INTRODUCTION

On 7 April 2010, Indonesia requested consultations with the United States pursuant to Article 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 11 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (“SPS Agreement”) and Article 14 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (“TBT Agreement”) with respect to “the measure applied by the Government of the United States regarding the ban of clove cigarettes”. Indonesia and the United States held consultations on 13 May 2010. However, no mutually agreed solution was found.

On 9 June 2010, Indonesia requested the establishment of a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the DSU.

At its meeting on 20 July 2010, the DSB established a panel pursuant to the request of Indonesia in document WT/DS406/2, in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU.

The Panel's terms of reference are the following:

On 9 September 2010, the parties agreed to the following composition of the Panel:

Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, the European Union, Guatemala, Mexico, Norway and Turkey have reserved their rights to participate in the Panel proceedings as third parties.

proceedings as third parties. 1.7 The Panel held its first substantive meeting with the parties on 13 and 14 December 2010. The session with the third parties was held on 14 December 2010. The second substantive meeting was held on 15 February 2011.

On 13 April 2011, the Panel issued the descriptive section of its draft report to the parties. The Panel issued its Interim Report to the parties on 27 May 2011. The Panel issued its Final Report on 24 June 2011.