By Youri Kemp
Caribbean News Now associate editor
[email protected]
GENEVA, Switzerland — The Venezuelan government has initiated the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanisms against neighbouring Colombia over restrictions Colombia has placed on liquid fuel from Venezuela.
Venezuela claims the measures concerning liquid fuel distribution and licensing, surcharges on products, market access and product quotation policies appear to be inconsistent with provisions under the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994.
The dispute settlement application filed by Venezuela on January 9, 2019, and published by the WTO on January 14, states that several measures that the Colombian government had put in place, and in fact some of the legislative and policy amendments highlighted by the Venezuelan diplomatic delegation to the WTO, date back as far as 2001.
