INTRODUCTION

On 7 October 2002, the Government of the Republic of Argentina requested consultations with the Government of the United States of America pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (“the DSU”), Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (“the GATT 1994”), and Article 17.3 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 (“the Anti-Dumping Agreement”) concerning, inter alia, the determinations of the United States Department of Commerce (“the USDOC”) and the United States International Trade Commission (“the USITC”) in the sunset reviews of anti-dumping duty measure on oil country tubular goods (“OCTG”) from Argentina. The United States and Argentina consulted on 14 November and 17 December 2002, but failed to settle the dispute.

On 3 April 2003, Argentina requested the Dispute Settlement Body (“the DSB”) to establish a panel pursuant to Article XXIII of the GATT 1994, Article 6 of the DSU and Article 17 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement.

At its meeting on 19 May 2003, the DSB established a panel in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU to examine the matter referred to the DSB by Argentina in document WT/DS268/2. At that meeting, the parties to the dispute also agreed that the Panel should have standard terms of reference. The terms of reference are, therefore, the following:

On 22 August 2003, Argentina requested the Director-General to determine the composition of the Panel, pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 8 of the DSU. On 4 September 2003, the Director-General accordingly composed the Panel as follows:

The European Communities, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu reserved their third-party rights.