WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/1/TUN/2
22 December 2000
(00-5610)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  French
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
TUNISIA
The following communication, dated 11 December 2000, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Tunisia.
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The Permanent Mission of Tunisia at Geneva presents its compliments to the Secretariat of
the World Trade Organization and has the honour to enclose a copy of Law No. 98-106 of
18 December 1998 on import safeguard measures.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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LAWS
Law No.  98-106 of 18 December 1998 on Import Safeguard Measures1
In the name of the people,
Following adoption by the Chamber of Deputies,
The President of the Republic hereby promulgates the following law:
Article 1
The purpose of this Law is to establish rules on safeguard measures and their implementing
regulations with a view to protecting domestic products from massive imports likely to create
difficulties for the domestic industry, as provided for by Article XIX of the GATT 1994 and theAgreement on Safeguards of the World Trade Organization, ratified by Law No. 95-06 of
23 January 1995.
CHAPTER I
Common Provisions
Article 2
Safeguard measures are measures taken to prevent or remove serious injury to a domestic
industry due to massive imports of a like or directly competitive product.
Safeguard measures shall be described as provisional when they are determined in accordance
with Articles 22 et seq .
For the purposes of this Law:- "Serious injury" shall be understood to mean a significant overall impairment in the
position of a domestic industry;
- "threat of serious injury" shall be understood to mean a situation in which serious
injury to the domestic industry is imminent.
A determination of the existence of a threat of serious injury shall be based on facts and not
merely on allegation, conjecture or remote possibility:
- "Domestic industry" shall be understood to mean the producers as a whole of like or
directly competitive products or those whose collective output of the like or directly
competitive products constitutes a major proportion of the domestic production of
those products.
                                                     
1 Preparatory work:  Discussion and adoption by the Chamber of Deputies at its session of
24 November 1998.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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CHAPTER II
Conditions of Application of Safeguard Measures
Article 3
A safeguard measure may be decided upon only if it has been determined that a product,
irrespective of its source, has been imported in massive quantities, absolute or relative to domesticproduction, and in such a way as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry
that produces like or directly competitive products.
Article 4
An investigation with a view to the adoption of a safeguard measure may be initiated upon
application to the Minister responsible for trade by the domestic industry, or by the trade associations
or other bodies concerned acting on its behalf.  The application shall include evidence of serious
injury suffered or the threat of serious injury, together with evidence of a causal link between theimports in question and the alleged injury.
Article 5
The provisions of Article 4 notwithstanding, an investigation may be initiated without the
Minister responsible for trade having received an application by or on behalf of the domestic industry
if the Minister responsible for trade has sufficient evidence of serious injury or threat of serious injuryto a domestic industry.
CHAPTER III
Preliminary Examination, Investigation, Form and Duration of Safeguard Measures
SECTION I
Preliminary Examination
Article 6
If, after a preliminary examination completed within one month of receipt of the application
mentioned in Article 4 or the taking of the decision indicated in Article 5, it appears that there is
sufficient evidence of injury or threat of injury to a domestic industry, the Minister responsible for
trade shall authorize the initiation of an investigation and the publication of a notice in theJournal Officiel (Official Journal) of the Tunisian Republic and shall notify the Committee on
Safeguards of the World Trade Organization that an investigatory process has been initiated.
Article 7
The public notice shall indicate the nature of the product and the country or countries
concerned and shall include a summary of the information received and an invitation to submit any
relevant information to the Minister responsible for trade.
The notice shall also fix the time-limit allowed to  interested parties for making their views
known in writing and the time-limit for participating in any hearings.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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SECTION II
Investigation
Article 8
The services responsible for the investigation shall investigate and verify any information
they consider appropriate, obtained from importers, traders, producers, associations and interestedbodies.
Article 9
If it is shown that there are valid reasons for holding hearings attended by the natural or legal
persons concerned and representatives of the exporting countries whose interests might be affected by
the conclusions of the investigation, the Minister responsible for trade may grant such hearings,
provided he has received a written request to that effect.
