The EU formally opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization on July 30, asking for consultations with Taiwan regarding its measures related to off-shore wind installations. Those measures include domestic content requirements, which the EU claims are incompatible with commitments under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The EU last week said it planned to open the dispute because of how they would affect the transition to green energy (see 2407260011). The request for consultations gives the parties 60 days to find a solution to the dispute. If no solution is found, the bloc can request for "adjudication by a panel."

The World Trade Organization on July 26 published a joint statement initiative on e-commerce -- the first "stabilised text" released following five years of negotiations on an e-commerce deal. The deal's eight sections cover general scope, e-commerce, "openness," trust, transparency, telecommunications, exceptions and institutional arrangements.

The EU on July 26 requested dispute settlement consultations at the World Trade Organization on Taiwan's use of local content criteria for offshore wind energy projects, the European Commission announced.

The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body agreed on July 26 to establish two dispute panels, at the request of South Africa, to review EU restrictions on South African citrus fruit. South Africa submitted its second request for two panels in spats on the EU restrictions, which were imposed to control the spread of the insect known as the "False Codling Moth" and fungus known as "citrus black spot."

Fifty-eight World Trade Organization member nations at a July 22 WTO General Council meeting supported an African Group proposal to get an early start to the director-general selection process. The proposal also asks sitting D-G Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to "make herself available to serve a second term," the WTO said. General Council Chair Petter Olberg of Norway said he heard "unanimous, broad and strong support, both for the current D-G to make herself available and to run again, and for the process to be started as soon as possible."

Coordinators of the World Trade Organization's Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade on July 24 laid out "points of focus" for the three "workstreams" which make up the dialogue's "work plan," the WTO said. The focus points will guide the dialogue's work leading up to the 14th Ministerial Conference.

China lifted its antidumping measures on Japanese stainless steel products July 23, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced, according to an unofficial translation.

Jordan formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies July 23, bringing to 81 the number of countries that have accepted the deal. The WTO requires 29 more formal acceptances to reach the two-thirds of membership threshold needed for the agreement to be able to enter into force.

Madagascar told the World Trade Organization July 18 that it opened on that date a safeguard investigation on certain types of edible vegetable oils, the WTO announced. The island nation said interested parties "must make themselves known" to the country's investigating authority within 30 days of the opening of the investigation.

The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's July 26 meeting indicates China will request the establishment of a dispute settlement panel on the U.S. government's tax credits for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act.