RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY SEMICONDUCTORS (DRAMS)

OF ONE MEGABIT OR ABOVE FROM KOREA

Communication from the Chairman of the Panel

            The following communication, dated 18 September 1998, addressed to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), is circulated in accordance with Article 12.9 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).

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            Article 12.8 of the DSU stipulates that the period in which a panel shall conduct its examination, from the date that the composition and terms of reference of the panel have been agreed upon until the date that the final report is issued to the parties shall, as a general rule, not exceed six months.

            Article 12.9 of the DSU states that when a panel considers that it cannot issue its report within six months, it shall inform the DSB in writing of the reasons for the delay, together with an estimate of the period within which it will issue its report.

            The Panel on "United States - Anti-Dumping Duty on Dynamic Random Access Memory Semiconductors (DRAMS) of One Megabit or Above from Korea " was established by the DSB on 16 January 1998.  The Director-General composed the Panel, pursuant to Article 8.7 of the DSU, on 19 March 1998.