August 10, 2007

South-east Asian countries to bring Australian prawn import row before WTO

A group of South-east Asian countries including Thailand, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, are set to take their grievances over Australia's shrimp import restrictions before the World Trade Organization disputes panel in October.

The group claims that Australia's latest quarantine rules acted as a non-tariff trade barrier by protecting the US$51 million domestic prawn industry from fair international competition.

Thai officials and Biosecurity Australia (BA) representatives met earlier this week in Canberra in a desperate attempt to achieve mutual understanding, before the matter is brought before the WTO.

BA said that by end-September, all raw prawn imports would be banned and prawn cutlets and prawn meat must undergo additional environmental safety tests, a move that Thailand has denounced as unnecessary and unscientific.

Should Australia lose the dispute, it may have to pay compensations amounting to US$500 million for every year the restrictions last, said Harry Peters, president of the Seafood Importers Association of Australia.