On 21 August 2012, the United States requested consultations with Argentina concerning certain measures imposed by Argentina on the importation of goods.
The United States challenges: (i) the requirement to present for approval of a non-automatic import licence: Declaración Jurada Anticipada de Importación (DJAI); (ii) non-automatic licences required in the form of Certificados de Importación (CIs) for the importation of certain goods; (iii) requirements imposed on importers to undertake certain trade-restrictive commitments; and (iv) the alleged systematic delay in granting import approval or refusal to grant such approval, or the grant of import approval subject to importers undertaking to comply with certain allegedly trade-restrictive commitments.
The United States claims that the challenged measures appear to be inconsistent with:
- Articles III:4, X:1, X:2, X:3(a) and XI:1 of the GATT 1994;
- Article 2 of the TRIMs Agreement;
- Articles 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures; and
- Article 11 of the Safeguards Agreement.
On 24 August 2012, Mexico requested to join the consultations. On 29 August 2102, Turkey requested to join the consultations. On 30 August 2012, the European Union and Guatemala requested to join the consultations. On 31 August 2012, Australia, Canada and Japan requested to join the consultations. Subsequently, Argentina informed the DSB that it had accepted the requests of Australia, Canada, the European Union, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico and Turkey to join the consultations. On 6 December 2012, the United States requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on 17 December 2012, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel.
Panel and Appellate Body proceedings
At its meeting on 28 January 2013, the DSB established a single panel pursuant to Article 9.1 of the DSU to examine this dispute, DS438 and DS445. Australia, Canada, China, Ecuador, the European Union, Guatemala, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Turkey reserved their third party rights. On 15 May 2013, the European Union, the United States and Japan requested the Director-General to compose the panel. On 27 May 2013, the Director-General composed the panel.
| Brief Date | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| 02/11/2014 | Second Integrated Executive Summary of the United States |
| 02/04/2014 | Comments of the United States on Argentina’s Answers to the Second Set of Panel Questions |
| 01/14/2014 | Answers of the United States to the Second Set of Panel Questions |
| 12/11/2013 | Closing Statement of the United States at the Second Panel Hearing |
| 21/10/2013 | Opening Statement of the United States at the Second Panel Hearing |
| 11/14/2013 | Second Written Submission of the United States |
| 10/30/2013 | First Integrated Executive Summary of the United States |
| 10/11/2013 | Answers of the United States to the First Set of Panel Questions |
| 09/26/2013 | Closing Statement of the United States at the First Panel Hearing |
| 09/24/2013 | Opening Statement of the United States at the First Panel Hearing |
| 07/03/2013 | First Written Submission of the United States |
| Brief Date | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| 11/03/14 | U.S. Opening Statement |
| 10/14/2014 | U.S. Appellee Submission |
