US requests WTO panel on EU poultry restrictions

The US has requested the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel regarding the EU's 12-year-old ban on imports of US poultry.

The EU had banned imports of US poultry products processed with pathogen reduction treatments (PRTs).

USTR spokeswoman Nefeterius McPherson said the US poultry subject to the ban is safe, and there is no scientific evidence that the use of PRTs pose health risk to consumers.

Meanwhile, the EU has expressed its regrets over the US request for a WTO panel.

Litigation through the WTO is not the best way to deal with complicated matters like the European Union's dispute with the US over the cleaning of poultry carcasses, the EU said Thursday (Oct 8).

Responding to a US request for a WTO panel to rule on the matter, EU trade spokesman Lutz Guellner said the EU "regrets" the decision and would defend itself rigorously.

EU food safety laws do not "discriminate against imported products," he said.