WTO backs Japan in Ontario solar promo row

GENEVA — A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel has upheld Japan's claim that the provincial government of Ontario unfairly treated local firms in its solar power promotion program in violation of the organization's rules, sources said.

According to an interim report by the Geneva-based WTO, Ontario's fee-in-tariff system requiring solar and other power generation facilities to meet certain local-content levels runs counter to WTO rules, supporting the position by Japan and the European Union, the sources said Tuesday.