WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/1/CZE/2
15 March 1999
(99-1018)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATIONS OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
CZECH REPUBLIC
The following communication, dated 5 March 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the Czech Republic.
_______________
With reference to Article 12.6 of the Agreement on Safeguards and in accordance with the
related decision adopted by the Committee on Safeguards established under this Agreement, I have
the honour to attach herewith the unofficial translation copy of the relevant Czech Republic
legislation relating to safeguard measures on imports of agricultural products.
This notification includes:(i) Relevant provisions of Act No. 252 /1997 Coll. on Agriculture which was
promulgated on 24 September 1997 and entered into force on the thirtieth day
following its promulgation;  and
(ii) Regulation of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 39, implementing the
Provisions of § 3 of Act No. 252/1997 Co ll. on Agriculture which was promulgated
on 1 February 1999 and entered into force on the same date.  This Regulation is being
notified in full.  However, only Parts One and Three and Annex 3 to the Regulation
are related to safeguard actions provided for in Article XIX of GATT 1994 and theAgreement on Safeguards.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 2
Act No. 252/1997
Coll. on Agriculture
of 24 September 1997
The Parliament has enacted the following act of the Czech Republic:
§ 3
Protection of the Agrarian Market
(1) Special safeguard measures in the form of an additional duty may be imposed
according to the international agreement1 in connection with the importation of agricultural products
and foodstuffs specified in the Annex to this Act.
(2) Safeguard measures may be imposed according to the international agreement2 in
connection with the importation of agricultural products and foodstuffs not specified in the Annex to
this Act.
(3) The measures according to subparagraphs 1 and 2 will be promulgated by measures of
a Regulation of the Government.
(4) The Government may determine the entry value3 of some imported agricultural
products that have not been affected by the measures according to subparagraphs 1 and 2.1,2
§ 4
Provision of Information
(1)  A person claiming the support according to § 2 or the market protection  according to § 3
is obliged to provide the necessary information for an objective consideration of the necessity to
support or protect the market with the Ministry of Agriculture, which will determine the scope of this
information. The Ministry of Agriculture shall provide the protection of individual data according to
the special act.4
                                                     
1 Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 191/1995 Coll., publishing the text of the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) - Agreement on Agriculture.
2 Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 191/1995 Coll., publishing the text of the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Orga nisation (WTO) - Agreement on Safeguards.
3 For the purpose of this Act, the entry value means such a customs value of the goods where no
additional duty is being applied
4 Act No. 89/1995 Coll., of the State Statistical Service.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 3
§7
Effective Date
This Act comes into effect as of the thirtieth day after its publication.
_____________
Annex*
                                                     
* Annex to Act No. 252/1997 Coll., on Agriculture lists agriculture products to which special safeguard
measures may be applied in accordance with the Agreement on Agriculture.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 4
REGULATION
OF THE GOVERNMENT
No. 39
of 1 February 1999
Implementing the Provisions of § 3
of the Act No. 252/1997 Coll. on Agriculture
Pursuant to § 3 (3),(4) of the Act No. 252/1997 Coll. on Agriculture, the Government orders
as follows:
PART ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 1
This Regulation establishes the terms for the measures applied in connection with the
importation of agricultural products and foodstuffs (hereinafter referred to as the "agriculturalproduct") into the territory of the Czech Republic.
§ 2
Pursuant  to this Regulation, protective measures shall be understood:(a) special safeguard measures;(b) safeguard measures;(c) entry value.
§ 3
(1) A protective measure shall be applied only to the necessary extent and for such
necessary period of time for which the circumstances giving rise to its application exist.
(2) Pursuant to this Regulation, it is not allowed to apply more protective measures
concurrently on the same agricultural product.
