GENEVA: Pakistan launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation to challenge the European Union’s punitive duties on Pakistani exports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the WTO said in a statement.
Pakistan says the EU has broken WTO rules in the way that it imposed anti-subsidy duties on PET, which is used in synthetic fibres, plastic bottles and food containers.
Under WTO rules, the EU has 60 days to try to settle the dispute in direct talks, after which Pakistan could escalate the issue by asking the WTO to set up a panel to adjudicate.
Pakistan’s exports of PET were worth just over $200m last year, according to data from the International Trade Center, a UN-WTO joint venture.
Reuters
