The United States has commenced World Trade Organisation proceedings against Indonesia in a bid to challenge what it describes as trade-restrictive measures applied to a range of agricultural, products including beef.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Indonesia has created a complex web of import licensing requirements designed to protect its domestic agriculture industry that have the effect of unfairly restricting US exports.

The Obama administration believes Indonesia has acted inconsistently with several of its WTO obligations which prohibit restrictions on imports of goods, including those made effective through quotas or import licenses, and the use of non-tariff measures, such as discretionary import licensing, on agricultural products.

“Indonesia’s opaque and complex import licensing system affects a wide range of American agricultural exports,” Mr Kirk said.

“It has become a serious impediment to US agricultural exports entering Indonesia, reducing Indonesian consumers’ access to high-quality US products.”

The US complaint includes concerns about what is describes as onerous import restrictions on for horticultural products, and Indonesia’s non-automatic import licensing and quota regime for beef and other animal product imports.

“The Obama Administration insists that all of our trading partners play by the rules and uphold their WTO obligations so that American workers receive the benefits negotiated in our agreements. The Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC), created by this Administration to enhance U.S. trade enforcement capabilities, provided key support to USTR’s monitoring and enforcement unit in the development and initiation of this dispute.”

Mr Kirk said the US has requested consultations with Indonesia under the dispute settlement provisions of the WTO concerning trade-restrictive measures applied to horticultural products, animals, and animal products.

Consultations are the first step in the WTO dispute settlement process.

Under WTO rules, if the matter is not resolved through consultations within 60 days, the United States may request the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel.See a copy of the consultations request here and a fact sheet here.