RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/AHG/W/20
26September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4005)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Ad-Hoc Group onImplementation
TOPIC 9*-"PROVISIONAL MEASURES"
Paper bytheEuropean Community
Thefollowing communication, dated 24September 1997, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Delegation oftheEuropean Commission.
_______________
Provisional Measures -content ofpreliminary affirmative determination
1. Introduction
Thepurpose ofthisnoteistoexplore howmuch common ground exists between Members
onthequestion ofwhatconstitutes a“preliminary affirmative determination ofdumping andconsequent
injury ”(Art7.1).
Itisnottheintention ofthisnotetofixabsolute standards forprovisional determinations.
Rather, itwould beuseful toexamine whether members ’authorities uphold consistent minimal
requirements -andifsohowwidely these requirements differ -withaview todeveloping some
understanding forcommon application oftheAgreement.
2. Article 7oftheWTO Agreement
Ourprincipal guide isArticle 7.1oftheAgreement, which setsoutthree conditions which
must befulfilled before provisional measures areapplied, namely:
(i) aninvestigation hasbeeninitiated inlinewithArticle 5(i.e.bypublication, allowing
interested parties adequate opportunity tocomment);
(ii) “apreliminary affirmative determination hasbeen made ofdumping and
consequent injury toadomestic industry ”;and
(iii) theauthorities deem themeasures necessary toprevent injury being caused during the
investigation.
Thefirstcondition isanunequivocal requirement ofprocedure.
Thethirdcondition states clearly thepurpose ofanydecision toimpose provisional measures,
i.e.theprevention ofinjury attributable tothedumped imports during thecourse ofthefullinvestigation.
*Seedocument G/ADP/W/401 fordescriptions ofthenumbered topics.G/ADP/AHG/W/20
Page2
Ourfocus willbeonthesecond condition, asthecontent ofthepreliminary affirmative
determination which must bemade remains opentointerpretation.
3. Article 12.2oftheWTO Agreement
Thesecond source ofguidance isinArticle 12,which states thattheobligatory public notice
of“anyprovisional orfinaldetermination ”shallsetout“insufficient detail thefindings andconclusions
reached onallissues offactandlawconsidered material bytheinvestigating authorities ”.Itisnot
clearwhatismeant by“sufficient detail”,andinanycase,therelevant authorities aregiven discretion
todecide whatisorisnot“material ”.
Article 12.2.1 ,dealing specifically withtheimposition ofprovisional measures, states that
thepublic notice must setout“sufficiently detailed explanations forthepreliminary determinations
ondumping andinjury andshallrefertothematters offactandlawwhich haveledtoarguments being
accepted orrejected. ”Inaddition, thissub-paragraph stipulates thatthenotice willcontain, further
tothenames ofsuppliers orsupplying countries involved, andthedescription oftheproduct:
- themargins ofdumping established andafullexplanation ofthereasons forthe
methodology usedintheestablishment andcomparison oftheexport priceandnormal
value under Article 2;
- considerations relevant totheinjury determination assetoutinArticle 3;and
- themain reasons leading tothedetermination.
Notwithstanding theflexibility ofinterpretation available totheauthorities, Article 12.2.1 helps
toclarify whatmaylegitimately beexpected ofthepreliminary affirmative determination referred to
inArticle 7.Preliminary dumping calculations andanalysis ofmaterial injury byreason ofdumped
imports must havebeencarried out,leaving forthedefinitive stage thepossibility ofreaching final
findings onmatters which previously wereprovisional because theinvestigation hadnotbeencompleted.
4. Guidelines forpreliminary determinations
Thefollowing isalistofsuggested general guidelines forpreliminary determinations.
- Asstipulated byArticles 7and12oftheAgreement, preliminary evidence ofdumping,
injury, andacausal linkmusthavebeenfound, before authorities adopt provisional
measures.
- Ondumping ,the“sufficiently detailed determinations ”carried outandreported in
theprovisional regulation should cover preliminary findings on:
- likeproduct ,including reasons forthechoice oftypes/models selected forthe
establishment ofnormal value;
- normal value,including thereasons forusing ornotusing domestic prices,
e.g.theresults of“sufficient quantity ”tests,theresults ofany“ordinary course
oftrade tests”,including methodology forcalculating costofproduction, the
precise methodology forcalculating constructed normal values orprices to
thirdcountries;
- export prices ,inparticular iftheyhavebeenconsidered unreliable, inwhich
caseinformation should beincluded onthemethodology andtheadjustments
made toconstruct theexport prices;G/ADP/AHG/W/20
Page3
- comparison ,including reasons forrejecting claims foradjustments, thereasons
foranydeviation fromtheaverage-to-average ruleandreasons forthechoice
ofexchange rates; and
- other keyissues ,suchaswhere sampling hasbeenapplied (when the
justification forsodoing should begiven aswellasforthechoice of
firms selected).
- The“considerations relevant totheinjury determination ”should cover:
- definition ofthedomestic industry, including thereasons foranyexclusion ofdomestic
companies from itsscope;
- preliminary findings ontheprice and/or volume effects ofthedumped imports and
clear explanations onthefinding ofinjury;
- preliminary evidence showing theconsequent adverse impact ofthese effects onthe
domestic industry;
- intheabsence ofevidence oftheexistence ofmaterial injury, evidence leading toa
preliminary finding ofimmediate threat ofmaterial injury, orofmaterial retardation
oftheestablishment oftheindustry; and
- preliminary evidence demonstrating aclearcausal linkbetween dumped imports and
material injury.
Inrelation tothepreliminary assessment ofbothdumping andinjury:
Thepublic notice should explain thebasis onwhich thefigures used in
preliminary determinations wereobtained, whether from questionnaire responses or
other information sources, andtowhatextent theyhavebeenverified.