G/SG/N/6/IND/48  
11 October  2022 
(22-7652) Page: 1/2 
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  
INDIA 
PVC Suspension resins with residual VCM above 2 PPM  
The following communication, dated and received on 11 October  2022,  is being circulated at the 
request of the delegation of India.1 
 
_______________  
Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (Safeguards Agreement), India 
notifies that a safeguard investigation has been initiated as follows:  
1. Specify the date when the investigation was initiated  
India initiated the investigation on 16 September 2022. A copy of Notice of Initiation of the 
investigation, as published in Par t-I Section I of the Gazette of India Extraordinary is attached.2 
2. Period of Investigation  
The Period of investigation (POI) considered for the purpose of present investigation is from 
1 April 2019 to 30 June 2022. The Investigating Authority has taken six months period 
(i.e. 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2022) as the most recent period.  
3. Product under Consideration  
The product under consideration (PUC) is "Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) Suspension Resins with Residual 
Vinyl Chloride Monomer (RVCM) above 2 PPM" and is used in pipes, packaging, wiring and 
insulations, medical products, automotive applications, artificial leather for diverse applications like 
upholstery, furnishing, jackets, purse, belts, shoes, consumer goods etc. For more details, kindly 
see the copy of the attached Notice of Initiation of investigation.  
4.  Reasons for initiation of investigation  
The investigation has been initiated following the examination of the safeguard petition of the 
Domestic Industry (DI) alleging serious injury an d threat thereof caused by sudden sharp and recent 
increase in the volume of imports of the PUC. Relevant factors having significant bearing on the 
serious injury and/or threat of serious injury to domestic industry, inter alia,  are as below:  
• The imports a re undercutting the prices of the domestic industry and have taken over its 
market share;  
 
1 A copy of the Gazette of India Extraordinary, has been submitted electronically. 
https://egazette.nic.in/(S(mbam2hqe4m3fuuzuxrtyfgyo))/SearchMinistry.aspx? id=329680 . 
2 To consult th is document, please contact Ms  Richards ( anne.richards@wto.org ) of the Rules Division.  G/SG/N/6/IND/48  
 
- 2 - 
 
  • The production quantity, sales quantity, capacity utilization and market share of the 
domestic industry etc. have fallen considerably;  
• In the most recent period, the domestic industry has been forced to sell the subject goods 
at losses.  
• There is a significant increase in imports of PUC during the most recent period 
(January -June,  2022) as a result of unforeseen developments such as increase in cost of 
petrochemical pro ducts including VCM leading to increase in cost of production of PVC 
suspension resin produced through VCM route, no material increase in cost of production of 
the product produced through coal route etc.  
Accordingly, it has been found that prima -facie increased imports of PUC have caused or are 
threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic producers of PUC. Hence, it has been decided to 
initiate the safeguard investigation under Rule 5 of the Safeguard Measures (Quantitative 
Restrictions) Rules, 20 12. 
5.  Point of contact for the investigation  
All interested parties have been requested to make their views known within a period of 30 days 
from the date of the notice issued (i.e. 16 September 2022) to the Designated Authority on email 
addresses adg15 -dgtr@gov.in , adv11 -dgtr@gov.in , dir16-dgtr@gov.in , dd15-dgtr@gov.in . 
All known interested pa rties have been addressed separately. It may be noted that in terms of 
explanation of the said Rule, the notice calling for information and other documents shall be deemed 
to have been received within one week from the date on which it was sent by the Auth ority or 
transmitted to the appropriate diplomatic representative of the exporting country.  
If no information is received within the prescribed time limit or the information received is 
incomplete, the Authority may record its findings on the basis of the facts available on record in 
accordance with the Rules.  
_________