. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/AHG/W/152
14 October 2003
(03-5454)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
Working Group on ImplementationOriginal:  English
ARTICLE 6.7 – CONDUCT OF VERIFICATION
Paper by the United States
The following communication, dated 14 October 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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Article 6.7 – Conduct of Verification
Article 6.7 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement states that in order to verify information provided
or to obtain further details, the authorities may carry out investigations in the territory of otherMembers as required, provided they obtain the agreement of the firms concerned and notify the
representatives of the government of the Member in question, unless that Member objects to the
investigation.
1  Article 6.7 further states that, subject to the requirement to protect confidential
information, the authorities shall make the results of any such investigations available, or shall
provide disclosure thereof pursuant to Article 6.9, to the firms to which they pertain and may make
such results available to the applicants.  These provisions are further elaborated in Annex I of the
Anti-Dumping Agreement.  The United States refers to such on-the-spot investigations as the“verification” process.  The United States has enacted legislation and regulations to ensure that anti-
dumping verification practices are consistent with these obligations.
US Procedures for Conducting Verification in the Territory of Other Members
The United States has provided that the US Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) must
verify information relied upon in making the following types of determinations:
1. final determinations in investigations,
2. determinations revoking orders or findings, and3. final determinations for administrative reviews if verification is timely requested by
an interested party, and no verifications have been conducted during the two
preceding  reviews.
2
With respect to the timing of verification, verifications generally are conducted after the
receipt of all questionnaire responses.  This is consistent with the purpose of verifications as noted in
Article 6.7, namely to “verify information provided or to obtain further details.”
                                                     
1 Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994,
Article 6.7.
2 19 U.S.C. § 1677m(i).G/ADP/AHG/W/152
Page 2
Commerce regulations identify the types of parties to whom Commerce may address requests
for on-site verifications.  In an anti-dumping proceeding, Commerce may visit with the following
persons in order to verify the accuracy and completeness of submitted factual information:
1. Producers, exporters, or importers;
2. Persons affiliated with the producers, exporters, or importers; and
3. Unaffiliated purchasers.3
Prior to actually conducting a verification, Commerce informs both the person whose
information will be examined and the foreign government concerned of Commerce's intention to
perform a verification.4  In this notification, Commerce officials advise the Member government of
the companies to be verified and the dates of the verification.  If either the person or the government
concerned objects, Commerce will not conduct a verification.  At this time, where practicable,
Commerce will also identify any member of the verification team, such as a technical expert, who isnot an officer of the US Government.  Apart from an interpreter, the participation of
non-governmental officials is rare.
The Commerce officials conducting a particular investigation issue verification outlines prior
to conducting a verification.  The verification outline notes that Commerce requests access to all files,records, and personnel that the verifying officials consider relevant to factual information submitted to
Commerce.
5  This outline also provides a description of the general structure of the verification: what
will be verified, what documents will be reviewed, in what order items will be verified, etc.  The
outline serves as a guide to the party being verified to ensure that it may  properly prepare for the
verification.  In most cases, verification outlines are provided at least two weeks prior to thecommencement of verification.
Commerce prepares verification reports subsequent to the verification.  These reports state the
methods, procedures, and results of the verification.
6  These verification reports are issued to the
parties prior to Commerce making a final decision in the proceeding.7  Parties then have an
opportunity to comment on these reports, typically through the filing of briefs and/or other
submissions to Commerce, for consideration in making a final determination.
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3  19 C.F.R. § 351.307(d).
4 19 C.F.R. § 351.307(d).
5  Id.
6  19 C.F.R. § 351.307(c).
7  Id.