RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/Q1/JPN/4
G/SCM/Q1/JPN/4
ORGANIZATION 12August 1996
(96-3178)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5AND 32.6OFTHE AGREEMENTS
Replies ofJAPAN1
toquestions posed byHONG KONG2
Thefollowingcommunication,dated29July1996,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofJapan.
_______________
NecessarynotificationsoflawsandregulationsandtheGuidelineareinthecourseofpreparation,
andwillbesubmitted bythenextmeeting oflegislation review.
Domestic Legal Status oftheA-DAgreement
1. Japan 'snotifications contain Customs Tariff LawandCabinet Order Relating toAnti-Dumping
Duty.
(a) What isthelegalstatus oftheWTO A-DAgreement inJapan? Does ithavetheforce
oflaw? Ifaprovision ofthedomestic legislation isinconflict withtheAgreement,
which willtakeprecedence?
(b) AretheJapanese A-Dofficials required, legally orotherwise, toabide bytheA-D
Agreement intheconduct ofA-Dproceedings, ortoconsult theA-DAgreement, for
example ontheinterpretation ofdomestic legislation?
Necessary changes tothedomestic legislation havebeenmade inorder toimplement
theWTO Agreement. TheCustoms Lawconfirms thattheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement
canbedirectly applied.
Ifthere should beanyconflict, theWTO Agreement prevails overthedomestic
legislation.
Japanese ADofficials areobliged toabide bytheADAgreement, intheconduct of
ADproceedings.
1G/ADP/N/1/JPN/2+Corr.1-G/SCM/N/1/JPN/2+Corr.1.
2G/ADP/W/227+Suppl.1-G/SCM/W/237+Suppl.1.G/ADP/Q1/JPN/4
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Keyissues intheWTO A-DAgreement found silent intheJapanese A-Dlegislation
2. (a) Ifthere arenospecific statutory provisions, howcould Japan ensure itsauthorities
would follow strictly therelevant provisions oftheWTOA-DAgreement ontheseissues?
Howwould Japan reconcile itsobligations under theWTO A-DAgreement onthese
issues withtheapparent lackofspecific statutory provisions?
Asanswered inQuestion 1above.
(b) Arethereanypublished guidelines forprocedures relating toA-Dduties? Ifyes,what
isthelegalstatus ofsuchguidelines? AretheJapanese A-Dofficials required, legally
orotherwise, toabide bysuchguidelines intheconduct ofA-Dproceedings?
TheGovernment ofJapan developed the"Guidelines" tofacilitate theoperation ofthe
ADsystem. Theobjective ofenacting theGuideline istocomplement theprovisions ofGATT
1994, SCM Agreement, ADAgreement andrelevant domestic lawsandregulations ofJapan
andtocontribute tofacilitate thesystem. TheJapanese ADofficials abide bytheGuidelines
intheconduct ofADproceedings.
Customs Tariff Law-Article 8(Anti-dumping Duty)
3. Would Japan clarify whether theprovision onundertaking asprovided forunder Article 8of
theLawmeans 'undertaking tocease exports ofsuchproduct atdumped prices '?
Article 8.7oftheLawrefers toundertakings tocease exports ofproducts atthedumped price.
Paragraph 25-Sunset Review
4. Besides simple extension ofimposition ofthesameA-Dduty,could areview under paragraph 25
leadtomodification orvariation oftheA-Dduty? Would thestandard ofreview bethesame
asthatfororiginal investigation? Forexample, would theimposition oftheA-Ddutybe
terminated onaccount ofdeminimis dumping margin ornegligible import?
Article 8.25oftheLawcorresponds tothereview under Article 11.3oftheADAgreement
which deals onlywiththeextension oftheduty.
Modification oftheADdutyasaresult ofthereview referred toinArticle 11.2iscovered
byArticle 8.20oftheLaw.
Theprovisions oftheAgreement areadhered to.Therequirement concerning deminimis and
negligibility willapply inreviews.
Paragraph 36-Association Between Importer andExporter
5. Isitpossible toestablish theexistence ofdumping under paragraph 36without firstestablishing
theselling pricefortheexport oftheimported product under Article 3oftheOrder andmaking
afaircomparison withthenormal price? Ifyes,howwould Japan satisfy itsobligations under
Article 2.3oftheWTO A-DAgreement?
