WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/1/CZE/3
3 January 2001
(01-0011)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATIONS OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
CZECH REPUBLIC
The following communication, dated 21 December, 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 havethe honour to attach herewith the unofficial translation copy of the relevant Czech Republic
legislation relating to safeguard measures.
This notification includes relevant provisions of Act No. 62/2000 Coll., on Some measures in
the Export or Import of Products and on the Licencing procedures and on the Change of Some Acts,
related to safeguard actions provided for in Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Agreement on
Safeguards.  The Act No. 62/2000 repeals the previously notified legislation contained in documentG/SG/N/1/CZE/2.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
Page 2
ACT
No. 62/2000, Coll.  of 28 March 2000
on Some Measures in the Export or Im port of Products and on the Licencing
Procedures
and on the Change of Some Acts
The Parliament has adopted the following Act of the Czech Republic:
PART ONE
MEASURES IN THE EXPORT OR IMPORT OF PRODUCTS AND LICENCING
PROCEDURES
§ 1
Subject
This Act regulates the introduction of some measures in the export or import of products as
well as licencing procedures for granting official permits for the export or import of products.
CHAPTER 1
MEASURES IN THE EXPORT OR IMPORT OF PRODUCTS
Section 1
General Provisions
§ 2
This Act does not impinge on the application of measures under special laws and regulations1
adopted for other reasons than specified in this Act.
                                                     
1 For example the Act No. 152/1997 Coll., the Act No. 22/1997 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
Page 3
Definition of Basic Terms
§ 3
A measure in the export or import of products (hereinafter referred to as the “measure”) shall
be understood to mean:
(a) a safeguard measure, which make take the form of
1. a quantitative restriction on the export or import,
2. a ban on the export or import,
3. a customs duty adjustment,4. an import surcharge,
5. an import deposit,
6. a restriction or a ban on the transit
2,
7. other measures adopted in   accordance with international obligations of the Czech
Republic,
(b) other measure, which make take the form of
1. surveillance of the export or import,
2. an amendment of   the import or  export  conditions  affecting trade with the relevant
country.
§ 4
For the purposes of this Act:
(a) import means the release of products for free circulation 3  unless otherwise provided by this
Act,
(b) quantitative restriction on the export or import means  the determination of the quantity of
products that may be exported or imported in the specified period of time,
(c) import surcharge  means the amount of money collected upon the importation of products and
set down as a percentage of the customs value,
(d) import deposit means the specified amount of non-interest bearing money deposited upon the
import for the specified period of time,
(e) restriction on the transit  means the determination of the quantity of products or the number of
vehicles or the  method or the direction of tr ansportation throughout  the territory of the Czech
Republic,
(f) domestic industry means the domestic producers as  a whole of the like4 or directly
competitive products, or at least those whose collective output of the like or directly
                                                     
2 § 139 of the Act No. 13/1993, Agreements published under the No. 22/1924 Coll., and No. 191/1995
Coll.
3 § 2 (m) (1) of the Act No. 13/1993 Coll.
4 § 1 (c) of the Act No. 152/1997 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
Page 4
competitive products constitutes more than 50 per cent of the total domestic production of
those products,
(g) directly competitive product  means  a product which is not identical to a like product, but
may be used for the same purposes and fulfil  the same functions  and due to its price cabserve as a substitute to the imported product,
(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.
General Terms for Introduction of a Measure
§ 5
(1) A measure may be introduced following an investigation carried out by the Ministry
of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the "Ministry”) or pursuant to another procedure
under this Act and in accordance with the international treaty
5 binding the Czech Republic and
published in the Collection of Laws.
(2) A measure shall be introduced when the obligation to introduce it results from the
decision by the international body established under the international treaty binding the Czech
Republic and published in the Collection of  Laws.
§ 6
A measure pursuant to this Act may be applied for the reason of protection(a) against increased imports causing serious  injury to the domestic industry (hereinafter
referred to as “increased imports”),
(b) against imports of some agricultural and food products,(c) of newly developed industries,(d) against illicit barriers to trade, or
(e) of other interests of the State.
§7
(1) A measure may be applied only to the essentially necessary extent and for the
essentially necessary period of time for which the circumstances giving rise to its introduction exist.
                                                                                                                                                                    
5 For example Agreement establishing The World Trade Organization published under No. 191/1999
Coll., Europe Agreement establishing an association between the Czech Republic, of the one part, and the
European Communities and their Member States, of th e other part published under No. 7/1999 Coll., Central
European Free Trade Agreement concluded between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland a the SlovakRepublic published under No. 54/1995 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
Page 5
 
