WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has refiled its case accusing the Canadian Wheat Board of illegally subsidizing shipments after the World Trade Organization found technical errors in the original complaint, a U.S. government official said on Wednesday.
The U.S. government contends the Canadian wheat the Canadian Wheat Board ships to the United States enjoys illegal subsidies ranging from transportation to financing. The board, the world's largest monopoly wheat exporter, denies that its practices violate global rules for fair trade.
Last week, a WTO panel found insufficiencies in portions of the U.S. complaint. A U.S. Trade Representative official said it submitted a revised complaint with the WTO on Monday.
"The key is that the procedural ruling of the technicality will not have any impact on the scope of the U.S. case or the final results," he said.
The U.S. official also said the government plans to request at a WTO meeting on July 11 that a new panel review its case.
The WTO panel has six months to issue a ruling on the U.S. complaint. One Canadian official said Ottawa was confident the WTO would rule in its favor.
"We believe that once again, Canada will be proven right on this issue," said a spokesman for Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
Canadian durum and hard red spring wheat competes head-to-head with North Dakota wheat in the United States and abroad. North Dakota farmers have been seeking U.S. government relief against the Canadian Wheat Board.
In a separate case earlier this year, the U.S. Commerce Department launched stiff anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian wheat shipments, which Canadian officials estimated will mean the loss of up to $6 million in sales this marketing year. The U.S. agency took the preliminary action after finding the CWB was selling wheat at below-market prices in the United States, and is expected to issue a final decision later this month.
(Additional reporting by Gilbert Le Gras in Ottawa.)
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