United States - Import Prohibition of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp Products - AB-1998-4 - Report of the Appellate Body

I.          Introduction : Statement of the Appeal........................................................................... 1

II.         Arguments of the Participants and Third Participants...................................................... 6

A.        Claims of Error by the United States – Appellant................................................ 6

 

1.         Non-requested Information from Non-governmental Organizations....... 6

2.         Article XX of the GATT 1994................................................................ 6

 

B.         India, Pakistan and Thailand – Joint Appellees................................................ 12

 

1.         Non-requested Information from Non-governmental Organizations..... 12

2.         Article XX of the GATT 1994.............................................................. 13

 

C.         Malaysia - Appellee.......................................................................................... 18

 

1.         Non-requested Information from Non-governmental Organizations..... 18

2.         Article XX of the GATT 1994.............................................................. 18

D.        Arguments of Third Participants....................................................................... 20

 

1.         Australia............................................................................................... 20

2.         Ecuador................................................................................................ 22

3.         European Communities......................................................................... 23

4.         Hong Kong, China................................................................................ 25

5.         Nigeria.................................................................................................. 27

 

III.       Procedural Matters and Rulings..................................................................................... 28

A.        Admissibility of the Briefs by Non-governmental Organizations Appended to the United States Appellant's Submission........................................................................................................ 28

B.         Sufficiency of the Notice of Appeal.................................................................... 31

 

IV.       Issues Raised in This Appeal........................................................................................ 34

 

V.        Panel Proceedings and Non-requested Information....................................................... 34

 

VI.       Appraising Section 609 Under Article XX of the GATT 1994...................................... 39

 

A.         The Panel's Findings and Interpretative Analysis............................................. 39

B.         Article XX(g): Provisional Justification of Section 609..................................... 46

 

1.         "Exhaustible Natural Resources"........................................................... 46

2.         "Relating to the Conservation of [Exhaustible Natural Resources]"...... 51

3.         "If Such Measures are Made Effective in conjunction with

            Restrictions on Domestic Production or Consumption"......................... 54

 

 

 

C.         The Introductory Clauses of Article XX:  Characterizing Section 609 under the Chapeau's Standards        55

 

1.         General Considerations......................................................................... 55

2.         "Unjustifiable Discrimination".............................................................. 63

3.         "Arbitrary Discrimination".................................................................... 72

 

VII.      Findings and Conclusions............................................................................................. 76