China wins WTO appeal on US poultry ban

[18 June 2010] China has notched a victory in the dispute against the United States over the latter's ban on poultry imports, according to an interim report by the World Trade Organization (WTO). "We think the US will not try to impose a similar ban in the next fiscal year, since it would be regarded as open defiance of the latest WTO ruling," said an official of the Ministry of Commerce. The WTO interim ruling.. said the US import ban on China's poultry violates Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, or the SPS Agreement - which spells out how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures - as well as most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment and general elimination of quantitative restrictions under the WTO legal framework. The US can appeal against the decision, but the report will be considered the panel's final verdict if the US loses the appeal.