Source:  MEATINGPLACE.COM, 11/20/09

The World Trade Organization has formed a panel to investigate the decade-long European Union ban on imports of U.S. poultry, according to media reports.

The panel, established Thursday at a dispute meeting in Geneva, will take up the EU's restrictions on poultry processed with the anti-bacterial chemicals chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chloride, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids. A ruling is expected within nine months.

The U.S. took the dispute to the WTO in the final days of former president George W. Bush's tenure. The WTO can authorize sanctions against nations that don't follow its rulings but cannot force countries to comply.

The 27-country European bloc has banned imports of poultry treated with the four anti-bacterial agents since 1997.

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