EU, Australia to Implement WTO Dispute Panel Rulings

The EU and Australia will implement recent World Trade Organization panel rulings that found the nations lost in their respective disputes, the countries said during the May 24 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. The EU dispute involved the bloc's measures on palm oil and biofuels from Malaysia, while Australia's dispute focused on Australian antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese imports.

The EU and Australia said they need a "reasonable period of time to implement the ruling," the WTO said. The bloc said it will discuss the length of this period with Malaysia "at the earliest available opportunity," and Australia said it will "engage with China to agree on this period of time."

During the meeting, China issued a status report regarding a dispute on its antidumping duties on stainless steel products from Japan. China said its Ministry of Commerce on May 8 concluded a "re-investigation" on Japanese stainless steel goods that fully implemented the dispute panel ruling. Japan replied that it was "deeply regrettable that China has decided to maintain the measures at issue," the WTO said. Japan said it would consider "further actions as necessary."