On January 12, 2018, Australia requested consultations with Canada concerning measures maintained by the Canadian Government and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia governing the sale of wine. Australia’s request for consultations followed earlier requests for consultations submitted by the United States (DS520 and DS531) pertaining to measures maintained by the Canadian province of British Columbia governing the sale of wine in grocery stores.
Australia claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with:
• Articles III:1, III:2, XVII:1, and XXIV:12 of the GATT 1994. On January 17, 2018, New Zealand requested to join the consultations.
On January 19, 2018, the United States requested to join the consultations. On January 25, 2018, Argentina and the EU requested to join the consultations. On January 26, 2018, Chile requested to join the consultations. Canada informed the DSB that it had accepted the request of Argentina, Chile, the EU, New Zealand, and the United States to join the consultations.
On August 13, 2018, Australia requested the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on August 27, 2018, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel. At its meeting on September 26, 2018, the DSB established a panel. The United States, Argentina, Chile, China, EU, India, Israel, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Chinese Taipei, Ukraine, and Uruguay reserved their third-party rights.
On February 25, 2019, Australia requested the Director-General to compose the panel. On March 7, 2019, the Director-General composed the panel.
| Brief Date | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| 08/19/2019 | U.S. Third-Party Executive Summary |
| 07/19/2019 | U.S. Third Party Oral Statement at the First Panel Meeting |
| 06/28/2019 | U.S. Third-Party Submission |
| 04/26/2019 | U.S. Comments on Canada Preliminary Ruling Request |
