26.10.2009

The European Union blocked U.S. efforts to have the World Trade Organization decide whether its ban on imports of  american poultry break global trade rules. The EU won’t be able to prevent a second request, likely next month.
Chicken and turkey from the U.S. are processed using a cleansing technique called pathogen-reduction treatments, which is forbidden in the EU. The U.S. lodged a complaint against the ban in January, saying no scientific evidence backs up the EU argument that the use of the treatments poses a health risk, and announced on Oct. 8 it would ask WTO judges to rule on the case.
The EU halted imports of U.S. poultry products in April 1997.
Under the WTO’s dispute rules, the EU can fend off the first U.S. request to set up a panel of judges to rule on the complaint. It can’t block a second request, which typically comes a month later.