INTRODUCTION

Guatemala appeals from certain issues of law and legal interpretation developed in the Panel Report, Guatemala – Anti-Dumping Investigation Regarding Portland Cement from Mexico. That Panel was established by the Dispute Settlement Body (the “DSB”) on 20 March 1997 with standard terms of reference based on Mexico's request for the establishment of a panel.

The relevant facts are to be found in paragraphs 2.1 to 2.4 of the Panel Report.

The Panel considered claims made by Mexico concerning Guatemala's decision to initiate an investigation into allegations of dumping of portland cement from Mexico, Guatemala's conduct of that investigation by its authority leading to the preliminary determination, and its conduct of the final stages of the investigation. The Panel Report was circulated to Members of the World Trade Organization (the “WTO”) on 19 June 1998. The Panel considered that its terms of reference entitled it to examine “the matters referred to in Mexico's request for establishment of a panel”. The Panel made the following recommendations:

It also suggested that:

On 4 August 1998, Guatemala notified the DSB of its intention to appeal certain issues of law covered in the Panel Report and legal interpretations developed by the Panel, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 16 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (the “DSU”), and filed a Notice of Appeal with the Appellate Body, pursuant to Rule 20 of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review (the “Working Procedures”). On 14 August 1998, Guatemala filed an appellant's submission drafted in Spanish. On 31 August 1998, Mexico filed an appellee's submission also drafted in Spanish. In order to ensure that the third participant would have time to prepare its submission after receiving an English version of the appellant's submission, the Appellate Body granted the United States additional time to file its third participant's submission. The United States filed that submission on 14 September 1998.