Russia requests WTO consideration of decision on dispute with EU on energy adjustments, approval expected at end of Aug - Reshetnikov
MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Russia has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to approve the decision of the panel on the dispute with the EU on energy adjustments, and consideration is scheduled for late August, Economic Development and Trade Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said during an interview with Interfax.
The minister noted that Russia expects that the EU will not contradict its own principles, and it will not challenge the decision of the arbitral group in the currently inactive appellate body.
Reshetnikov said that the dispute is very important for Russia in both relation to existing exports as well as in the future, and it concerns the annual export of goods from Russia at $200 million.
"This victory is very important for us. We hope that it will put an end to the illegal practice of discrimination against Russian manufacturers during anti-dumping investigations. The basis for such discrimination is our natural advantages, in fact, specifically access to resources that results in their comparative lower cost. This unfair and biased practice has been used by the EU for more than 15 years, and it affects annual exports worth about $200 million," the minister said.
"We have already requested the approval of the report of the panel by the WTO dispute settlement body. This issue is included in the agenda of its meeting at the end of August," he said.
According to Interfax, this issue will be considered on August 28 at a meeting of the WTO dispute settlement body, and if the EU does not appeal before that time, the WTO decision will be final.
"For the EU, this is a test of adherence to principles. By submitting an "appeal to void" [the appellate body in the WTO has not been in session since December owing to U.S. actions], the EU will cease to differ from those WTO members that itself will penalize for illegal actions, and, at the same time, would hinder to the dispute resolution process," Reshetnikov said about the possibility of the EU filing an appeal to the non-functioning appellate body.
"Such a step, if it is nevertheless taken, is hardly compatible with the declared desire of the EU to preserve stability of the multilateral trading system; therefore, we still hope for the conscientious and immediate fulfillment by the EU of its international obligations in full as required by WTO rules," the minister said.
As previously reported, the WTO panel at the end of July supported Russia in a dispute with the EU on the so-called energy adjustments. If the decision comes into force, the EU will have to revise the current anti-dumping measures against welded pipes from Russia, as well as annul the current anti-dumping duty on Russian ammonium nitrate, the former director of the department of trade negotiations of the Economic Development Ministry and current chair of trade policy at the Higher School of Economics Maxim Medvedkov, said.
The full version of the interview with the minister that is dedicated to the 8th anniversary of Russia's accession to the WTO will be published on Monday on the news feed and on Interfax's website.