(2) Several safeguard measures taken for the same reasons may not be introduced
concurrently on the same product pursuant to this Act.
Section II
Protection against Increased Imports
Subsection 1
General Provisions on Increased Imports
§ 9
Terms for Introduction of a Safeguard Measure
Where a product is imported into the Czech Republic in such increased quantities and under
such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause,
(a) serious injury to the domestic industry that produces the like or directly competitive
products, and  provided there is a causal link between imports in question and serious
injury or threat thereof,  or
(b) serious disturbances in any sector of the economy, or difficulties which could bring
about serious deterioration in the economic situation of a region of the Czech
Republic,
the Government may, by means of a Regulation, adopt a safeguard measure.
§ 10
Application to Initiate an Investigation
(1) A natural person with permanent residency or a legal person with place of business in
the territory of the Czech Republic (hereinafter refe rred to as the  “petitioner”) may submit to the
Ministry an application to initiate an investig ation aimed at introducing a measure to protect a
particular domestic industry against increased imports (hereinafter referred to as the  “investigation”).
(2) An application shall be submitted in writing and shall include the following:
(a) in case of  the natural person its name and surname and business name, when
appropriate, birth certificate number and permanent address of the domicile;  in caseof  the legal person its business name, place of business and identification number.
(b) a detailed description of the imported product (its trade name or identification,
technical specifications, characteristics and use), including its description according to
the Combined Nomenclature
6,
                                                     
6 § 57 (1) of the Act No. 13/1993 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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(c) a detailed description of the like or directly competitive product produced in the
Czech Republic (its trade name or identification, technical specifications,
characteristics and use), including its description according to the Combined
nomenclature,
(d) the evidence that the domestic product is like or directly competitive to the imported
product,
(e) the name of the producer and name of the country of origin and the country of
exportation of the imported product,
(f) the evidence that the application is supported by those producers of the like or directly
competitive product whose collective output constitutes more than 50 per cent of the
total production of the like or directly competitive product,
(g) the quantity and customs value, based on statistical data of the Czech Statistics Office,
of the imported product  imported in  the last three years  and in the year in which the
application is being submitted,
(h) the quantity of the like or directly competitive product produced in the Czech
Republic in the last three years and the expected volume of production in the year inwhich the application is being submitted,
(i) details demonstrating serious injury or threat thereof caused to the domestic industry
by  increased imports of the product in question, including a financial statement of its
volume,
(j) details demonstrating the existence of a causal link between increased  imports of the
like or directly competitive products and injury resulting thereof.
§ 11
Discarding an Application
(1) The Ministry shall discard an application if, during its examination, the application is
found to contain apparently false data or it fails to meet the requirements set down in this Act or there
is not sufficient evidence that increased imports cause or threaten to cause serious injury to thedomestic industry.
(2) The Ministry shall advise the petitioner about its decision to discard the application in
writing within 45 days of its receipt, st ating the full reasons for such decision.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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Investigation Procedure
§ 12
Initiation of Investigation
(1) The Ministry shall initiate an investigation within 45 days of receipt of an application
provided the application has not been discarded pursuant to § 11 (1) and provided data presented
therein by the petitioner give sufficient evidence that increased imports are causing or threaten to
cause serious injury to the domestic industry.
(2) The Ministry may initiate an investigation  without having received a written
application if, in performing its functions, it determines that increased imports of specific products
cause or threaten to cause serious injury to a domestic industry.
(3) An investigation is initiated the day when the Ministry will give a public notice of the
initiation of an investigation in the Commercial Bulletin.  The Ministry shall also make it available onInternet.
(4) A notice of the initiation of an investigation shall contain:(a) the name of the petitioner provided the investigation has been initiated on the basis of
an application,
(b) a description in the Combined Nomenclature of the imported product, which is a
subject of the investigation, its description, characteristic features and purpose of use,
(c) details submitted by the petitioner demonstrating the existence of serious injury or
threat thereof to the domestic industry,
(d) the time-limit allowed to parties concerned for making their views known in writing
or providing information which is to be taken into account in the investigation, or for
making themselves known as interested parties to the future course of an
investigation; the time-limit shall be 30 days and it shall be counted from the date ofthe initiation of an investigation,
(e) the address to which representations by parties concerned should be directed.
(5) Parties concerned referred to in paragraph 4d) shall be understood to mean:(a) producer, exporter and importer of the product which increased import,
(b) domestic producers of a like or directly competitive product who supported the
application or made their positions known and associations representing interests of
these producers,
(c) other persons if they demonstrate their direct legal interest in the matter which is
subject to the investigation.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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§ 13
Interested Parties
For the purpose of the future course of an investigation, interested parties shall be understood
to mean the petitioner and those parties concerned mentioned in § 12 (5) who have expressly made
themselves known in writing within the time-limit set forth in § 12 (4) (d).
§ 14
Determination of Injury
(1) In an investigation whether there was increased import that caused or threatened to
cause serious injury to the domestic industry, the Mi nistry shall take into consideration the following:
(a) the volume of the import of the product under investigation, either in absolute terms
or relative to production or consumption in the Czech Republic,
(b) conditions under which the importation of  the product under investigation is  taking
place,  price of the imported product  and its relation to domestic prices of the like ordirectly competitive product,
(c) the impact of increased imports on economic indicators of the domestic industry, in
particular on the volume of production, capacity utilisation, stocks, sales, market
share, profits (or losses, if applicable), productivity, return on investments,employment,
(d) a causal link between increased imports and caused serious injury or threat  thereof,(e) other factors that cause or may cause injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry,(f) factors demonstrating that the situation is not of a temporary nature.(2) In considering the existence of a threat of serious injury to the domestic industry, the
Ministry shall, in addition to factors referred to in paragraph 1, shall take also  account of
(a) the rate of increase in the import of the product under investigation to the Czech
Republic,
b) export capacity in the country of origin of the product or in the country of its
exportation  and likelihood that this capacity will be used for exports into the Czech
Republic.
(3) When factors other than increased imports are causing or threatening to cause serious
injury to the domestic industry at the same time, such injury or threat thereof shall not be attributed to
increased imports.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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§ 15
Evidence
(1) In considering whether there was increased import of  the product that has caused
serious injury, the Ministry shall  request the interested parties, ministries and other authorities  and
subjects affected by the nature of the matter to supply necessary information.  The Ministry shall set
the time- limit of least 10 working days for provid ing such information.  Upon cause shown, the time-
limit may be extended by a maximum of 20 working days.
(2) In the case where required information is not provided within the time-limit set forth
in paragraph (1), the Ministry may conduct the investigation on the basis of the facts available.
(3) Upon the request of the Ministry, the Czech Statistical Office shall during an
investigation provide the Ministry with the inform ation regarding the volume of the imported product
and its customs value.
§ 16
Confidential Treatment of Information
(1) If the information is provided on a confidential basis by a supplying person, it shall
not be disclosed or revealed to other interested parties without agreement of the supplying person.
This provision is without prejudice to the laws and regulations regulating commercial secret7 or
handling of secret information8.
(2) The Ministry shall require a person supplying such information to furnish sufficiently
detailed non-confidential summaries thereof. If the person supplying the information indicates that
such information is not susceptible of summary, a statement of reasons why summarization is not
possible must be provided.
(3) If the Ministry finds that a request for confidentiality is not warranted, it shall
disregard such information.  The Ministry shall inform about this the person providing suchinformation.
(4) Persons being in contact with information provided or found during an investigation
shall keep such information silent, unless otherwise provided in a special legal regulation.
§ 17
Oral Hearing
(1) Whenever requested by any interested party, the Ministry shall decree a hearing and
publish the date and its place in the Commercial Bulletin.  In such a case the Ministry shall also make
this information available on Internet.  If an interested party fails to attend a hearing, the Ministry may
proceed further without participation of this party and take account of facts and information available.
                                                     