§ 4
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) special safeguard measure means the imposition of an additional duty;(b) additional duty means the amount added to the import duty
1 under the conditions
specified in this Regulation;
                                                     
1 § 54 (1),  § 56, §57 of the law No. 13/1993 Coll.,G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 5
(c) trigger level means such a volume of imports of the agriculture product (hereinafter
referred to as the "trigger level") the exceeding of which justifies the application of a
special safeguard measure;
(d) safeguard measure means a quantitative restriction or a tariff change under the
conditions specified in this Regulation;
(e) entry value means the minimal base for the calculation of the import duty under the
conditions specified in this Regulation;
(f) quantitative restriction of import means the determination of the quantity of
agricultural products that may be imported in the specified period2;
(g) domestic industry means domestic producers as a whole of the like or directly
competitive agricultural products, or those of them whose collective production of
like or directly competitive agricultural products constitutes more than 50 per cent ofthe total domestic production of those agricultural products;
(h) serious injury means a significant overall impairment in the position of the domestic
industry;
(i) threat of serious injury means serious injury that is clearly imminent while a
determination of the existence of a threat of serious domestic injury has to be based
on established facts and not merely on allegation, conjecture, or remote possibility.
PART TWO
SPECIAL SAFEGUARD MEASURES
§ 5
(1) A special safeguard measure in the form of an additional duty that is added to the
import duty
1 on the agricultural product specified in the Annex to Act No. 252/1997 Coll. on
Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") will be imposed, if, in connection with theimportation of such a product:
(a) The volume of imports in the units of measure set out in the Customs Tariff exceeds a
trigger level determined by the Ministry of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the
"Ministry") in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministryof Finance according to the schedule set out in § 7;  or
(b) the price at which imports of the agricultural product are taking place, including
freight and insurance costs of the imported goods to the place of their entry into the
customs territory if they are not included in the price actually paid or payable,
                                                                                                                                                                    
Regulation of the  Government of the Czech Republic No. 303/1998 Coll., issuing the Customs Tariff
and establishing rates of import duties on goods originating in developing and least developed countries and theterms  for their application (the Customs Tariff).
2  Decree No. 560/1991 Coll., on Conditions Of Issuance of an Official Import Licence for the Export
and Import of Goods and Services, as amended by Decree No. 130/1993 Coll., Decree No. 300/1993 Coll.,Decree No. 88/1994 Coll., Decree No. 175/1994 Coll., Decree No. 192/1995 Coll., Decree No. 156/1996 Coll.,
Decree No. 115/1997 Coll., Decree No. 233/1997 Coll., Decree No. 56/1998 Coll., Decree No. 141/1998 Coll.,
Decree No. 261/1998 Coll., Decree No. 331/1998 Coll., and by Decree No. 335/1998 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 6
expressed in domestic currency3 (hereinafter referred to as the "import price"),
determined by the Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade
and the Ministry of Finance, falls more than 10 per cent below the trigger price
established according to the schedule set out in § 11.
§ 6
Imposition of the additional duty is conditional upon fulfilment of current and minimum
access commitments which consist of allowing a certain minimum quantity of the agricultural product
to be imported at the preferential customs duty as committed by the Czech Republic in the
international agreement.4  Imports under current and minimum access commitments shall not be
affected by any additional duty.
Additional duty for the case of exceeding the trigger
level of the volume of imports
§ 7
(1) Determination of the trigger level shall be based on the share of the average annual
volume of import of the agricultural product concerned in the average annual volume of domestic
consumption of this agricultural product during the three preceding calendar years for which data are
available.
(2) The base trigger level shall equal to:(a) 125 per cent of the average volume of imports of the agricultural product concerned if
the share of the average volume of imports in the average volume of domesticconsumption of this  product during the three preceding calendar years is less than or
equal to 10 per cent;
(b) 110 per cent of the average volume of imports of the agricultural product concerned if
the share of the average volume of imports in the average volume of domestic
consumption of this product during the three preceding calendar years is greater than
10 per cent but less than or equal to 30 per cent,
(c) 105 per cent of the average volume of imports of the agricultural product concerned if
the share of the average volume of import in the average volume of domestic
consumption of this  product during the three preceding calendar years is greater than
30 per cent.
