DS62 欧共体电脑设备案PR.docx

DS62 欧共体电脑设备案PR.docx

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DS62欧共体电脑设备案PR

WORLDTRADEWT/DS62/R

WT/DS67/R

WT/DS68/R

ORGANIZATION

5February1998

（98-0277）

Original:

English

EuropeanCommunities-CustomsClassification

ofCertainComputerEquipment

ReportofthePanel

ThereportofthePanelonEuropeanCommunities-CustomsClassificationofCertainComputerEquipmentisbeingcirculatedtoallMembers,pursuanttotheDSU.Thereportisbeingcirculatedasanunrestricteddocumentfrom5February1998pursuanttotheProceduresfortheCirculationandDerestrictionofWTODocuments（WT/L/160/Rev.1）.MembersareremindedthatinaccordancewiththeDSUonlypartiestothedisputemayappealapanelreport,anappealshallbelimitedtoissuesoflawcoveredinthepanelreportandlegalinterpretationsdevelopedbythepanel,andthatthereshallbenoexpartecommunicationswiththepanelorAppellateBodyconcerningmattersunderconsiderationbythepanelorAppellateBody.

NotebytheSecretariat:

ThisPanelReportshallbeadoptedbytheDisputeSettlementBody（DSB）within60daysafterthedateofitscirculationunlessapartytothedisputedecidestoappealortheDSBdecidesbyconsensusnottoadoptthereport.IfthePanelReportisappealedtotheAppellateBody,itshallnotbeconsideredforadoptionbytheDSBuntilafterthecompletionoftheappeal.InformationonthecurrentstatusofthePanelReportisavailablefromtheWTOSecretariat.

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Page

I.INTRODUCTION1

II.FACTUALASPECTS2

A.Productdescription2

1.LocalAreaNetworkequipment2

2.Personalcomputerswithmultimediacapabilities3

B.TariffconcessionscontainedinEC-ScheduleLXXXrelatingtoitems

undertariffheadings84.71,84.73,85.17,85.21and85.284

C.ClassificationdeterminationsintheEC,IrelandandtheUnitedKingdom4

1.CommissionRegulations4

（a）ClassificationprocedureintheEC4

（b）CommissionRegulation（EC）No.1165/95onLAN

adaptercards.6

2.BindingTariffInformation6

（a）DefinitionandevolutionwithintheEC6

（b）Withdrawalandre-issuanceofBTIsbytheIreland

RevenueCommissionconcerningLANequipment7

3.CustomsdeterminationbytheUKHMCustomsandExcise

concerningLANequipment.7

4.UKVATandDutiesTribunalrulingonPCTVs8

III.CLAIMSOFTHEPARTIES9

IV.ISSUESREGARDINGTHESCOPEOFTHECLAIM10

A.Productcoverage10

1.LANequipment10

2.Personalcomputerswithmultimediacapability11

B.Measuresatissue12

C.Statusofdefendingparties13

V.MAINARGUMENTS14

A.Scopeoftheconcession16

1.dutytreatmentofnewproductsorproducts

affectedbyHarmonizedSystem（HS）changes16

2."productsdescribed"18

3.treatmentaccordedatthetimetheconcession

wasnegotiated19

（a）"treatment...providedfor"and

"treatment...contemplated"19

（b）"treatment...contemplated"and

"treatmentaccorded"21

（c）atthetimetheconcessionwasnegotiated22

B.Tarifftreatmentofproducts22

1.LANequipment22

（a）NegotiatingHistory22

（b）ImportsofProducts26

（i）BTIsandNationalClassification.28

（ii）TradeFlows.35

2.Personalcomputerswithmultimediacapability37

C.Nullificationandimpairment40

VITHIRDPARTIESSUBMISSIONS41

A.India41

B.Japan41

C.Korea43

D.Singapore46

VII.INTERIMREVIEW53

VIII.FINDINGS56

A.ClaimsoftheParties56

B.IssuesregardingtheScopeoftheClaim58

1.ProductCoverage58

2.ScopeoftheMeasures60

3.StatusofIrelandandtheUnitedKingdom61

C.GeneralInterpretativeIssue61

D.LANEquipment64

1.TextualAnalysis65

2.ActualTariffTreatmentandLegitimateExpectations65

（a）EvaluationoftheEvidenceofActualTariffTreatment65

（b）LegitimateExpectations68

（i）RequirementofClarification69

（ii）TheUnitedStates'OwnReclassification71

3.Conclusion72

E.MultimediaPCs73

1.TextualAnalysis73

2.LegitimateExpectations73

3.OtherMeansofInterpretation74

F.NullificationorImpairment74

IX.CONCLUSIONS75

ANNEXES76

Annex1:

TariffconcessionscontainedinEC-ScheduleLXXXrelatingtoitems

undertariffheadings84.71,84.73,85.17,85.21and85.2876

Annex2:

CommissionRegulation（EC）1165/9581

Annex3:

UKVATandDutiesTribunalrulingonPCTVs85

Annex4:

SummarytableofevidencesubmittedbytheUnitedStates97

Annex5:

ITAclassification105

Annex6:

SummarytableofevidencesubmittedbytheEC107

Annex7:

Tradedata113

I.INTRODUCTION

1.1On8November1996,theUnitedStatesrequestedconsultationswiththeEuropeanCommunities（EC）pursuanttoArticle4oftheUnderstandingonRulesandProceduresGoverningtheSettlementofDisputes（DSU）andArticleXXII:

1oftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade1994（GATT1994）regardingtariffreclassificationbythecustomsauthoritiesoftheECandtheirmemberStatesofLocalAreaNetwork（LAN）equipmentandpersonalcomputers（PCs）withmultimediacapability（WT/DS62/1）.

