US brings WTO case over EU ban on chicken exports; EU airs regrets on US' action

The US government Friday (January 16) said it will bring a challenge at the World Trade Organization over a European Union ban on chickens cleaned using chlorine, which for the past 11 years has prevented US chicken farmers from exporting to the EU. 

 

"The poultry treatments at issue have been widely and safely used in the United States for many years," Susan Schwab, the US Trade Representative, said in a statement.

 

The case will begin with a discussion period of 60 days, after which the US can request a panel at the WTO to resolve the dispute.

 

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said earlier this year that it would push the EU national governments and the European Parliament to end the ban, but both the parliament and the governments rejected this effort.

 

On the other hand, the European Commission voiced regret at Washington's decision to file WTO action challenging European Union restrictions on US poultry washed in chlorine.

 

"We regret the US decision to resort to WTO dispute settlement on this issue," European Commission spokesman for trade issues Peter Power told AFP.

 

"We will carefully study the US claims and will engage in consultations in good faith."

 

Earlier, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Washington was requesting WTO dispute settlement consultations on the EU restrictions on poultry processed with "pathogen reduction treatments."

 

Power however insisted that "there is no ban on poultry from the US. We apply our regulatory measures to both domestic and imported goods alike."

 

The US move comes a day after it imposed new tariffs on European products in retaliation for an EU ban on US hormone-treated beef, escalating a long-standing trade dispute.

 

In May last year, EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen proposed lifting restrictions on US poultry under certain conditions, including special labels identifying the process and guarantees the meat would be rinsed.

 

But veterinarians, EU governments and the European Parliament couldn't be convinced and EU farm ministers in December rejected attempts to lift the restrictions on US poultry.

 

The US food industry uses the chlorine washing process on its poultry to kill off bacteria, including salmonella, before it reaches consumers' plates.

 

The practice is banned in the EU, where veterinary experts favour hygiene controls throughout the hatching and rearing cycle to better ensure that the bacteria doesn't develop in the first place.