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United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk has announced that the United States has requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel to examine Indonesia’s trade-restrictive measures applied to horticultural products, animals and animal products.
The USTR stated that Indonesia has created a complex web of import licensing requirements that, along with quotas, have the effect of unfairly restricting US exports. These measures, it added, appear to be designed to protect Indonesia’s domestic agriculture industry.
“Indonesia’s import licensing requirements and quotas adversely affect a wide range of American agricultural exports and severely reduce Indonesian consumers’ access to high-quality American products,” said Kirk. “We will continue to ensure that our trading partners play by the rules and fight to support each job here at home affected by unfair restrictions abroad.”
In late 2011, Indonesia passed regulations establishing trade restricting import licensing requirements for horticultural products. Those regulations were revised in September 2012 to include even more onerous requirements for horticultural imports. The affected products include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, flowers, dried fruits and vegetables, and juices.
Indonesia has long maintained similar import licensing and quota regimes for animals, beef and other animal product imports. In December 2012, Indonesia announced substantial reductions in quotas for beef and other animal product imports, further restricting access to the Indonesian market.
Through its measures establishing and administering those import licensing requirements and quotas, Indonesia is alleged to have acted inconsistently with several of its WTO obligations, including under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the Agreement on Agriculture, and the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.
In accordance with the WTO dispute settlement procedure, the US requested WTO consultations with Indonesia on January 10, 2013. The two parties held consultations on February 21-22 this year, but the consultations did not resolve the concerns.
March 15, 2013
Source: Tax News
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