INTRODUCTION

Complaint of the European Communities

On 20 June 2005, the European Communities requested consultations with Brazil under Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the “GATT 1994”) and Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (the “DSU”) regarding Brazil's imposition of measures that adversely affect exports of retreaded tyres from the European Communities to the Brazilian market.

Consultations were held on 20 July 2005. These consultations have allowed a better understanding of the measures at issue and the respective positions but have not led to a satisfactory resolution of the matter.

On 17 November 2005, the European Communities requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on 28 November 2005, the Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB”) deferred the establishment of a panel until a second request had been made by the European Communities.

Establishment and composition of the Panel

At its meeting on 20 January 2006, the DSB established a panel pursuant to the request of the European Communities in document WT/DS332/4, in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU.

At that meeting, the parties to the dispute agreed that the panel should have standard terms of reference. The terms of reference are, therefore, the following:

On 6 March 2006, the European Communities requested the Director- General to compose the panel. On 16 March 2006, the Director-General composed the panel as follows:

Argentina, Australia, China, Cuba, Guatemala, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Paraguay, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States reserved their thirdparty rights.

Panel proceedings

On 22 June 2006, the Panel received an unsolicited amicus curiae brief from Humane Society International. On 4 July 2006, the Panel received another unsolicited amicus curiae brief from a group of organizations. At the first substantive meeting, Brazil informed the Panel of its decision to include the two amicus curiae briefs as part of its exhibits.