GENEVA:Peru lost its appeal on Monday in a trade dispute over its agricultural import levy, a case brought to the World Trade Organisation by sugar exporter Guatemala two years ago.
Peru, one of the countries negotiating the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, imposes an extra import levy on sugar, rice, corn, and dairy products when international prices fall below a certain level, a system that Guatemala said was illegal under global trade rules.
A WTO adjudication panel backed Guatemala's complaint in November 2014, and the WTO's Appellate Body upheld that ruling on Monday, saying Peru should bring its laws into conformity with the WTO rules.
This has been excerpted from the 20 July 2015 edition of The Economic Times and is available in its entirety at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/peru-loses-wto-appeal-over-agricultural-import-levy/articleshow/48149379.cms