WTO says Russian import duties violated the organization’s rules

The World Trade Organization said Russian import duties on paper, refrigerators and palm oil exceeded the amount it had agreed to when it joined the organization in August 2012.    The World Trade Organization (WTO) confirmed last Friday that Russian import duties on paper, refrigerators and palm oil exceeded the amount it had agreed to when it joined the organization.
   This is the first case ever decided against Russia by the WTO.
   The decision followed the dispute settlement procedure activated by the European Union (EU) in October 2014, WTO said.
   On 11 of the 12 measures at issue, the WTO panel ruled in favor of the EU, saying the nation’s tariff treatment of the goods was not consistent with its obligation to not apply tariffs exceeding levels it had committed to, Reuters said.
   “Despite being a WTO member since August 2012, Russia has not yet fulfilled some of its commitments made before its accession,” WTO said. “This includes one of the WTO’s most fundamental rules, according to which its members must not apply customs duties in excess of the ‘bound rates’ they commit themselves to in their respective schedules.”
   For certain paper products, Russia has been applying duties of 15 percent or 10 percent, instead of the 5 percent the nation had agreed to upon joining the WTO.
   Each year, the EU exports some 240 million euros (U.S. $272.1 million based on today’s exchange rate) worth of paper products to Russia, while annual exports of palm oil are worth 50 million euros and those of refrigerators total 150 million euros.
   “In the recent past, the EU has initiated Dispute Settlement procedures on a number of other trade barriers imposed by Russia, such as recycling fees on cars, a ban on import of pigs and pork, and antidumping duties on light commercial vehicles,” WTO said. “These other procedures are ongoing.”
   Russia has already brought some of the challenged measures into compliance over the course of the panel’s deliberations.
   The panel report can be appealed within 60 days, but if no appeal is filed within that timeframe, the report will be adopted and Russia will be bound to comply with the recommendation to bring all concerned measures into line with the WTO’s rules.