EC TAKES KOREA TO WTO OVER SHIP SUBSIDIES

EC TAKES KOREA TO WTO OVER SHIP SUBSIDIES    The European Commission has requested the World Trade Organisation to set up formal proceedings under its dispute settlement mechanism over alleged unfair Korean shipbuilding practices.
   The EC said that the decision to go to the WTO was taken after the European Union and South Korea failed to reach an amicable solution to the long-standing dispute.
   “The lack of progress in our bilateral discussions so far has left us with no option but to take Korea to the WTO,” said EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. “I now call on Korea to swiftly settle this matter within the WTO consultations.”
   In these consultations, the European Commission will tell Korea that subsidies paid to Korean shipbuilders has caused a damage to the European Union shipbuilding industry and is in violation of WTO agreement on subsidies.