WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/DS186/1
IP/D/21
18 January 2000
(00-0215)
Original:  English
UNITED STATES – SECTION 337 OF THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930
AND AMENDMENTS THERETO
Request for Consultations by the European Communities
and their member States
The following communication, dated 12 January 2000, from the Permanent Delegation of the
European Commission to the Permanent Mission of the United States and to the Chairman of the
Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.
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On behalf of the European Communities and their member States, we hereby request
consultations with the United States of America pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rulesand Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Article XXII:1 of the GATT 1994 and
Article 64, paragraph 1, of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (hereafter "TRIPS Agreement"), regarding Se ction 337 US Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. § 1337) and
the related Rules of Practice and Procedure of the International Trade Commission contained in
Chapter II of Title 19 of the US Code of Federal Regulations.
Section 337 US Tariff Act has already twice been examined by GATT panels, the second of
which found in 1989 that important aspects of Section 337 violated the obligation to accord national
treatment to imported goods under Article III of the GATT.  Section 337 was amended by the 1994
US Uruguay Round Agreements Act in an attempt to bring the statute into co nformity with the GATT
Panel's findings.  However, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act has failed to achieve this goal.
Section 337, in its present form, does not eliminate the major GATT inconsistencies raised by the1989 GATT Panel and further violates several provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
The European Communities and their member States consider that Section 337 is not in
conformity with the United States of America's obligations under the GATT 1994, notably its
Article III, and under the TRIPS Agreement, notably its Articles 2 (in conjunction with Article 2 ParisConvention), 3, 9 (in conjunction with Article 5 Berne Convention), 27, 41, 42, 49, 50 and 51 TRIPS
Agreement.
The European Communities and their member Stat es consider that reference to the above
legal basis does not rule out recourse to any other pertinent provision of the Agreement establishingthe WTO and of the Agreements annexed to it.
The European Communities and their member Stat es look forward to receiving your reply to
this request and to fixing a mutually acceptable date for consultations.
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