Document KRe3pOaa0kmD3VM94YVze3azr

Page 25 provisions where the term "like products" is used, the term must be interpreted in light of the context, and of the object and purpose, of the provision at issue, and of the object and purpose of the covered agreement in which the provision appears. Accordingly, and as we observed in an earlier case concerning Article III:2 of the GATT 1994: ... there can be no one precise and absolute definition of what is "like". The concept of "likeness" is a relative one that evokes the image of an accordion. The accordion of "likeness" stretches and squeezes in different places as different provisions of the WTO Agreement are applied. The width of the accordion in any one of those places must be determined by the particular provision in which the term "like" is encountered as well as by the context and the circumstances that prevail in any given case to which that provision may apply. ... [FN60] (emphasis added) 89. It follows that, while the meaning attributed to the terra "like products" in other provisions of the GATT 1994, or in other covered agreements, may be relevant context in interpreting Article 111:4 of the GATT 1994, the interpretation of "like products" in Article III:4 need not be identical, in all respects, to those other meanings. 90. Bearing these considerations in mind, we turn now to the ordinary meaning of the word "like" in the term "like products" in Article 111:4. According to one dictionary, "like" means: *26 Having the same characteristics or qualities as some other ... thing; of approximately identical shape, size, etc., with something else; similar. [FN61] 91. This meaning suggests that "like" products are products that share a number of identical or similar characteristics or qualities. The reference to "similar" as a synonym of "like" also echoes the language of the French version of Article 111:4, "produits similaires", and the Spanish version, "productos similares", which, together with the English version, are equally authentic. [FN62] 92. However, as we have previously observed, "dictionary meanings leave many interpretive questions open." [FN63] In particular, this definition does not resolve three issues of interpretation. First, this dictionary definition of "like" does not indicate which characteristics or qualities are important in assessing the "likeness" of products under Article 111:4. For instance, most products will have many qualities and characteristics, ranging from physical properties such as composition, size, shape, texture, and possibly taste and smell, to the end-uses and applications of the product. Second, this dictionary definition provides no guidance in determining the degree or extent to which products must sharre' qualities or characteristics in order to be "like products" under Article 111:4. Products may share only very few characteristics or qualities, or they may share many. Thus, in the abstract, the term "like" can encompass a spectrum of differing degrees of "likeness" or "similarity". Third, this dictionary definition cof "like" does not indicate from whose perspective "likeness" should be judged. For instance, ultimate consumers.may have a view about the "likeness" of two products that is very different from that of the inventors or producers of those products. 93. To begin to resolve these issues, we turn to the relevant context of Article III:4 of the GATT 1994. In that respect, we observe that Article 111:2 of the GATT 1994, which deals with the internal tax treatment of imported and domestic products, prevents Members, through its first sentence, from imposing internal taxes on imported products "in excess of those applied ... to like domestic products."(emphasis added) In previous Reports, we have held that the scope of "like" products in this sentence is to be construed "narrowly". [FN64] This reading of "like" in Article III:2 might be taken to suggest a similarly narrow reaching of "like" in Article 111:4, since both provisions form part of the same Article. However, both of these paragraphs of Article III constitute specific expressions of the overarching, "general principle", set forth in Article 111:1 of the GATT 1994. [FN65] As we have