WTO rejects Malaysian complaint
WTO rejects Malaysian complaint
GENEVA (AP): The World Trade Organization on Friday rejected
complaints by Malaysia that the United States continued to impose
illegal restrictions on some shrimp imports through a law aimed
at protecting endangered sea turtles.
A WTO panel ruled that - for the time being at least -
Malaysia had no recourse to sanctions under international trade
law, and it appealed to both sides to work together on
conservation measures to protect turtles.
Malaysia had complained to the WTO that Washington should have
fully repealed a law that bans imports of shrimp from countries
which use trawling nets that trap the turtles.
Only countries where shrimp nets are equipped with turtle-
excluder devices costing about US$75 are allowed to export to the
United States. Environmental experts have said nets without such
devices are killing up to 150,000 turtles a year.
Following complaints from Malaysia, Pakistan, India and
Thailand, the U.S. law was ruled illegal by the WTO almost two
years ago, angering environmentalists who saw it as proof the WTO
failed to take account of environmental concerns.
The United States was given until December 1999 to change its
system. But instead of repealing the legislation, it changed its
guidelines and put into place a program of assistance to
countries to help them equip their fishing fleet with turtle
excluders.
It also lifted the restrictions on Pakistan after deciding
that country had sufficiently strong measures to protect turtles.
In its ruling issued Friday, the panel declared itself
satisfied with U.S. action to comply with the original WTO ruling
but stressed that there should be more "serious good faith
efforts to reach a multilateral agreement."
"The panel urges Malaysia and the United States to cooperate
fully in order to conclude as soon as possible an agreement which
will permit the protection and conservation of sea turtles to the
satisfaction of all interests involved and taking into account
the principle that States have common but differentiated
responsibilities to conserve and protect the environment."