Page 199 - Compendium of Law & Regulations

Article VI of GATT, 1994

as quickly as possible. The purpose of the consultations shall be to clarify the
facts of the situation and to arrive at a mutually agreed solution.

4.4 If no mutually agreed solution has been reached within 30 days of the request
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for consultations, any Member party to such consultations may refer the matter
to the Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB”) for the immediate establishment of a
panel, unless the DSB decides by consensus not to establish a panel.

4.5 Upon its establishment, the panel may request the assistance of the Permanent
Group of Experts (referred to in this Agreement as the “PGE”) with regard
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to whether the measure in question is a prohibited subsidy. If so requested,
the PGE shall immediately review the evidence with regard to the existence
and nature of the measure in question and shall provide an opportunity for the
Member applying or maintaining the measure to demonstrate that the measure
in question is not a prohibited subsidy. The PGE shall report its conclusions to

the panel within a time-limit determined by the panel. The PGE’s conclusions
on the issue of whether or not the measure in question is a prohibited subsidy
shall be accepted by the panel without modification.

4.6 The panel shall submit its final report to the parties to the dispute. The report
shall be circulated to all Members within 90 days of the date of the composition
and the establishment of the panel’s terms of reference.

4.7 If the measure in question is found to be a prohibited subsidy, the panel shall

recommend that the subsidizing Member withdraw the subsidy without delay.
In this regard, the panel shall specify in its recommendation the time-period
within which the measure must be withdrawn.

4.8 Within 30 days of the issuance of the panel’s report to all Members, the report
shall be adopted by the DSB unless one of the parties to the dispute formally
notifies the DSB of its decision to appeal or the DSB decides by consensus not
to adopt the report.

6 Any time-periods mentioned in this Article may be extended by mutual agreement.
7 As established in Article 24.

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