INTRODUCTION

Complaint by Guatemala

On 12 April 2013, Guatemala requested consultations with Peru pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture, Article 19 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (Customs Valuation Agreement) and Article XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), with respect to the imposition by Peru of an “additional duty” on imports of certain agricultural products.

Consultations were held on 14 and 15 May 2013, but failed to resolve the dispute.

Panel Establishment and Composition

On 13 June 2013, Guatemala requested the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to establish a panel pursuant to Articles 4.7 and 6 of the DSU, Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture, Article 19 of the Customs Valuation Agreement and Article XXIII:2 of the GATT 1994, with the standard terms of reference provided for in Article 7.1 of the DSU. At its meeting on 23 July 2013, the DSB established a panel pursuant to the request of Guatemala in document WT/DS457/2, in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU.

The Panel's terms of reference are the following:

On 19 September 2013, the parties agreed to the following composition of the Panel:

Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, Honduras, India, the Republic of Korea and the United States reserved their right to participate in the panel proceedings as third parties.

Panel Proceedings

After consultations with the parties, the Panel adopted its working procedures on 8 October 2013 and its timetable on 4 October 2013. The timetable was modified on 17 February 2014 and 10 April 2014, at the suggestion of the Panel in the first instance, and of the parties in the second.