CAN: Government Appeals Against WTO

A decision by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) affecting advertising in US magazines distributed in Canada is being appealed against by the Canadian government. The WTO has ruled that Canada was in violation of international trade agreements by levying taxation on Canadian editions of US magazines. The case arose through a 1995 Canadian law that imposed an 80% excise tax on advertising in so called “split run” editions – ie Canadian distributed editions of US magazines. Canada now has two months in which to decided whether to appeal against the ruling; the WTO must then give its final verdict two to three months after the appeal.