07.10.2009

The United States is expected to request a World Trade Organisation panel to end a long-running dispute with the European Union over Brussels' ban on imports of U.S. chicken. The US Trade Representative's office (USTR) said consultations from an earlier US complaint failed to resolve the issue.
The case involves poultry treated with chemicals which according to Washington have been judged safe by both US and European food safety authorities.
EU in 1997 began blocking shipment of virtually all US poultry on this basis and that talks have failed to resolve the issue.
The initial complaint was filed in January at the WTO and talks in February produced no agreement. The new complain calls for the establishment of a panel when the WTO Dispute Settlement Body meets October 23.
US officials have asked for EU approval for poultry treated with chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate, and peroxyacids to contain microbes.