Argentina wins dispute with U.S. over beef
WTO rules in favour of Argentina, saying Washington violated trade rules with ban.
A dispute resolution panel with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favour of Argentina yesterday in a lawsuit filed against the United States more than 12 years ago due to a decision to ban Argentine beef imports. The ban led Argentina to lose about US$2 billion in potential exports, according to government estimates.
The report comes less than one month after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced changes to import rules regarding imports of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from Argentina and Brazil, authorizing imports from both countries before the WTO ruling.
The WTO panel found, among other things, that the ban applied against Argentina had no “scientific excuse” as it’s not based on a risk analysis. When initially applied in 2001 during an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country, the ban was in line with international standards; that changed when the outbreak was overcome in 2007, according to the WTO ruling. Additionally, the US arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminated between WTO members by allowing imports of fresh beef from Uruguay while prohibiting imports of the same product from Argentina.
“The panel widely agreed with the claims of Argentina, concluding that the sanitary measures applied by the US are incompatible with international trade rules,” the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. “They acknowledged that those measures aren’t based on a risk analysis, discriminate among countries with similar characteristics and are restrictive.”
The resolution was widely expected and the US stance on fresh beef produced in Argentina has changed since the complaint was filed in 2012. In August 2014, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced its intention to add Patagonia to a list of countries deemed free of FMD and rinderpest. And in June this year, USDA announced rule changes that would allow imports of fresh beef from Argentina. Once the rules go into effect, the US will allow imports from Argentina.
“This triumph of Argentina at the WTO will eliminate the access barriers to the United States. The decision will have a positive effect on other WTO members that have unjustified bans on Argentine beef such as Canada, Korea and Japan,” the Foreign Ministry said. “We expect the new US sanitary regulations to be implemented in September this year.”
Once the market is officially open, Argentina will be capable of exporting US$280 million of beef to the United States per year, according to estimates from the Economy Ministry. Argentina lost US$1.6 billion of beef exports to the U.S. over the last eight years, besides the US$432 million that could have been exported to Canada and Mexico as partners in NAFTA.
At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/194795/country-wins-dispute-with-us-over-beef
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While beef itself has only a minor share of Argentina's exports and overall economy (around 1% in each), it remains a fairly symbolic product due to the importance of beef in the Argentine diet (beef today makes up only half of all meat intake in Argentina; but at 132 lbs. per person annually, it's still consumed more than anywhere else in the world).
It's good to see the subsidy-dependent (and politically medieval) U.S. beef lobby feel the bite of free trade, as the right always expects others to. It's even better to know that U.S. consumers may soon be able to enjoy Argentine beef right here at home - the way free trade, at its best, intended.
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