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Malaysia had complained to the WTO that Washington should have fully repealed a law that bans imports of shrimp from countries which use trawling nets that trap the turtles.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."