L 60/34 Official Journal of the European Union 5.3.2008 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 20 February 2008 terminating the examination procedure concerning trade practices maintained by Argentina in relation to the imports of textile and clothing products (2008/200/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down Community procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Community’s rights under inter- national trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation ('), and in particular Articles 11 (1) thereof, Whereas: A. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND (1) On 11 October 1999, Euratex (European Apparel and Textile Organisation) lodged a complaint under Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 (here- inafter the Regulation) on behalf of those of its members which export to Argentina or wish to do so. (2)  The complainant alleged that the Community sales of textile and clothing products in Argentina were hindered by obstacles to trade within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Regulation, ie. ‘a practice adopted or maintained by a third country and in respect of which international trade rules establish a right of action’. The alleged obstacles to trade were the following. (@) pre-shipment inspection and minimum customs values, (b) excessive requirements for certificates of origin, (c) requirement to submit a Declaration Form on Product Composition, () OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 71. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 356/95 (O] L 41, 23.2.1995, p. 3). () O () O == (d) excessively burdensome labelling requirement, (e) statistical tax and discriminatory VAT. The complainant also claimed that these practices were causing adverse trade effects within the meaning of Article 2(4) of the Regulation. The Commission decided therefore, after consultation of the Advisory Committee established by the Regulation, that there was sufficient evidence to justify initiating an examination procedure for the purpose of considering the legal and factual issues involved. Consequently, an examination procedure was initiated on 27 November 1999 (3). B. THE FINDINGS OF THE EXAMINATION PROCEDURE In 2000, the investigation concluded on the certificate of origin that the burdensome requirements appeared to infringe Article VIL3 and X of GATT 1994, Article 7.1 of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing and to contravene the recommendations of Article VIIL1(c) of GATT 1994. The measures on labelling requirements appeared to violate Article 2.2 of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and to contravene the recommendations of Article VIIL1(c) of GATT 1994. As regards the requirements of the Declaration Form On Product Composition, they appeared to be in breach of Article 2 of the WTO Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures. As for the procedure for controlling the customs value, the Commission services could not express a definitive position due to the recent introduction of a new law regulating this matter. On the pre-shipment inspection issue, no violation of any particular provision of the WTO Agreement on Pre-shipment Inspection could be found. However, it did not appear to adhere to the purpose and spirit of the Agreement. Finally, no violation of WTO rules had been identified with respect to the statistical tax, and the issue of the dis- criminatory VAT was already addressed in the context of another TBR procedure concerning the import of finished leather in Argentina (3). C 340, 27.11.1999, p. 70. L 295, 4.11.1998, p. 46.