Article 10
If the services responsible for the investigation find themselves unable to obtain the necessary
information within the time-limits laid down or the investigation is impeded, the investigation may be
made on the basis of the facts available.
Article 11
Information obtained under this Law may not be used for purposes other than those for which
it was requested.
Information which is by nature confidential or is provided on a confidential basis shall be
treated as such and shall not be disclosed without the written permission of the party submitting it.
However, if it appears that such a request is not warranted and if the party that provided the
information refuses to make it public or authorize its disclosure in full or in summary form, that
information may be disregarded in the course of the investigation, unless it can be demonstrated
convincingly from appropriate sources that it is correct.
Article 12
The investigation initiated by the Minister res ponsible for trade must determine, on the basis
of objective evidence, the existence of a causal link between increased imports of the product inquestion and serious injury to the domestic industry concerned or threat thereof.
Article 13
The examination of the evolution of imports and the conditions of importation and the
examination of the serious injury these imports are causing to the domestic producers of like or
directly competitive products shall be based on:
- The volume of imports if these have increased significantly, either in absolute terms
or relative to domestic production;
- the impact of the imports on domestic producers of like or directly competitive
products;G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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- the consequences for the domestic producers of like or directly competitive products
of the evolution of certain factors such as production, capacity utilization, inventories
of the products concerned, sales, market share, prices, profits, return on investments,
cash flow and employment.
Article 14
The provisions of Article 13 notwithstanding, if a threat of serious injury is alleged, the
services responsible for the investigation shall determine whether the alleged threat is likely to
develop into actual injury.  To this end, they may take the following factors into account:
- The rate of increase of exports to Tunisia;
- the export capacity of the country of origin or exportation, whether directly
disposable or likely to be available in the near future, and the probability that that
capacity will be used for exports to Tunisia.
Article 15
The investigation shall be completed within nine months of its initiation.  In exceptional
circumstances, this period shall be extended by a further two months.
On completion of the investigation, the Minist er responsible for trade shall inform the
National Foreign Trade Council of the results obtained and the measures envisaged.
Article 16
After the National Foreign Trade Council has given its opinion, it may be decided either that:- It is inadvisable to apply safeguard measures and, in this case, the Minister
responsible for trade shall order the file to be closed;
or that:
- safeguard measures are to be applied and in this case the order instituting these
measures shall be published in the Journal Officiel , with a report setting out the
evidence gathered during the investigation and the reasoned conclusions to which it
has led.
The Minister responsible for trade shall notify the Committee on Safeguards of the World
Trade Organization of the implementation of the safeguard measures.  This notification shall specify
the evidence for the existence of serious injury or threat thereof caused by increased imports of the
product in question, together with the measure taken, its date of application, its duration and the time-
table for its progressive liberalization.
Article 17
No safeguard measure shall be applied against a product originating in a developing country
Member of the World Trade Organization if its share of imports of the product in question does notexceed 3 per cent, provided that developing country Members of the World Trade Organization with
less than 3 per cent import share collectively account for not more than 9 per cent of total imports of
the product concerned.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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SECTION III
Form of Safeguard Measures
Article 18
Safeguard measures may take the form of quantitative restrictions or tariff increases.
Article 19
In determining the import quantities and/or values of a product where the safeguard measure
consists in establishing a quota, the following shall be taken into account:
- The average of imports in the last three most representative years for which statistics
are available, unless justification is given that a different level is necessary to prevent
or remedy serious injury;
- any other factor considered relevant.
Article 20
If it has been decided to allocate a quota among several exporting countries, the Minister
responsible for trade may enter into consultations concerning the allocation of the quota with those
countries having a substantial interest in exporting the product concerned.
If this method is not applied, the quota shall be allotted to the exporting countries in
proportion to their respective shares of imports of the product in question supplied during a previousrepresentative period, account being taken of any factors which may have affected or may be affecting
the trade in the product.
However, in the event of serious injury, the method described in the previous subparagraph
may be departed from, if imports from a supplier country or countries have increased
disproportionately in relation to the total increase in imports of the product concerned in a previousrepresentative period.
