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March 22, 2002
Judge Rules Against the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) in Florida’s Equalizing Tax Case
On March 15, 2002, the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida ruled that Florida’s equalization tax is unconstitutional because it allows citrus juice from other U.S. states to be exempt. In related developments, the Florida Senate approved an amendment to the general appropriations bill that would repeal the tax exemption. On March 20, 2002, Brazil requested formal consultations against Florida’s equalizing tax. Brazil is expected to argue that as citrus products originating from other states such as Texas, Arizona, and California are not assessed, the tax discriminates against imports.
EU Parliament Adopts Resolution to Seek
WTO Solution to U.S. Ban on Spanish Clementines
On March 14, 2002, the EU Parliament, in a 92 to 1 vote, adopted a joint resolution condemning U.S. trading practices and establishing a strategy that should be adopted to put an end to the ban on U.S. imports of Spanish clementines. The resolution urges the EU Commission to “engage in a procedure at the WTO against the United States should an immediate solution not be found.” It considers this dispute as a “trade barrier, not as a plant health issue.” The resolution claims the ban has a goal to “exclude Community clementines from the American market to the benefit of its own production of citrus fruit and that of other third countries.”
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