INTRODUCTION

Complaint of the United States

On 17 December 2002, the United States requested consultations with the Government of Canada pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (“ DSU ”), Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (“ GATT 1994 ”) and Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (“TRIMs Agreement”), with regard to matters concerning the export of wheat by the Canadian Wheat Board and the treatment accorded by Canada to grain imported into Canada.

On 31 January 2003, the United States and Canada held the requested consultations, but failed to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter.

On 6 March 2003, the United States requested the establishment of a panel to examine the matter.

Establishment and Composition of the Panel

At its meeting of 31 March 2003, the Dispute Settlement Body established a panel in accordance with Article 6 of the DSU and pursuant to the request made by the United States in document WT/DS276/6 (hereinafter referred to as the “March Panel”).

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

On 12 May 2003, the Director-General composed the Panel as follows:

On 13 May 2003 the Panel received two preliminary submissions from Canada requesting an early ruling on issues relating to the Panel's jurisdiction under Article 6.2 of the DSU and the adoption of special procedures for the protection of strictly confidential information.