Such departure shall take into account the obligation to hold consultations under the auspices
of the Committee on Safeguards of  the World Trade Organization.
Article 21
The provisions of Article 20 notwithstanding, products subject to a quota may not be
imported without the authorization of the Minister responsible for trade.
Article 22
After obtaining the opinion of the National Foreign Trade Council, provisional safeguard
measures in the form of tariff increases may be taken, in accordance with the law, under the following
conditions:
- When critical circumstances, where delay would cause damage which it would be
difficult to repair, make immediate action necessary;G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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- when a preliminary determination has shown that there is sufficient evidence that
increased imports have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury.
Before applying a provisional safeguard measure, the Minister responsible for trade shall
notify the Committee on Safeguards of the World Trade Organization of his intention:
- During the application of provisional safeguard measures the investigation must be
continued, regardless of the duration of those measures.
Article 23
Tariff increases collected under a provisional safeguard measure shall be refunded if the
Minister responsible for trade decides, upon conclusion of the investigation and after obtaining the
opinion of the National Foreign Trade Council, that the increases should not have been applied for
lack of serious injury or threat thereof.
Article 24
The Minister of Finance shall arrange for the refunding of the sum in question upon decision
of the Minister responsible for trade, taken in accordance with Article 23 of this Law.
Article 25
As soon as a safeguard measure has been taken, the Minister responsible for trade shall
initiate consultations with the countries concerned with a view to compensating them for the adverseeffects on their trade, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on Safeguards of the
World Trade Organization.
SECTION IV
Duration of Safeguard Measures
Article 26
The period of application of safeguard measures , including any provisional measure, shall not
exceed four years.
No provisional safeguard measure may be applied for more than 200 days.
However, when it is found that a safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or
remedy serious injury and that there is evidence that  the industry is adjusting, it may be decided, after
obtaining the opinion of the National Foreign Council, to extend the period of application of the
safeguard measure, in the light of the results of a new investigation conducted in accordance with the
rules laid down in Chapter III of this Law.
The period of application of the safeguard measure, including any extension, shall not exceed
ten years.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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Article 27
When a safeguard measure whose period of application exceeds one year has been taken, it
shall be progressively liberalized at regular intervals during the period of application to facilitate the
adjustment of the industry concerned.
When the duration of the measure exceeds three years, it shall be reviewed not later than its
mid-term.
Any review of a safeguard measure shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures laid
down in Chapter III of this Law.
Article 28
No safeguard measure may be applied again to the import of a product which has been subject
to a previous safeguard measure under this Law for a period of time equal to half the period of
application of the previous safeguard measure, provided that the period of non-application is at leasttwo years.
The provisions of the preceding subparagra ph notwithstanding, a safeguard measure may be
applied again to the import of a product, for a period of not more than 180 days, if the following
conditions are satisfied:
- At least one year has elapsed since the date of introduction of a safeguard measure on
the import of that product;
- such a safeguard measure has not been applied on the same product more than twice
in the five-year period immediately preceding the date of introduction of the measure.
Article 29
The Minister responsible for trade shall arrange for the publication of provisional, initial and
renewed safeguard measures in the Journal Officiel .
CHAPTER IV
Other Provisions
Article 30
If the evolution of imports of a product threatens to cause injury to domestic producers,
imports of that product may be placed under preliminary surveillance in accordance with procedures
laid down by order of the Minister responsible for trade.
Article 31
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Law laying down the investigating procedure for
determining the existence of a causal link between increased imports of the product in question and
serious injury to a domestic industry or threat thereof, a special safeguard measure may be taken in
accordance with Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture of the World Trade Organization on theimport of agricultural products.G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
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Article 32
The information supplied and the investigations shall be examined by officials of the Minister
responsible for trade or other duly authorized officials.  These officials may make visits and carry out
inspections and investigations on workplaces or production premises belonging to natural or legal
persons.  They shall be bound by professional secrecy and shall be subject to the provisions ofArticle 254 of the Criminal Code.
This Law shall be published in the Journal Officiel  of the Tunisian Republic and enforced as
State law.
Tunis, 18 December 1998.
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
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