERRA -- Australia's Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, Monday welcomed the setting up by the World Trade Organization of an investigative panel to look into the legality of U.S. import restrictions on lamb.
The WTO dispute settlement panel was set up after complaints by Australia and New Zealand, which supply about 95% of U.S. lamb imports.
"The U.S. import restrictions aren't justified under the WTO, and we shall be making that point very strongly to the panel," Vaile said in a statement.
"The U.S. decision to impose a tariff-quota on Australian lamb exports impacts adversely on our lamb producers who have worked hard to develop the U.S. market over a number of years," he added.
The higher U.S. tariffs on lamb and the quota came into force July 22 to protect lamb producers threatened by imports.
Vaile said the government, which is working closely with New Zealand, is determined to pursue the issue vigorously through the WTO dispute settlement procedure.
He said the establishment of the panel follows the failure of bilateral consultations with the U.S. under the auspices of the WTO.
"The establishment of the panel is an important step," he added.36485:
