The European Union may delay appealing against a world trade panel ruling on its sugar regime by one month, with the agreement of the three countries that filed the original complaint, a document showed on Thursday. The EU had been expected to appeal on or before Tuesday, the last day that World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules allow in the case brought against the bloc by Australia, Brazil and Thailand.
The three complained that the EU had hugely exceeded limits on the export of subsidised sugar agreed with the WTO in 1995.
Diplomats said a possible reason behind the move to delay might be that Brazil wanted to focus first on an appeal filed by the United States in another WTO case - brought by the Latin American country - that concerns US cotton subsidies.
The four parties in the dispute have now agreed to ask the WTO's key Dispute Settlement Body, or DSB, to put back the deadline for when it will adopt the panel's report. In WTO jargon that means confirming the original August verdict.
According to an internal WTO document obtained by Reuters, the four parties want the DSB to hold a special meeting on Monday to discuss their request for a delay. One condition attached is that the EU would file its appeal on January 13.
"In order to take account of the end-of-year period and to avoid inconveniencing the appeal procedure, the above parties agree that the 60-day time period...will be extended to 31 January 2005," it said.