WORLD TRADE WT/DS105/9
17November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5035)
Original: English
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -REGIME FOR THE IMPORTATION,
SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OFBANANAS
Request toJoinConsultations
Communication from theUnited States
Thefollowing communication, dated 10November 1997, fromthePermanent Mission ofthe
United States tothePermanent Delegation oftheEuropean Commission, thePermanent Mission of
Panama andtotheDispute Settlement Body, iscirculated inaccordance withArticle 4.11oftheDSU.
_______________
Pursuant toDSU Article 4.11, theUnited States hereby notifies theconsulting Members and
theDSBofitsdesire tobejoined intheconsultations requested byPanama regarding theEuropean
Communities-RegimefortheImplementation,SaleandDistributionofBananas(WT/DS105/1,G/L/199,
G/LIC/D/15, S/L/41, G/TRIMS/D/11).
TheUnited States hasasubstantial interest intheEC’sbanana regime, especially asitaffects
wholesale tradeservices forbananas, ascitedbytherecent Panel andAppellate Body reports. Service
suppliers oftheUnited States conduct business inwholesale trade services relating totheECbanana
market ontheorder ofhundreds ofmillions ofUSdollars perannum.