EU-US trade tensions flare as Washington opens WTO case

(BRUSSELS) - The outgoing US administration fired a parting shot on Friday against Europe, opening a new WTO case against the EU a day after hiking tariffs on European products in an escalation of trade tensions.

Days before the Bush administrations steps down, the United States filed a WTO complaint challenging the European Union's restrictions on US poultry treated with chlorine to prevent contamination, officials said.

United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Washington was requesting World Trade Organization dispute settlement consultations on the EU ban on poultry processed with "pathogen reduction treatments."

"The poultry treatments at issue have been widely and safely used in the United States for many years," Schwab said.

"The EU's own scientists have repeatedly found these treatments not only to be safe, but effective.

"We have tried to address this issue through dialogue with the EU for more than eleven years, and neither the European Commission nor EU member states have offered any legitimate, science-based reason for continuing to block our poultry."

In May last year, EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen proposed lifting the long-standing restrictions on US poultry under certain conditions, including special labels identifying the process and guarantees the meat would be rinsed.

But veterinarians, EU governments and the European Parliament could not be convinced and EU farm ministers rejected in December attempts to lift the restrictions US poultry.

In reaction to the US move, European Commission spokesman for trade issues Peter Power said: "We regret the US decision to resort to WTO dispute settlement on this issue."

"We will carefully study the US claims and will engage in consultations in good faith," he added.

The US food industry uses the chlorine washing process on its poultry to kill off bacteria, including salmonella, before it reaches consumers' plates.

The practice is banned in the EU where veterinary experts favour hygiene controls throughout the hatching and rearing cycle to better ensure that the bacteria does not develop in the first place.

The US move came a day after the Bush administration imposed new tariffs on European products in retaliation for an EU ban on US hormone-treated beef, in what the European Commission described as "a clear attempt to escalate" the dispute.

US penalties tripled in one case, on French Roquefort cheese, triggering an avalanche of outrage from France where the pungent, mouldy delicacy is considered a national icon.

"I am very shocked that one of the last moves by the outgoing Bush administration is this increase in customs duties," fumed French secretary of state for trade Anne-Marie Idrac.

The European Commission was quick to respond with plans to launch WTO action against the tariffs.

Describing the tariffs as "illegal sanctions," EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said: "We look forward to working with the new administration to address this situation."