Case Study
UNITED STATES-IMPORT PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN
SHRIMP AND SHRIMP PRODUCTS
（WT/DS58/R 15 May 1998）
FACTS: In the United States, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, all sea turtles that occur in U.S. waters are listed as endangered or threatened species. After several studies led to the conclusion that the incidental capture and drowning of turtles by shrimp trawlers was a significant source of mortality for turtles, regulations were issued requiring shrimp fisherman to use either turtle excluder devices （TEDs） or tow time restrictions. In 1989, two years after the issuance of these regulations, Section 609 of Public Law No. 101-162 was enacted. At the time this dispute arose, Section 609 prohibited the import of shrimp and shrimp products from all countries that had not been certified by the President as having adopted a regulatory program governing the incidental taking of sea turtles in the course of shrimp trawl harvesting comparable to that of the United States. For the purpose of certification, the regulatory program had to include a requirement that all commercial shrimp trawl vessels use TEDs that were comparable in effectiveness to TEDs used in the United
States.
India, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia claimed that the Section 609 import ban from non-certified countries constituted a violation of Article Ⅺ:1. Article Ⅺ:1 reads as follows:
No prohibitions or restrictions other than duties, taxes or other charges, whether made effective through quotas, import or export licenses or other measures, shall be instituted or maintained by any contracting party on the importation of any product of the territory of any other contracting party or on the exportation or sale for export of any product destined for the territory of any other contracting party.
After concluding Section 609, which prohibited imports from countries not meeting certain policy conditions, constituted a violation of Article Ⅺ:1, the Panel considered the U.S. Article ⅩⅩ defense.