WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/6/POL/4
25 June 2002
(02-3528)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A) OF THE
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATION OF
AN INVESTIGATION AND THE REASONS FOR IT
POLAND
The following communication, dated 20 June 2002, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Poland.
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Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, Poland hereby notifies that
the Polish Minister of Economy decided to initiate a safeguard investigation concerning imports into
Polish customs territory of certain steel products.
1. Date of initiation of the investigation
8 June 2002 (date of publication in the Official Journal).
2. Product subject to investigation
The steel products covered by the investigation are:
(1) Pig iron and spiegeleisen in pigs;
(2) Non alloy hot rolled flat product s of a width of 600 mm or more;
(3) Non alloy cold rolled flat products of a width of 600 mm or more;
(4) Non alloy galvanized flat products;
(5) Non alloy organic coated flat products;
(6) Non alloy hot rolled bars in coils;
(7) Others non alloy hot rolled bars;
(8) Non alloy hot rolled sections;
(9) Electrical sheets;
(10) Seamless tubes;
(11) Welded tubes of diameter 406,4 mm and less;G/SG/N/6/POL/4
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(12) Roll formed sections.
The products concerned, together with the Polish Combined Nomenclature (PCN) codes
under which they are currently classified, are listed in Annex I.
3. Reasons for initiating the investigation
(1) The investigation was initiated upon the application of the domestic industry which
contained prima facie evidence of the injury caused to the domestic industry by the
increasing imports of product in question.
(2) Preliminary data concerning the investigation period (1997 - 2001) show among
others:
• high dynamics of imports of products concerned in absolute terms and its
increasing share in relation to domestic consumption and production (see
Annex II);
• decrease in domestic production and sales and their decreasing shares in the
domestic consumption (see Annex II);
• worsening economic and financial standing of the domestic industry,
including decrease in use of production capacity, decrease in employment,
decrease in average profit rate.
The initiation of the investigation was published in the Official Journal – Monitor Polski “B”
No. 71, item 775 of 8 June 2002, which also indicated that:
• interested parties should declare their participation  in the investigation within the
period of 30 days after its initiation;
• interested parties may submit any background information or opinions concerning the
investigation;
• interested parties may request a hearing in order to clarify all issues related to the
investigation.
Any additional information concerning the investigation may be obtained in the Department
of Trade Defence Measures of the Ministry of Economy (00-507 Warsaw, Zurawia 4a;
telephone (+48 22) 693 08 01, fax (+48 22) 628 40 18).
* * *G/SG/N/6/POL/4
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ANNEX I
PRODUCTS COVERED BY THE SAFEGUARD INVESTIGATION
Product PCN Code
1. Pig iron and spiegeleisen in pigs7201 10 110, 7201 10 190, 7201 10 300,
7201 10 900, 7201 20 000,
2.Non alloy hot rolled flat products of a
width of 600 mm or more7208 10 000, 7208 26 000, 7208 27 000,
7208 37 100, 7208 37 900, 7208 38 100,
7208 38 900, 7208 39 100, 7208 39 900,
7208 40 100, 7208 51 100, 7208 51 300,
7208 51 500, 7208 51 910, 7208 51 990,7208 52 100, 7208 52 910, 7208 52 990,
7208 53 900, 7208 54 100,
3.Non alloy cold rolled flat products of a
width of 600 mm or more7209 16 900, 7209 17 900, 7209 18 910,
7209 26 900, 7209 27 900, 7209 28 900,
4. Non alloy galvanized flat products7210 30 100, 7210 30 900, 7210 41 100,
7210 41 900, 7210 49 100, 7210 49 900,
7212 30 110, 7212 30 190, 7212 30 900,
5. Non alloy organic coated flat products7210 70 390, 7210 70 900, 7212 40 910,
7212 40 930, 7212 40 980,
6. Non alloy hot rolled bars in coils7213 10 000, 7213 91 100, 7213 91 490,
7213 91 700, 7213 99 100, 7213 99 900,
7. Others non alloy hot rolled bars7214 10 000, 7214 20 000, 7214 91 100,
7214 99 100, 7214 99 310, 7214 99 390,
7214 99 610, 7214 99 690, 7214 99 900,
7215 50 190, 7215 10 000,
8. Non alloy hot rolled sections7216 31 110, 7216 31 190, 7216 31 990,
7216 32 110, 7216 32 190, 7216 32 910,
7216 33 100, 7216 33 900,
9. Electrical sheets7225 11 000, 7225 19 900, 7226 11 100,
7226 11 900, 7226 19 300, 7226 19 900,
10. Seamless tubes7304 10 100, 7304 10 300, 7304 10 900,
7304 29 190, 7304 31 910, 7304 31 990,
7304 39 200, 7304 39 510, 7304 39 910,7304 39 930, 7304 59 100,
11.Welded tubes of diameter 406,4 mm and
less7306 10 110, 7306 10 190, 7306 10 900,
7306 30 510, 7306 30 590, 7306 30 780,
7306 30 900,
12. Roll formed sections 7306 60 310, 7306 60 390.G/SG/N/6/POL/4
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ANNEX II
DATA CONCERNING IMPORTS AND DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF
PRODUCTS UNDER INVESTIGATION IN THE PERIOD OF 1997 – 2001
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Import total  of products
concerned (tonnes)676 692 988 183 1 320 705 1 492 271 1 992 636
Domestic production (tonnes) 7 436 447 6 784 505 6 458 472 7 761 317 6 423 299
Domestic sales of the domestic
industry (tonnes)3 906 003 3 684 201 3 583 372 4 205 049 3 290 796
Share of imports in the domestic
consumption (%)14,77 21,15 26,93 25,37 37,71
Share of imports in domestic
production (%)9,10 14,56 20,45 18,42 31,02
Share of domestic sales in the
domestic consumption (%)85,23 78,85 73,07 74,63 62,29
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