New York Times reports that the WTO opened investigations yesterday into the European Union ban on American poultry and American labelling rules for cattle and pigs from Canada and Mexico.

In the poultry case, Washington and Brussels have argued for more than a decade over European restrictions on imports of poultry treated with four antibacterial chemicals approved in the United States but banned in Europe.

Canada and Mexico are hoping the agency will rule against an American decision not to consider Mexican and Canadian calves raised and slaughtered in the United States as being cattle of American origin, according to New York Times.