(3) In all cases the additional duty may be imposed in any year where the absolute
volume of imports of the agricultural product concerned entering the customs territory of the
Czech Republic exceeds the total of the base trigger level set out according to subparagraph 2
multiplied by the average annual quantity of imports during the three preceding calendar years forwhich data are available and the absolute volume change in domestic consumption of the agricultural
product in the most recent year for which data are available compared to the preceding year, provided
that the trigger level shall be greater than 105 per cent of the average quantity of imports.
                                                     
3 Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 191/1995 Coll., publishing the text of the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) – Agreement on Agriculture, Article 5(1)(b).
4 Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 191/1995 Coll., publishing the text of the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 7
(4) Where domestic consumption of the agricultural product cannot be determined, the
base trigger level shall be set at the level of 125 per cent of the average volume of imports of the
agricultural product concerned.
(5) Data and schedule to determine the trigger level of the volume of imports according
to subparagraphs 2, 3, and 4 are contained in Annex 1 to this Regulation.
(6) A shorter period of time than three years may be used for determining the trigger level
for a perishable and seasonal product to take account of the specific characteristics of such products.
§ 8
(1) Determination of the trigger level of the volume of imports is based on statistical data
of the customs statistics and information of the Czech Statistic Office.5
(2) Imports under current and minimum access commitments shall be counted in the
volume of imports measured to determine whether the trigger level of the volume of imports has beenattained.
§ 9
The additional duty cannot exceed one third of the import duty set out in a special legal
regulation
6 in effect in the year in which the additional duty is imposed.  The additional duty may only
be maintained until the end of the calendar year in which it has been imposed.
§ 10
Import of the agricultural product under a contract settled before the additional duty is
imposed shall not be subject of such a duty, if the shipment of the product concerned started before
the imposition of the additional duty, provided, however, that this import may be counted in the
volume of imports of the agricultural product duri ng the following year for the purposes of applying
the additional duty.
Additional duty for the case of fall of the import price bellow a trigger price
§ 11
(1) The trigger price shall be determined as an average of the import price of the
agricultural product for the period 1991 to 1992.
(2) Determination of the trigger price3 is based on statistical data of the customs statistics
and information of the Czech Statistic Office.5
§ 12
(1) The additional duty shall be set at the level of:
                                                     
5  Act No. 13/1993 Coll., as amended by Act No. 35/1993 Coll. and Act No. 113/1997 Coll. Act
No. 89/1995 Coll., on the State Statistical Service
6 Regulation of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 303/1998 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 8
(a) 30 per cent of the amount by which the difference between the import price and the
trigger price (hereinafter referred to as the "difference") exceeded 10 per cent of the
trigger price if this difference is greater than 10 per cent of the trigger price but less
than or equal to 40 per cent of the trigger price;
(b) 50 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeded 40 per cent of the trigger
price if this difference is greater than 40 per cent of the trigger price but lower than or
equal to 60 per cent of the trigger price; plus the additional duty set according to
subparagraph (a);
(c) 70 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeded 60 per cent of the trigger
price if this difference is greater than 60 per cent of the trigger price and lower than orequal to 75 per cent of the trigger price;  plus the additional duty set according to
subparagraphs a) a b);
(d) 90 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeded 60 per cent of the trigger
price if this difference is greater than 75 per cent of the trigger price; plus theadditional duty set according to subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c).
(2) Data and schedule to determine the trigger price according to subparagraph 1 are
contained in Annex 1 to this Regulation.
(3) Different import prices for different periods will be used for determining the trigger
price of a perishable and seasonal agricultural product to take account of the specific characteristics of
such products.
§ 13
The additional duty shall not be imposed on the import of the agricultural product the volume
of imports of which are declining until the decline of the volume of imports of this agricultural
product has been stopped, as far as this will not cause injury or threat of injury to the domestic
industry.
