It's always exciting for me to see a new consultations request posted on the WTO web site. In addition to the substance, I like to see who the parties are. It's great to find someone other than the usual suspects. The latest request, in DS411, has a couple first-timers: Ukraine (as complainant) and Armenia (as respondent).
The substance of the dispute is about taxes and duties on cigarettes and alcohol, involving GATT Articles II and III. In addition, there is mention of similar obligations in Armenia's Accession Protocol/Accession Working Party Report.
It's hard to find much in the news about this dispute. Here's one article:
Ukraine is accusing Armenia and Mongolia of violation the rules set by the World Trade Organization, reports local Ukrainian Kommersant-Ukraine.
The newspaper mentions that Ukraine's Ministry of Economy has found out that the tax for Ukrainian cigarettes is levied in the countries under discussion through discriminatory ways.
Further the paper mentions that Kiev is going to solve the problem through WTO leverages that had earlier helped it defend its rights in a similar case in Georgia.
According to Kommersant-Ukraine Ukraine's Ministry of Economy has already started unofficial consultations with Armenia and that it is ready to hold similar consultation with Mongolia too.
There was also this interview with a Japan Tobacco International executive, talking about discriminatory Armenian cigarette taxes and his company's production in the Ukraine. I'm not sure if this is at all related to the WTO dispute.
