Report of the Appellate Body

Summary

INTRODUCTION

1. The European Communities, the United States, and Canada each appeals certain issues of law and legal interpretations developed in the Panel Report, United States – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hormones Dispute (the “Panel Report, US – Continued Suspension”), and the Panel Report, Canada – Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC – Hormones Dispute (the “Panel Report, Canada – Continued Suspension”). The Panels were established to consider complaints by the European Communities concerning the suspension of concessions or other obligations by the United States and by Canada against the European Communities because of the latter's alleged failure to comply with the recommendations and rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body (the “DSB”) stemming from the EC – Hormones dispute. The European Communities asserts that the United States and Canada must cease the suspension of concessions because the European Communities adopted Directive 2003/74/EC and notified it to the DSB as a measure taken to comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings in EC – Hormones.

2. Before the panels in EC – Hormones, the United States and Canada claimed that the ban imposed by the European Communities on meat from cattle treated with six hormones–oestradiol-17β, progesterone, testosterone, trenbolone acetate, zeranol, and melengestrol acetate (“MGA”)–was inconsistent with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the “SPS Agreement”), in particular, Articles 2, 3, and 5 thereof, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the “TBT Agreement”), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the “GATT 1994”).