Complaint: According to Mexico, the U.S. embargo on imports of yellowfin tuna from Mexico, caught in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, is a discriminatory trade restriction prohibited under the trade provisions of the World Trade Organization

Background: Since 1990, the United States has placed an embargo on certain imported yellowfin tuna and products derived from yellowfin tuna from certain countries. This embargo is enforced pursuant to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and its amendments. MMPA seeks to protect marine mammals by prohibiting yellowfin tuna imports from countries that harvest the tuna through the use of purse seine nets that encircle dolphins or other marine mammals. The United States prohibits imports of yellowfin tuna or products derived from yellowfin tuna from countries that harvest tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean unless the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Assistant Administrator for Fisheries makes an affirmative finding that the country has (1) a marine mammal regulatory program and fleet performance comparable to the United States, or (2) implemented regulations to prohibit its vessels from intentionally deploying purse seine nets to encircle marine mammals. Imports of yellowfin tuna and tuna products from Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Vanuatu, and Venezuela were subject to embargo during 1996; imports of all tuna and tuna products from Costa Rica, Italy, and Japan also were subject to U.S. embargo during 1996. In November 1996, Belize was added to the list of countries subject to the embargo on imports of yellowfin tuna.

Basis of complaint: Mexico contends that the U.S. import embargo is prohibited under World Trade Organization provisions because:
    (1) it is an extra-territorial policy, extending the reach of domestic U.S. policy beyond its own domestic borders; and
    (2) it is a unilateral policy and not a multilateral policy. Dolphins are not, for example, included on internationally accepted lists of endangered species.