archives: WTO InfoAgriculture
European Court Adviser Backs Firm's Claim Against Illegal EU Ban on U.S. Hormone Beef
International Trade Daily
Thursday, May 22, 2003
ISSN 1533-1350
NewsBRUSSELS--A European Court of Justice advisory official ruled May 20 that a French company should be allowed compensation because the European Union has failed to implement a World Trade Organization decision that ruled as illegal the EU's ban on American beef treated with growth hormones. The ECJ's Advocate General (AG), whose opinion is not binding on the ECJ but is adhered to in most cases, said the French firm Biret, which wants to import American hormone-treated beef, was entitled to compensation because WTO law is directly applicable in the EU.
"The EU has failed to implement the recommendations or decisions within the reasonable period allowed by the WTO," the ECJ AG said in a press statement.
Should the ECJ high court concur with the AG, it would overturn a lower EU court ruling that dismissed the application for damages by Biret because it said the WTO rulings "in view of their nature and structure do not in principle form part of the rules by which the Court of Justice reviews the legality of acts adopted by the EU institutions."
Biret appealed the ruling of the European Court of First Instance to the higher ECJ court.
The ECJ Advocate General said that rulings by the WTO dispute settlement body, which was set up to rule on trade disputes between countries, "must be unconditionally implemented." It noted that the WTO ruling handed down in 1998 against the EU's ban on American hormone treated beef gave the EU 15 months to either provide new scientific information to back up its case or lift the restrictions.
The Advocate General also said that while the WTO ruling had "direct applicability" in the EU it does not give the company the right to demand the lifting of the import ban on American-hormone treated beef. The AG said that the ruling does, however, entitle the plaintiff to a "right to monetary compensation."
"There is a fundamental right to freedom of economic activity and ... it is unfair to deny a citizen a damages claim where the Community legislature, through inaction, has continued to maintain a state of affairs contrary to WTO law for a period of four years after the expiry of the period allowed for implementation of the DSB recommendation and thereby further unlawfully restricted the fundamental rights of the citizen."
The ECJ high court is expected to issue a final ruling on the case later in 2003 or in early 2004.
The full text of the AG's ruling can be found at the following internet site: http://www.curia.eu.int.
Copyright © 2003 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.
**********************************
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
wto news | wto info | www.agp.org (archives) | www.all4all.org