Ukraine, which is already a party to WTO consultations between the EU and Russia concerning the car recycling tax Moscow imposed in 2012, has joined the consultations on the matter initiated by Japan.
Ukraine filed to become a third party to the consultations between
Japan and Russia on July 29, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry
said.
“The European Union notified the WTO Secretariat on July 9, 2013 of a
request for consultations with the Russian Federation on measures
imposed by Russia relating to a charge, the so called ‘recycling fee’,
imposed on motor vehicles,” the WTO said on its website. Ukraine, China,
Japan, Turkey and the U.S. are also parties to those consultations.
Tokyo filed a similar request for consultations on July 24. Kyiv,
Ankara and Washington have all asked to join those consultations.
Russia began levying the recycling tax on cars and trucks produced in
Russia or imported from other countries (except the Customs Union
countries) on September 1, 2012. The basic size of the tax is 20,000
rubles. The big Russian vehicle makers – Avtovaz, Kamaz, GAZ and Sollers
– have been exempted from the tax based on guarantees that output will
be safely scrapped.
“According to the European Union, these measures adversely affect
exports of motor vehicles from the European Union to Russia,” the WTO
said.
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry reported that
consultations between the EU and Russia were held at European Commission
headquarters in Brussels on July 29-30. Ukraine presented its view of
the situation, that the Russian tax should be rescinded because it is
discriminatory and violates the core principles of the WTO concerning
non-discriminatory and free trade.
Introduction of the tax resulted in a decline of more than 50 percent in
vehicle production in Ukraine in 2013. Its vehicle exports to Russia
were down 75 percent in the first half of 2013 year-on-year.
