Pakistan launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) yesterday to challenge the European Union’s (EU) punitive duties on Pakistani exports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the WTO said in a statement.
Pakistan says the EU has broken WTO rules in the way that it imposed anti-subsidy duties on PET, which is used in synthetic fibres, plastic bottles and food containers.
Under WTO rules, the EU has 60 days to try to settle the dispute in direct talks, after which Pakistan could escalate the issue by asking the WTO to set-up a panel to adjudicate.
Pakistan’s exports of PET were worth just over $200 million last year, according to data from the International Trade Centre, a UN-WTO joint venture. Although its exports have grown, sales to the EU have dwindled in the past few years.