Monash University, BTX3110: Trade Dispute Presentation

This presentation analyzes the trade dispute between Australia and Canada concerning discriminatory wine sales regulations. Australia alleges that Canada's restrictions on imported wine, particularly the requirement for foreign wines to be shelved at the back of stores, are discriminatory under the WTO's GATT 1994 articles. The presentation outlines the affected parties, including Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, and the USA, and discusses the potential dispute resolution process within the WTO. It highlights the possibility of Canada facing sanctions if the allegations are proven. The presentation concludes by emphasizing Australia's potential to win the case and the implications of such an outcome, including Canada's obligation to remove the discriminatory restrictions. The presentation references relevant WTO documents and scholarly articles to support its analysis.

Running Head: BTX3110 INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
BTX3110 INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BTX3110 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

2BTX3110 INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
establishment of a panel to deal with the case before hearing (Dispute resolution Process of
the case). It can be say that Australia has a great chance to win depending upon the facts and
Canada’s previous complaint status regarding trade dispute in the WTO. If Australia win, it
can sale wine in Canada according to regular GATT rule and Canada cannot impose any such
arbitrary restriction regarding the sale of wine on Australia or any other stakeholder of the
case(Impact on winner and looser).

3BTX3110 INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
Reference:
Dfat.gov.au. (2019). Summary of Australia's involvement in disputes currently before the
World Trade Organization | DFAT. Retrieved 12 April 2020, from
https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/organisations/wto/wto-disputes/Pages/summary-of-
australias-involvement-in-disputes-currently-before-the-world-trade-organization
Staiger, R. W., & Sykes, A. O. (2017). How Important can the Non-Violation Clause be for
the GATT/WTO?. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 9(2), 149-87.
Trade.ec.europa.eu. (2019). Retrieved 15 April 2020, from
https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2019/july/tradoc_158088.pdf