OREANDA-NEWSThe World Trade Organization (WTO), at a meeting of the dispute resolution body on Friday, set up a panel on the dispute between Russia and the EU in connection with an anti-dumping measure in respect of Russian cold-rolled steel, the Ministry of Economic Development said.

Russia filed a request for its establishment on March 14. It was first considered at an extraordinary meeting of the WTO on April 11, where EU representatives exercised the right to reclaim it. At the second review, the EU did not have such a right, and a panel was established. The measure has been applied by the EU since August 5, 2016. The amount of antidumping duties for MMK is 18.7%, for Severstal - 34%, for NLMK and all other companies - 36.1%.

"According to Russia, when introducing the measure, numerous violations of WTO rules were committed. In particular, the information provided by Russian companies during the investigation preceding the introduction of measures was not accepted for consideration, the rules for establishing dumping and the damage to the EU industry caused by it were violated" - said Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin, as quoted by the ministry.

Earlier, Russia sent a request for consultations with the European Union in the framework of the WTO dispute resolution procedure, as the EC had previously introduced anti-dumping duties on Russian cold-rolled steel. The reason for the submission of Russia's application to the WTO, were numerous violations of the rules of this organization.

In November 2016, Severstal and NLMK also appealed to the European Court of General Jurisdiction, challenging the EC decision to impose cold-rolled steel duties from Russia. Representatives of the companies called the decision of the European Commission unlawful due to the fact that during the investigation, in their opinion, serious violations were committed.