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BTX3110 INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
Australia lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organization stating that the wine
sales rule of Canada especially the restriction that the Government has imposed on the sale of
imported wine in grocery stores are thoroughly discriminatory (Dfat.gov.au., 2019). In this
presentation I will discuss the impacted and interested parties and possible resolution of the
referred case.
My authorities have instructed me to arrange a consultation with the Government of
Canada in order to have a clear picture about the provisions of Articles 1 and 4 which deals
with the regulations regarding the Settlement of Disputes, and Article XXII (1) of the GATT
1994, which deals with the trading process that is been followed by the Canadian
Government and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia ("BC"), Ontario, Quebec and
Nova Scotia governing the sale of wine.
It has been reported to us that due to such arbitrary action of Canada, many of the
Australian wine business are at stake and facing huge losses. It has further been reported to us
that the European Union and New Zealand are very much interested to be a part of this
dispute process which clearly shows their concern regarding the matter as they have faced
similar dispute in the past with Canada (Trade.ec.europa.eu, 2019). Furthermore, as per our
record, the USA have also faced similar trade discrimination by Canada in the past.
(AFFECTED PARTIES AND STAKEHOLDERS)
It has been advised that, based on our complaint, WTO can impose a disciplinary action
against the Canadian Government for their discriminatory behavior either by the
establishment of an investigating panel for the allegation or in the later stage through the
Appellate Body. If proven, the Canadian Government might have to face consequences in the
form of retaliatory sanctions or counter-measures as mention in Article 22 of GATT (Staiger
& Sykes, 2017). The process will be usually 60 days for consultation in WTO and

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BTX3110 | International Trade Law

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