1.2KoreaandCanadarequested,incommunicationsdated22and25November1996,respectively（WT/DS62/2andWT/DS62/3）,tobejoinedintheconsultations,pursuanttoparagraph11ofArticle4oftheDSU.

1.3ConsultationswereheldbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheECon23January1997,withKoreaandCanadaparticipating.Theconsultationsdidnotresultinaresolutionofthedispute.Asaresult,inacommunicationdated11February1997（WT/DS62/4）,theUnitedStatesrequestedtheestablishmentofaPanel.Accordingly,theDisputeSettlementBody（DSB）atitsmeetingof25February1997establishedapanelwiththefollowingtermsofreference:

"Toexamine,inthelightoftherelevantprovisionsofthecoveredagreementscitedbytheUnitedStatesindocumentWT/DS62/4,thematterreferredtotheDSBbytheUnitedStatesinthatdocumentandtomakesuchfindingsaswillassisttheDSBinmakingtherecommendationsoringivingtherulingsprovidedforinthoseagreements".

1.4TheUnitedStates,incommunicationsdated14February1997（WT/DS67/1andWT/DS68/1）,requestedconsultationswiththeUnitedKingdomandIreland.TheserequestsweremadepursuanttoArticle4oftheDSUandArticleXXII:

1oftheGATT1994andconcernedthetariffreclassificationbythecustomsauthoritiesoftheUnitedKingdomofLANequipmentandPCswithmultimediacapability,andthetariffreclassificationbythecustomsauthoritiesofIrelandofLANequipment.

1.5Korearequestedinacommunicationdated28February1997（WT/DS67/2）tojoinintheconsultationsrequestedbytheUnitedStateswiththeUnitedKingdom.

1.6On24February1997,theUnitedKingdomandIrelandrespondedbyreferringtheUnitedStatestoaletterofthesamedate,inwhichtheEuropeanCommunitiesofficiallyinformedtheUnitedStatesthattherequestedconsultationswouldnotbeenteredinto.AstheUnitedKingdomaswellasIrelandhaddeclinedtoenterintoconsultations,theUnitedStates,incommunicationsdated7March1997,proceededdirectlytorequesttheestablishmentoftwoPanels;onetoexaminethemeasurestakenbytheUnitedKingdom（WT/DS67/3）,andtheothertoexaminethemeasurestakenbyIreland（WT/DS68/2）.

1.7Atitsmeetingof20March1997,theDSBagreedtomodify,attherequestofthepartiestothedispute,thetermsofreferenceofthePanelestablishedatitsmeetingon25February1997sothatthepanelrequestsbytheUnitedStatescontainedindocumentsWT/DS67/3andWT/DS68/2wouldbeincorporatedintothemandateofthealreadyexistingPanel.

1.8ThemodifiedtermsofreferenceofthePanelareasfollows:

"Toexamine,inlightoftherelevantprovisionsintheGATT1994,themattersreferredtotheDSBbytheUnitedStatesindocumentsWT/DS62/4,WT/DS67/3andWT/DS68/2,andtomakesuchfindingsaswillassisttheDSBinmakingtherecommendationsoringivingtherulingsprovidedforinthatagreement".

1.9Inlightofthisdecision,theDSBagreednottoestablishseparatepanelspursuanttotherequestssubmittedbytheUnitedStatesandcirculatedasdocumentsWT/DS67/3andWT/DS68/2.

1.10TheDSBalsotooknotethatthepartieshadagreedthatthe"panelestablishedon25February1997,withthetermsofreferenceasmodifiedatthepresentmeeting,willbeabletoconsider,andruleupon,anymatterthatmighthavebeenconsideredifseparatepanelshadbeenestablishedinresponsetothosepanelrequests".

1.11Furthermore,theDSBtooknote"thatthemodificationofthetermsofreferenceofthepanelestablishedon25February1997iswithoutprejudicetotheinterpretationoftheEuropeanCommunitiesanditsmemberStatesoftheprovisionsofArticle4,paragraph3oftheDSU,withregardtothe30-dayperiodreferredtointhesecondsentenceofthatparagraph".

1.12Thepartiestothedisputeagreedon18April1997tothefollowingcompositionofthePanel:

Chairman:

Mr.CrawfordFalconer

Members:

Mr.ErnestodeLaGuardia

Mr.CarlosAntoniodaRochaParanhos

India,Japan,KoreaandSingaporereservedtheirrightsasthirdpartiestothedispute.

II.FACTUALASPECTS

A.ProductDescription

1.LocalAreaNetworkequipment1

2.1ALANisaninterconnectionofanumberofcomputersandcomputerperipherals（forexample,printers,inputunits,memoryunits,etc.）usingacablingsystem.Thesecablesphysicallyinterconnectalltheindividualdevicestoenablethemtocommunicatethroughthetransmissionofdata.TheprincipaltypesofLANsareEthernet,TokenRingandFibreDistributedDataInterface（FDDI）.ALANisdistinguishedfromothertypesofdatanetworksinthatthecommunicationisusuallylimitedtoadiscreteareasuchasasingleofficebuilding,awarehouseoracampus.

2.2InorderforPCstoparticipateinaLAN,theymustbeconnectedtoeachother.Thisconnectionhastraditionallybeenmadeviaanadapter,whichisinsertedinthePC.An