Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08VIENNA1821
2008-12-11 12:49:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Vienna
Cable title:  

AMENDED LACEY ACT Q GOA QUESTIONS WTO COMPLIANCE

Tags:  ETRD SENV EAGR BTIO AU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3697
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVI #1821/01 3461249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111249Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1658
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC PRIORITY 1236
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001821 

SIPDIS

OES/ENRC FOR MARK JOHNSEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD SENV EAGR BTIO AU
SUBJECT: AMENDED LACEY ACT Q GOA QUESTIONS WTO COMPLIANCE

REF: STATE 126654

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001821

SIPDIS

OES/ENRC FOR MARK JOHNSEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD SENV EAGR BTIO AU
SUBJECT: AMENDED LACEY ACT Q GOA QUESTIONS WTO COMPLIANCE

REF: STATE 126654


1. Embassy provided reftel information to contacts in the
Ministry of Economy and Labor (MoEL) and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Environment. On December 10, Post received
a written GOA reply -- on behalf of new Economics Minister
Reinhold Mitterlehner and cleared with all relevant GOA
agencies -- from MinEcon U.S. desk officer Charlotte
Koeberl-Burian (PDF copy emailed to OES/Mark Johnsen).


2. The GOA reply:
-- calls into question the WTO compatibility of amended
Lacey Act provisions, since they Qonly apply to imported
goods and entail an asymmetric treatment of imported
products and products sourced inside the U.S."
-- terms new documentation requirements "onerous"
-- asks that implementation be restricted to products more
closely linked to timber (excluding for instance musical
instruments) and
-- asks for a comprehensive list of affected HTS numbers


2. BEGIN TEXT OF GOA REPLY:

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor avails
itself of the opportunity to bring to the attention of the
United States the following concerns on the implementation
of the revised Lacey Act provisions:
Austria is supporting the U.S objective of the Lacey Act to
combat trafficking in illegal wildlife, fish and plants and
agrees that trade of illegally harvested plants, in
particular illegal timber, should be reduced to a minimum.
At the same time we are very concerned about various
aspects of the envisaged U.S. measures:

(a) Compatibility with WTO requirements

The provisions of the amended Lacey Act only apply to
imported goods and entail an asymmetric treatment of
imported products and products sourced inside the U.S.
They may therefore be inconsistent with WTO rules and we
would be interested in further information regarding the
provisions preventing domestic illegal logging activities.
If US producers were not subject to equivalent obligations,
foreign suppliers would be put at a disadvantage to US
producers and WTO principles would be violated.

(b) The scope of the revised Lacey Act provisions
(Proportionality and legal certainty)

The revised Lacey Act provisions impose onerous declaration
requirements to products covering most of the chapters of
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Given the increase in the
cost of imports and the delays in trade flows that will
follow from the declaration requirements, the measures
should be limited to timber and timber products that have a
clear and identifiable link to illegal logging. We consider
that this link cannot be established in the case of the
products that are to be phased in after September 30, 2009,
for musical instruments (HTS chapter 92) and parts of the
furniture chapter (HTS chapter 94). We suggest that the
first phase should be limited to base wood products of HTS
headings 4401 to 4407, as for these the difficulties to get
the information required by the declaration would be least
burdensome for the importers. To guarantee legal certainty
for traders, an exhaustive list of the relevant HTS
numbers should be provided for each phase.

(c) Schedule for phasing-in
--------------

Austria welcomes the introduction of a phased-in approach
regarding the enforcement of the declaration requirements.
We consider, however, that longer phase-in periods (at
least nine months per phase) are necessary to ensure that
importers have sufficient time to get accustomed to the new
system and to provide the necessary information needed for
the declaration. Business communities need clarity
regarding the details of the system at the beginning of the
phase-in. Austria understands that there is still quite
some definition work to be done and implementation
provisions to be decided on. We suppose that this goes also
for the question, how an importer can or has to prove the
correctness of his declaration and for the question, what
constitutes a violation of the revised Lacey Act provisions
that may entail civil or criminal charges or forfeiture.

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor hopes
that the US authorities will take into consideration the
above concerns and will take a careful, measured approach,

VIENNA 00001821 002 OF 002


consistent with international obligations, towards
implementation of the revised Lacey Act provisions.

END TEXT OF GOA REPLY.

GIRARD-DICARLO