INTRODUCTION

On 2 November 2005, the United States requested consultations with Turkey pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), Article 6 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures (Import Licensing Agreement), Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs Agreement), and Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture with respect to Turkey's alleged import restrictions on rice from the United States.

On 16 November 2005, Australia and Thailand requested, pursuant to paragraph 11 of Article 4 of the DSU, to be joined in the consultations requested by the United States with Turkey.

On 6 February 2006, the United States requested the establishment of a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU, Article 6 of the Import Licensing Agreement, Article 8 of the TRIMs Agreement, and Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture, concerning Turkey's alleged import restrictions on rice.

At its meeting on 17 March 2006, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) established a Panel pursuant to the request of the United States in document WT/DS334/4, in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU.

On 20 July 2006, the United States requested the Director-General to determine the composition of the Panel, pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 8 of the DSU. Accordingly, on 31 July 2006, the Director-General composed the Panel as follows:

The Panel's terms of reference are the following:

Argentina, Australia, China, Egypt, the European Communities, Korea, Pakistan and Thailand reserved their rights to participate in the Panel proceedings as third parties.

In accordance with the timetable adopted after consultations with the parties, the Panel received written submissions from the United States and Turkey on 20 September and on 11 October 2006, respectively. The Panel received written rebuttals from the parties on 14 December 2006.