MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

WTO asks Chile do drop tariff barriers on Argentine wheat and flour

The World Trade Organization has ruled that Chile should not apply tariff barriers to the price of Argentine wheat and flour. The ruling was a response Chile's final appeal to the WTO in the lengthy trade dispute with Argentina that began in 2000.

The WTO Appellate Body announced that "by maintaining this barrier at its borders, Chile is not meeting its obligations according to the Agriculture Agreement. It has not applied the recommendations and solutions of the Dispute Settlement panel." Chile's International Economic Relations Directorate (Direcon) issued a statement saying Chile's mission to the WTO in Geneva and judicial teams are analyzing the ruling and its repercussions. The Argentine Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying it was "important" that the WTO ratified the ruling it made the past December, and that "Chile has maintained an illegal barrier to Argentine wheat and wheat flour imports in spite of the WTO determining on two occasions the illegality of said barrier." The statement also emphasized that Argentina is confident that Chile will resolve the matter properly. This ruling will not only impact domestic producers of wheat and flour, said the president of the National Federation of Wheat and Oilseeds Manuel Riesco, it will also affect sugar producers also included in the law of price barriers. Riesco said producers will ask the government to, "implement corrective measures to the distortions that other countries apply." ( The Santiago Times )