The long-standing fight between Mexico and the U.S. over Washington’s dolphin-safe labeling program is set to go another round at the WTO, after Mexico City formally filed a request for the establishment of a “compliance panel” with the global trade arbiter last Friday. The move makes good on Mexico’s promise last July to challenge the U.S. on whether it had indeed brought the scheme in line with its international trade obligations.
The WTO Appellate Body had ruled last year that the U.S.’ original dolphin-safe labeling scheme violated core trade rules and discriminated unfairly against Mexican tuna products, confirming an earlier dispute panel ruling. The U.S. subsequently revised the scheme in July, ahead of a WTO-established compliance deadline. (See Bridges Weekly, 16 May 2012 and 18 July 2013, respectively)
The changes that Washington made were developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and require captains and other approved observers to certify that “no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during fishing operations occurring outside the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean.”
