The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), has called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to referee a dispute over India’s duties on alcohol imports after talks failed, taking a second step towards litigation.The Commission said that it was asking the WTO to set up a dispute settlement panel (DSP) to rule on India’s import duties for spirits and wines, which are as high as 550 per cent. “As we could not resolve our dispute in consultations, the EU sees no other way than to request the establishment of a WTO panel,” said EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson.“We are of course not closing the door to an amicable solution — but the ball is now in India’s court,” he added. In the first step towards litigation, the European Union sought WTO consultations with India on the matter in November, but those talks proved fruitless.The Commission began probing India’s duties on European wine and spirits in September 2005 after receiving complaints from EU producers, for whom India represents a potentially huge market. In 2004, the then 25-nation EU’s spirits exports to India amounted to only 23.3 million euros (30.9 million dollars) while wine exports the same year were worth around 4 million euros, according to the EU’s Eurostat data agency.Those figures are a drop in the bucket compared to the 5 billion euros in spirits the EU exports annually to other countries and annual wine exports worth 4.5 billion euros. The US too is seeking WTO action against India over alcohol duties.In a separate development, WTO director general Pascal Lamy has asked India to give increased market access to agricultural products and contribute to the advancement of the contentious Doha Round of global trade talks.Delivering a speech in Mexico City, he said that while special protection for India and the G-33 developing countries have been secured, it “does not negate the overall objective of providing increased market access opportunities, as agreed when we launched the Round in 2001”.
