Svetlana Zaitseva, FAO Materials of the workshop on Resolving agricultural trade issues through the WTO organized by FAO in collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in Kyiv on June 7, 2017. http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-events-new/wtokiev/en/ http://www.fao.org/europe/news/detail-news/en/c/892730/

1. Legal instruments in the WTO:
Ukraine’s experience
Svetlana Zaitseva
7 June 2017
Kiev
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2. WTO dispute settlement:
case by case
 What are chances for a successful case?
 What does business want (systemic or
situational solutions)?
 Which tools are more preferable?
 What if we win but the losing party fails to
comply with the ruling?
 Do we want/are we ready to bring the
dispute up to the compensation and
retaliation stage?
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3. WTO dispute settlement:
Ukrainian experience3

4. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
Addressing an issue with “soft tools”
 Ukraine - Georgia (2008): Violation of
National Treatment
 Clear stance of producers presented by
a business association + factual material
+ government’s position = issue settled
without the WTO dispute settlement
procedure
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5. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
Ukraine – Armenia (2010) DS 411 - Measures
affecting the importation and internal sale of
cigarettes and alcoholic beverages
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request (not
established)
 Armenia renewed national treatment and
complied with its obligations under the
WTO Accession Protocol
 Exporters didn’t report to the government
on new facts/practice of discrimination in
cross-border community movement
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6. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
 Ukraine – Moldova (2011) DS 421 -
Environmental charge
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request made,
rejected, and not re-made
 Parties formally in the consultation phase
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7. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
 Moldova – Ukraine ( 2011) DS 423 -
Taxes on distilled spirits)
 Counter-claim
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request made,
rejected, and not re-made
 Validity of the measure concerned
expired, dispute subject no more
relevant
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8. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
 Ukraine – Australia (2012) DS 434 – Plain packaging
requirements
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request
 Panel established
 Working procedures and timetable agreed upon
 Submission prepared
 Panel work suspended (Art. 12.12 DSU) for 1 year
 Panel authority expired
 Third-party rights in other countries’ cases
preserved
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9. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
 Ukraine – RF ( 2015) : DS 499 – Importation
of railway equipment
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request
 Panel established (2 March 2017)
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10. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
 Ukraine – RF DS 512 - Traffic in transit
 Consultations
 Panel establishment request
 Panel not established yet
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11. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
Cases against Ukraine (as respondent):
 Moldova – Ukraine DS 423 – Taxes on
distilled spirits
 Japan – Ukraine DS 468 – Safeguard
measures on passenger cars
 RF – Ukraine DS 493 –Anti-dumping
measure on ammonium nitrate
 RF – Ukraine DS 525 – Persistent trade
restrictions
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12. WTO legal remedies: third
party
Articles 4 and 10 DSU subject to condition: “…having
a substantial interest in a matter”
Enables:
 access to the case in the consultation stage
(opportunity of presenting own position on the
case)
 access to the case in the panel work stage
 access to party documents, questions and
answers of case parties
 presenting the party’s position on the case (for or
against)
Opportunities of participating as a third party in
cases should be neglected
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13. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
Analytical Index
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp
_e/gatt_ai_e/gatt_ai_e.htm - the most
complete collection of WTO law
interpretations that should be considered
when drafting laws and other regulatory
legal acts on trade
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14. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
IMPORTANT !
Meaningful interaction between business
and authorities is a prerequisite for WTO
dispute settlement efforts
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15. WTO legal remedies:
Ukrainian experience
Svetlana Zaitseva
zaitsevas@yahoo.com
Thank you!
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