The World Trade Organization set up a dispute panel on Friday to examine a complaint by Ukraine that Moldova unfairly imposes charges on imported products deemed to pollute the environment, Reuters quoted a WTO spokeswoman as saying. Ukraine said the Moldovan measures applied to imported but not to domestic products and therefore violate WTO rules. Moldova also imposed a charge on plastic or "tetra-pak" packages containing imported products except for dairy products, it said. Moldova blocked the Ukrainian request for a panel in May and under WTO rules a panel is automatically established on the second request at the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Consultations had failed to resolve the issue, leaving Ukraine no recourse but to seek a panel, Kiev's delegation said. Moldova's delegation said its government was examinimg amendments to its legislation but gave no details. Separately, Moldova sought a WTO panel to examine its claim that Ukraine applies a lower tax on domestically produced distilled spirits than on imports, the WTO spokeswoman said. This gave "protection to the domestic production", in violation of the trade body's rules, Moldova argued. Both sides said that consultations had taken place, but Ukraine said it was premature to say they had failed. Ukraine blocked creation of the spirits panel, but its creation becomes automatic upon second request, the WTO spokeswoman said.
