WTO Panel Backs EU in Dispute With Russia on Light Commercial Vehicles

The WTO's arbitration panel said Russia violated several rules when introducing excessive anti-dumping duties on exports of Italian and German light commercial vehicles.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An arbitration panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on Friday that Russia violated a number of WTO rules when introducing excessive anti-dumping duties on exports of Italian and German light commercial vehicles and recommended that Moscow should remove this protectionist measure.

"We conclude that, to the extent that the measures at issue have been found to be inconsistent with the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the GATT 1994, they have nullified or impaired benefits accruing to the European Union under these agreements," the panel said in a report.

"…We recommend that the Russian Federation bring its measures into conformity with its obligations under the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the GATT 1994," the report said.

According to the panel, the parties have 60 days to appeal the ruling, otherwise Russia is expected to remove its duties on LCV's from the EU.

The EU brought the LCV dispute case to the WTO in 2014 after Russia introduced anti-dumping duties on imports of LCVs from Germany, Italy and Turkey in 2013.

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) established an arbitration panel at its meeting on October 20, 2014.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!