ThisArticle isinterpreted asprovisions which make itpossible tocalculate export prices under
Article 2.3oftheAgreement.G/ADP/Q1/JPN/4
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Cabinet Order Relating toAnti-Dumping Duty
6. Would Japan clarify under whatcircumstances would itsauthorities establish thenormal price
onthebasis ofsaleinthecountry oforigin? Howwould theobligations under Article 2.5
oftheWTO A-DAgreement besatisfied?
Japan'slawsandregulations donothaveprovisions concerning theintermediate country sale.
Therefore, theprovisions ofArticle 2.5oftheADAgreement aredirectly applied.
Article 2-FairComparison
7. HowwouldtheJapaneselegislationensurethenotionoffaircomparisonenshrinedinArticle2.4
oftheWTOA-DAgreement? Forexample, could adjustments bemade inestablishing theexport
price? Under theJapanese legislation, howwould comparison bemade atthesame levelof
trade, normally attheex-factory level, andinrespect ofsales made asnearly aspossible the
same time, asrequired byArticle 2.4oftheWTO A-DAgreement?
Japan'slawsandregulations donothaveprovisions concerning thisbasis forcomparison.
Therefore, theprovisions ofArticle 2.4oftheADAgreement aredirectly applied.
Others
8. Willthisrequirement beobserved bytheJapanese authorities? Isthere anyrelevant statutory
provisions inJapan 'sdomestic legislation?
Noprovisions arelaidinJapan'slawsandregulations concerning theconfidential treatment
oftheapplication fortheinitiation ofaninvestigation prior toinitiation oftheinvestigation andthe
advance notification totheMember concerned.
Therefore, theprovisions ofArticle 5.5oftheADAgreement aredirectly applied.
9. What isJapan 'spolicy andlawfortheimplementation ofWTO Panel Reports?
Japan'slawsandregulations donothaveanyspecific provisions concerning implementation
ofadverse panel reports. Amendment tothelegislation and/or regulation maybemade onacase-by-case
basis, ifnecessary, responding totheWTO panel reports.
10. What judicial review procedures hasJapan putinplace inobservance ofitsobligations under
Article 13oftheWTO A-DAgreement?
Thelitigation willbefiledtocourts. Administrative measures including anti-dumping measures
arecovered byJapanese judicial review systems.G/ADP/Q1/JPN/4
G/SCM/Q1/JPN/4
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Supplementary questions
Likeproduct
1. Itisobserved thatboththeLawandtheOrder make frequent references totheterm'like
product '.Arethere anystatutory provisions inJapan 'sdomestic legislation which reflect the
definition oftheterm'likeproduct 'asprovided forinArticle 2.6oftheWTO A-DAgreement?
Japan'sdomestic lawsandregulations donotdefine "like products".
Theprovisions ofArticle 2.6oftheADAgreement aredirectly applied.
Determination ofInjury
2. Willtheabove requirements beobserved bytheJapanese authorities? Arethere anyrelevant
statutory provisions inJapan 'sdomestic legislation?
Japan'slawsandregulationsdonothaveprovisionsconcerningtheassessmentofmaterialinjury.
Therefore, theprovisions ofArticle 3oftheADAgreement aredirectly applied.
Article 5oftheCabinet Order Relating toAnti-dumping Duty
3. (a) Itseems thatParagraph 1ofArticle 5oftheOrder onlymeets partoftherequirement
ofArticle 5.4oftheAgreement. Would Japan explain howtheprovision isconsistent
withitsobligations under theAgreement?
Article 5oftheCabinet Order stipulated 25percentoftotalproduction asastanding
requirement forinitiating aninvestigation.
Further, astothe50percentsupport rule, theprovisions ofArticle 5.4ofthe
Agreement aredirectly applied andthemanner tofindthedegree ofsupport isprovided for
inArticle 5(2)oftheGuidelines.
(b) What would happen ifproducers opposed butunions supported apetition?
(c) What would happen when there areconflicting views between theproducer
andlabours fromthesame entity?
(d) Ifaproducer andhisworkers bothmake submission insupport ofapetition,
wouldtheproductionofthecorrespondingentitybecountedtwiceinconsidering
the25percenttotal-production threshold?
Intheassessment ofthesupport forthefilings, depending onthenature oftheapplicant,
either producer orunion willbelooked at.