U.S. Mexico Tuna Fight Moves to GAlT While U.S. Appellate Court Gives U.S. Environmentalists a Victory

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Council agreed on February 6 to set up a panel in order to investigate claims by Mexico that the U.S.'s restrictions on tuna imports are unfair after the California Northern District Court imposed an embargo on Mexican tuna. The request for an investigative panel by Mexico is another legal move by the Mexican government to put pressure on the U.S. to apply the Marine Mammal Act to leniently developing nations. Mexico is also claiming the 1990 Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act violates GATT rules. Meanwhile the Mexican Government suffered a setback when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit lifted the stay on the injunction that had halted the importation of Mexican yellowfin tuna caught with purse seine nets. The request marks another milestone in the battle between Mexico and the U.S., and is serving as the proving ground for the U.S.'s commitment to environmental enforcement.