WTO Panel Rejects Peru’s "Price Range System" For Import Duties

A World Trade Organization ("WTO") panel has ruled against Peru's Price Range System ("PRS") for import duties on several of Guatemala's key agricultural exports.

Under the PRS, Peru maintains a floor price and ceiling price for affected products, which it updates every two weeks to reflect changes to international reference prices. Guatemala brought the challenge on June 13, 2013, asserting, among others, four primary arguments:

• That the PRS establishes a variable levy and a minimum import price, both of which are prohibited by Article 4.2 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture;
• That the PRS is inconsistent with Article II:1(b) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT 1994") because it results in duties in excess of ordinary customs duties that are not part of Peru's scheduled concessions;