United States - Origin marking requirement - Communication from the United States

 United States – Origin Marking Requirement

Communication from the United States

The following communication, dated 19 November 2020, from the delegation of the United States to the delegation of the Russian Federation, is circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) at the request of the United States.

 

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The United States has received your letter dated November 13, 2020, requesting to join in the consultations requested by Hong Kong, China, as circulated in document WT/DS597/1.

       

Article 4.11 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes provides that a Member other than the consulting Members that considers it has a substantial trade interest shall be joined in the consultations "provided that the Member to which the request for consultations was addressed agrees that the claim of substantial interest is well-founded." The request for consultations by Hong Kong, China, does not concern the marking of goods produced in the Russian Federation, and the Russian Federation's request to join the consultations does not even seek to explain its claim of substantial trade interest. 

 

Without prejudice to whether the consultations request raises issues of national security not susceptible to review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement, the United States does not consider that the Russian Federation's claim of a substantial trade interest in these consultations is well-founded. The United States is thus declining your request to join these consultations.