	ec says u s broke  rules in akzo dupont row the european community commission has charged the united states with breaking international  rules by excluding dutch made fibres from the u s market and said it would take the issue to the world  body gatt in the latest of a series of  disputes with washington the executive authority alleged that a section of the u s tariff act was incompatible with the gatt general agreement on tariffs and  because it discriminated against imported products in favour of domestically produced goods the commission said it would ask geneva based gatt to rule on whether the section in question which officials said had proved a barrier to many ec exporters conformed to its rules commission officials did not rule out retaliatory measures if after a gatt decision against it washington failed to bring the disputed section into line with international rules the executive s decision to go to gatt follows a complaint to it by the dutch company akzo akzo as whose aramid synthetic fibres have been banned from the u s market because of charges by the u s firm dupont that the fibres violate the american company s patents akzo alleged that the ban imposed by the u s international  commission itc was discriminatory and incompatible with gatt provisions the dispute centres on the fact that section of the u s tariff act gives the itc jurisdiction over imported products the ec commission charged that ec producers did not have the same possibilities for defending themselves before the itc as they would have in a normal u s court consequently the procedure followed is less favourable than that which takes places in normal courts of law for goods produced in the united states it said in a statement reuter 
