WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/7/PHL/2
G/SG/N/8/PHL/2
30 November 2001
(01-6114)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON
SAFEGUARDS BEFORE TAKING A PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARDS
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(b) OF THE
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING
A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF
CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS
PHILIPPINES
The following communication, dated 26 November 2001, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of the Philippines.
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Pursuant to Article 12 of the Agreement on Sa feguards, the Government of the Philippines
has the honour to notify the Committee on Safeguards of an Order of the Philippines' Department of
Trade and Industry on Safeguard Case No. 01-2001, dated 26 November 2001, making after
preliminary determination, an affirmative finding that increased imports of ceramic floor and wall
tiles have caused serious injury to the domestic industry, and imposing a provisional safeguardmeasure in the form of a cash bond for a period not exceeding two hundred (200) days.  A copy of the
said order is attached herewith.G/SG/N/7/PHL/2
G/SG/N/8/PHL/2
Page 2
IN THE MATTER OF THE PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION
OF THE SAFEGUARD MEASURES CASE AGAINST THE
IMPORTATION OF CERAMIC FLOOR AND WALL
TILES FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES
(SAFEGUARD CASE NO. 01-2001)
ORDER
The Philippine ceramic tiles industry, represented by Mariwasa Siam Ceramics and Lepanto
(Guoco) Ceramics, filed a safeguard measures protest against the importation of ceramic floor andwall tiles, glazed and unglazed, from various countries.  The protest alleged that ceramic floor and
wall tiles are being imported in increased quantities and that as a result thereof causes serious injury to
the domestic industry.
The period of investigation covered imports from 1996 to 2000.  For injury determination, the
Department considered relevant information for the same period.
WHEREFORE, IN VIEW THEREOF , the Department of Trade and Industry, acting under
Section 7 of RA 8800, the "Safeguard Measures Act", found after preliminary determination, an
affirmative finding that increased imports of the product under consideration have caused seriousinjury to the domestic industry, particularly in terms of declining market share, domestic sales and
gross profits, increasing finished goods inventor y and underutilization of production capacity leading
to plant closure.
Pursuant to Section 8 of RA 8800 which provides that "in critical circumstances where a
delay would cause damage which would be difficult to repair, and pursuant to a preliminary
determination that increased imports are a substantial cause of, serious injury to the domestic
industry"  the imposition of a provisional measure in the form of a cash bond amounting to P5.40 per
kg. shall be imposed for a period not exceeding 200 days from the date of the issuance by the Bureau
of Customs of the relevant Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) on all importations of ceramic floor
and wall tiles, glazed and unglazed, classified under HS Codes 6907.9000 and 6908.9000.  However,
the provisional duty shall not be applied to imports sourced from those countries which are alreadydeemed exempted by virtue of the "developing country rule" as provided in the subsequent paragraph
of this Order.
Considering that imports from Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Iran are less than 3 per cent of
the total Philippine imports during the period of investigation, imports from these countries are,therefore, exempted from the application of provisional safeguard measures as provided in Rule 8.8 of
the IRRs of RA 8800 (developing country rule).
Considering further that ceramic tiles are one of the products covered by the ASEAN-CEPT
Agreement, as provided under Articles 6 and 8 of the said Agreement, the Philippines is required tonotify the Ministerial Level Council and to accord adequate opportunity for consultations with the
governments of the ASEAN countries concerned i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, which may
be affected by the application of provisional measures on imports sourced from ASEAN countries.
Thus, for imports originating from ASEAN countries, the provisional safeguard measure shall be
imposed upon compliance with Articles 6.3 and 8 of the ASEAN-CEPT Agreement.
The case records will be transmitted to the Tariff Commission for formal investigation to
determine whether or not there is a need to impose a definitive safeguard measure.G/SG/N/7/PHL/2
G/SG/N/8/PHL/2
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Let this Order be published immediately in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
This Order shall take effect immediately.
SO ORDERED.
26 November 2001
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