BajaNomad

US "dolphin safe" labeling deemed a WTO violation

Cardon Man - 6-4-2011 at 06:55 AM

http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2011/05/us-dolphin-safe-tuna-labeling-rule-deemed-a-wto-violation.html

"In a confidential interim report circulated to the United States and Mexico earlier this month, a World Trade Organization panel found that U.S. labeling requirements that preclude many Mexican tuna exports from receiving a "dolphin safe" label in the United States violate international trade rules, according to informed sources.

The interim panel report found that the U.S. requirements violate Article 2.2 of the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). That article forbids WTO members from implementing "technical regulations" that are "more trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfill a legitimate objective."