The following communication, dated 28 October 1998, from the Permanent Delegation of the European Commission to the Permanent Mission of India and to the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.

On behalf of the European Communities, I hereby request consultations with India pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture and Article 6 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures on the import restrictions maintained by India under its Export and Import Policy, 1997-2002, for reasons other than Article XVIII:B of GATT 1994. India notified these restrictions to the WTO in Part A of Annex I to its notification of 20 May 1997 under paragraph 9 of the Understanding on the balance-of-payments provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (WT/BOP/N/24). In its notification, India claims that these restrictions are justified under Article XX and/or Article XXI of GATT 1994.

The European Communities considers that these import restrictions may constitute an infringement of, in particular but not necessarily exclusively, the following WTO provisions:

- Articles III, X, XI, XIII and XVII of GATT 1994;

- Article 4.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture;

- Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures;

and may not be justified under Articles XX or XXI of GATT 1994.

While reserving its right to revert in the consultations to any product mentioned in Part A of Annex 1 of document WT/BOP/N/24, the European Communities, at this stage, requests clarification of and justifications for the import restrictions concerning the products listed in the attached EC priorities list.

I look forward to receiving your reply to this request of the European Communities and to setting a mutually convenient date for these consultations.