PART THREE
SAFEGUARD MEASURES
A safeguard measure (hereinafter referred to as the "measure") in the form of a quantitative
restriction or a tariff change may be introduced on the import of the agricultural product notmentioned in the Annex to the Act and originating in a Member State of the World Trade
Organization (hereinafter referred to as the "WTO") if the Ministry establishes in the cooperation with
the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance, according to criteria contained in
Annex No. 3 to this Regulation, that the conditions  for the introduction of the measure set by the
international agreement have been met.
4   An initiation of an investigation and its results shall be made
public.
§ 15
(1) The measure will be imposed only when the agricultural product is being imported
into the territory of the Czech Republic in such increased quantity and under such conditions as to
cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry that produces like or directly
competitive agricultural products, and provided that there is a causal link between imports in question
and serious injury or threat thereof.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 9
(2) The measure shall be applied irrespective of the country of origin of the agricultural
product unless otherwise provided by the international agreement binding the Czech Republic.
§ 16
(1) In examining whether serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry has
been caused by an exceptional increase of imports, the Ministry shall take into consideration in
particular the following factors:
(a) the development of the increase in the volume of imports of the agricultural product,
absolute or in relation to the volume of the production of the like or directly
competitive agricultural product that is produced by the domestic industry, in volumeand value terms for the last three years preceding the date when the investigation had
been initiated;
(b) the conditions under which the importation of the increased quantity of the
agricultural product is taking place (the price, quality, sales conditions, market shareof the imported agricultural product on the domestic market and changes in the sale of
the like or directly competitive agricultural product produced by domestic industry on
the domestic market - the price, quantity, quality, saleability, the increase of
unsaleable inventories, etc.);
(c) the influence of the increased imports on economic factors of the domestic industry,
in particular on the profit (or the loss), labour productivity, utilization of production
capacities, return on investments, employment;
(d) the export capacity of the country of origin of the agricultural product in the period of
the initiation of the investigation and the likelihood of further increase in import of
the agricultural product;
(e) the extent of the impairment of the domestic industry or of estimated impairment;(f) the causal link between the increased imports and serious injury or  threat thereof.
(2) When factors other than increased imports are causing injury or threat thereof to the
domestic industry, such injury or threat thereof shall not be attributed to increased imports.
Conditions and Duration of Application of the Measure
(1) The measure is adopted to the extent and for a period of time that is necessary to
prevent or remedy serious injury to the domestic industry and that is sufficient for the domestic
industry to create conditions allowing to it to adjust to newly occurred circumstances having a bearing
on the situation in the given domestic industry.
(2) If the measure is in the form of a quantitative restriction, this measure shall not reduce
the volume of imports of the agricultural product below the average level of imports of this
agricultural product in the last three years for which statistics are available, unless clear justification is
given that a different level is necessary to prevent or remedy a significant overall impairment of the
domestic industry.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 10
§ 18
(1) The measure may be applied for the period up to four years.  The duration of
application of a provisional safeguard measure (§21) is counted in this period.
(2) The four-year period may be extended provided it has been proved that a longer
period of application of the measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy a significant
overall impairment of the domestic industry and that there is evidence that the domestic industry is
adjusting to newly occurring circumstances having a bearing on the situation in the given domestic
industry.  The total period of application of the measure cannot exceed eight years.
(3) If the measure is extended, it cannot be more restrictive than it was at the end of the
initial period and shall continue to be liberalized.
(4) Where the period of application is over one year, the measure shall be progressively
liberalized at regular intervals to enable the domesti c industry to create conditions allowing to it to
adjust to newly occurred circumstances having a bearing on the situation in the given domesticindustry.
(5) If the Ministry finds out, after the mid-term of the application period of the measure
adopted for the period exceeding three years, that the reasons giving rise to its adoption have ceased
to exist, the Government shall cancel the Regulatio n introducing the applied measure, or reduce the
scope of the applied measure.
§ 19
Reimposition of the Measure
(1) The measure may be applied again provided the conditions for its application have
been met.
