General background
European Union introduced regulation no. 793/2013 to enforce the measurement with respect to Faroe Island on 20 August 2013. EU states that this regulation is made in response to the non-sustainable actions conducted by Faroe Island. Article 5 para 1 and 2 of the regulation set that Atlanto-Scandian Herring or mackerel caught or produced by Faroe Island are prohibited in EU regions; and shippings with the Faroe Island flag or shippings from other country contain any goods specified in paragraph 1 are prohibited to use Union ports. Not surprisingly, a dispute in relation to the economical measurement implemented by European Union (EU) has been requested a consultation by Faroe Islands on behalf of the kingdom of Denmark. Faroe Islands claiming that the enforcement action by EU breached the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994and negatively affected its export position.
Question 1
As the most basic concept of GATT, Art: 1 making sure that all contracted parties can be treated with the same benefits provided by the multilateral trading system. Therefore, failure to offer same advantages in respect of Atlanto-Scandian Herring or mackerel or it’s like products to other parties to Faroe Island may result in a breach of Art:1 for EU. According to Indonesia — Autos, two criteria need to be satisfied to conclude that EU has breached Art:1: (a) the advantages of like products fall within the scope of Art: 1(b) are not applied to Faroe Island unconditionally. Undeniably, Faroe Island can no longer be entitled to the advantages including privilege of importation and tariff, and measurements affecting the structure of the market. Confirmed by EC — Bananas III, These advantages are within the scope of Art:1. However, for element (a), the argument EU may adopt in defence is that the products form Faroe Island are not alike with those produced