Mexico rejects US compliance panel request in tuna case

The US-Mexico dispute on “dolphin-safe” tuna labelling continued on last week, after Mexico City rejected Washington’s first request for another compliance panel process to evaluate the recent March 2016 revision to its labelling policies. Earlier this month, the US asked that a compliance panel review the latest changes to Washington’s “dolphin-safe” tuna labelling regime, which were announced in March. (See Bridges Weekly, 14 April 2016 ) [Editor's note, Bridges Weekly is ICTSD's flagship publication for trade news] At the time, the US explained that the revisions were meant to bring its previous labelling measure in line with global trade rules, which it argues warrants the establishment of another compliance panel. (See Bridges Weekly, 24 March 2016 ) However, Mexico rejected the request during Friday’s DSB meeting, citing a series of procedural concerns over the US move – particularly since the case has already gone to arbitration. The ensuring discussion, source familiar with the meeting told Bridges, was whether arbitration should proceed in light of a new compliance panel process, or whether a compliance panel should wait until the arbiter circulates its decision. The two North American countries sparred also over whether establishing such a compliance panel would slow down an...