(2) The measure cannot be applied again on the same agricultural product for a period of
time equal to that during which such measure had been previously applied.
(3) Notwithstanding the duration of the period of time for which the previous measure
had been applied on the same agricultural product, the period of a non-application cannot be shorter
than two years unless the duration of the measure is 180 days or less and if
(a) at least one year has elapsed since the date of introduction of the measure on the
import of this agricultural product;  and
(b) such a measure has not been applied on the same agricultural product more than twice
in the five-year period immediately precedin g the date of introduction of the measure.
§ 20
The measure shall not be applied to limit the import of the agricultural product originating in
a developing country Member of the WTO as long as the import share of this agricultural product
originating in this country does not exceed 3 per cent of the total volume of the agricultural productimported into the Czech Republic, provided that the import from developing countries with less than
3 per cent share does not collectively account for more than 9 per cent of the total volume of the
agricultural product imported into the Czech Republic.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 11
§ 21
(1) In critical circumstances where delay would cause damage which it would be difficult
to repair and if the investigation process indicates that there is evidence that increased import of the
products in question has caused or is threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry, theGovernment may adopt, by measures of a Regulation, a provisional measure in the form of a tariff
change.
(2) The period of application of the provisional measure shall not exceed 200 days.(3) Should the Ministry determine in the course  of the subsequent investigation that the
increased import of the agricultural product has not caused or is not threatening to cause serious injuryto the domestic industry, the provisional measure shall be repealed and the custom duty collected shall
be refunded.
§ 22
Import of Agricultural Products from countries
which are not Members of the WTO
(1) Unless otherwise provided, provisions of §14 to §21 shall also be applied when
imposing measures in connection with the importation of agricultural products originating in thecountries which are not Members of the WTO.
(2) If the agricultural product originating in the country which is not a Member of the
WTO is being imported in such increased quantities or under such conditions as to cause or threaten
to cause serious injury to the domestic industry that produces like or directly competitive products andprovided that there is a causal link between imports  in question and serious injury or threat thereof,
the measure may be applied against this country or these countries in which the agricultural product is
originating, unless otherwise provided by the international agreement binding the Czech Republic.
(3) In determining serious injury or threat th ereof, it shall be examined, in addition to the
factors contained in §16, to what extent the economic and trade policy of such a country corresponds
with the principles of the Agreement Es tablishing the World Trade Organisation.
4
PART FOUR
§ 23
(1) The entry value shall be applied in accordance with international obligations,
including those resulting from bilateral international agreements, binding the Czech Republic.
(2) The entry value shall be determined as the total of the average annual price of selected
domestically produced agricultural products calculated for the  previous calendar year and the import
duty.1
Effective Date
This Regulation comes into effect on the day of its publication.
__________G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 12
Annex No. 1 to Regulation of the Government No. 39/1999 Coll.
Data and Schedule to Determine the Trigger Level of the Volume of Imports
according to § 7 (2), (3) and (4)
1. Data required for imposition of special safeguard measures:
(a) the average volume of imports for the last three years in the units of measure (P);
(b) the average consumption for the last three years in the units of measure (S);
(c) the change in consumption in the most recent year compared to the preceding year in
the units of measure (RS);
(d) the actual volume of import for the selected period of time in the units of measure
(A);
2. Schedule
If  the domestic consumption for the last three years is known, it is proceeded as follows:
§7 (2) a)
If: 10% ≥ P / S -  The base trigger level (SU) in the
given year is  125% P
§7 (2) b)
If: 30% ≥ P / S > 10 %  -  The base trigger level (SU) in the
given year is 110%P
§7 (2) c)
If: P / S > 30% -  The base trigger level (SU) in the
given year is 105% P
§7 (3)
Calculation of the trigger level of the volume of import (SO)
SO = SU / 100 x P + RS
§7 (4)
Where domestic consumption of the product concerned for the last three years is not
known, the trigger level of the volume of import is based on the average annual volumes of
imports for the last three years:
SO = P x 125G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 13
Annex No. 2 to Regulation  of the Government No. 39 / 1999 Coll.
