April 10, 2015

China files protest at WTO vs EU poultry tariffs

China has lodged a protest before the World Trade Organisation over the poultry meat quota treaties the EU signed with Brazil and Thailand in 2012. The treaties assigned 96% of EU's quota for low-tariff poultry imports to the two countries. China and the rest of the world have only the remaining 4%.

The Ministry of Commerce said Chinese poultry companies pay tariffs around 40% more than those of their two foreign counterparts.

China claimed that the treaties, which took in March 2013, violated the WTO rules.

Sun Jiwen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said the treaties undermined the interests of Chinese poultry exporters, adding that the government's repeated calls for appropriate settlements weren't addressed.

Sun expressed the hope that the litigation China had initiated at the WTO would led to a settlement that protects the interests of the domestic industry.