Data and Schedule to Determine the Trigger Price according to §12
1. Data required for imposition of special safeguard measures:
(a) The trigger price (R) - the average import price for the period 1991-1992 in CZK/unit;
if it is not possible to determine the impor t price according to the official customs
statistics data, the import price determined in the  most following year will be used.
(b) The actual import price (C) - the import value in CZK/unit of the single customs item
according to the Customs Tariff (8 if appropriate 10 digits)
2. Schedule to determine the conditions for imposition of additional duty:
The basic formula:[(R - C) / R] x 100 = X where: R = the trigger price
    C = the import price
§12 (1) a)
If: 10 < X ≤ 40% -  the additional duty ( D
1) is equal to:
  D 1 = [(R - C) - 0.1 x R] x 0.3
§12 (1) b)
If: 40 < X ≤ 60% -  the additional duty ( D2) is equal to:
  D 2 = [(R - C) - 0.4 x R] x 0.5 + D 1 max
Calculation =  [(R - C) - 0.4 x R] x 0.5 + R x 0.09
§12 (1) c)
(d) If: 60 < X ≤ 75% -  the additional duty ( D3) is equal to:
  D 3 = [(R - C) - 0.6 x R] x 0.7 + D 1 max + D 2 max
  Calculation = [(R - C) -  0.6 x R] x 0.7 + R x 0.19
§12 (1) d)
(e) If: X > 75% -  the additional duty ( D4) is equal to:
D4 = [(R - C) - 0.75 x R] x 0.9 + D 1 max + D 2 max + D 3 max
Calculation = [(R - C) -  0.75 x R] x 0.9 + R x 0.295
Unlike the volume based criterion the trigger price has to be assessed in respect to the single
sub-items according to the Custom Tariff Nomenclature, i. e. for 8 digits.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 14
Annex No. 3 to Regulation of the Government No. 39  / 1999 Coll.
Criteria for Imposition of a Safeguard Measure according to § 14
The following information has to be submitted to  initiate safeguard procedures regarding the
agricultural product concerned:
1. (a) Production of the agricultural product in the Czech Republic for the most recent three
preceding years;
(b) Estimation of the domestic production in the current year.
2. (a) Consumption of the agricultural product in the Czech Republic for the most recent
three years;
(b) Estimation of  the consumption in the current year.
3. (a) Import of the agricultural product concerned into the Czech Republic for the most
recent three preceding years;
(b) Import of the product concerned into the Czech Republic in the current year:
-  of which imports originating in the country with the biggest volume of import
- the most recent three years and the current year.
4. Share of imports in domestic consumption for the most recent three years and the current
year:
-  of which the share of imports in  domestic consumption from the country with the
biggest volume of import for the most recent three years and the current year.
5. Share of imports in domestic production for the most recent three years and the current year:
-  of which the share of  imports in domestic production from the country with the
biggest volume of import for the most recent three years and the actual year.
6. Total imports of the agricultural product for the most recent three years and the current year.7. Evidence of clear impairment of the domestic industry caused by the import:
-  to demonstrate a causal link between this impairment and imports (in particular
financial losses, impact on employment and other social aspects).
8. Description of the production and market or ganization (the issue of the monopoly position,
existence of cartel agreements etc.).
9. Other aspects and facts that could support the justification to impose the safeguard measure
(the price - internal, external, production price, etc.).
10. The calculation of the domestic price, the development of the domestic price for the most
recent three years, export prices from the countries contributing most substantially to the impairment.G/SG/N/1/CZE/2
Page 15
11. Investigation of the implications for the domestic industry concerned must include the
evaluation of all economic factors and ratios having a bearing on the situation of that domestic
industry (the production decrease, utilization of production capacities, impact on employment, sales,
market share,  profit, productivity, factors having  bearing on the domestic price, etc.).
__________