7 § 17 of the Commercial Act
8 The Act No. 148/1998 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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(2) Oral information provided to the Ministry during the hearing shall be taken into
account only in so far as the interested party supplying such information shall subsequently present it
in writing within the time-limit set by the Ministry ; such time-limit shall not be less than 5 working
days.
§ 18
The Ministry shall during the investigation provide opportunity for interested parties to see all
relevant documents that are not confidential and that have been submitted by any of the interested
parties.  Interested parties may make known their views on the said documents within the period of 7
working days from the date of having been acquainted with them.
§ 19
Provisional Safeguard Measures
(1) If the circumstances hitherto known demonstrate that increased imports have caused
or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry and where delay would cause damage
which it would be difficult to repair, the Government may, on the basis of a proposal from the
Ministry, impose by way of a Regulation a provisional safeguard measure in the form of a customsduty adjustment.  The effective time of  implementation of such measure shall not exceed 200
calendar days.
(2) If the Ministry terminates the investig ation pursuant to § 20, it shall submit to the
Government a draft Regulation on the withdr awal of a provisional safeguard measure.
(3) Should a provisional safeguard measure be withdrawn by a Regulation or should the
Regulation on adoption of a provisional safeguard measure cease to be valid upon the expire of 200
calendar days, the customs duty collected shall be refunded
9.
Completion of the Investigation
§ 20
Termination of the Investigation
(1) In cases where the petitioner fails to provide necessary information within the set
time-limit or otherwise impedes proceedings, an investigation may be terminated with this
justification.
(2) The Ministry shall terminate an investigation if the conditions for introduction of a
safeguard measure pursuant to this Act are not being met.
(3) The termination of an investigation shal l be made public by the Ministry in the
Commercial Bulletin no later than 9 months from the date of initiation of the investigation.  The date
of publication shall be considered as a date of noti fication to the interested parties of the termination
of an investigation.  The Ministry shall also make the information on the termination of an
investigation available on Internet.
                                                     
9 § 286 of the Act No. 13/1997 Coll.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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§ 21
Introduction of a Safeguard Measure
(1) In cases where an investigation is not terminated pursuant to § 20 and in its course it
has been demonstrated that the increased import of the product has caused or is threatening to cause
serious injury to the domestic industry, the Ministry shall, no later than nine 9 months from the date of
initiation of the investigation, submit to the Government conclusions of the investigation and a draft
Regulation on the introduction of a safeguard measure. At the same time, the Ministry shall propose
the termination of a provisional measure, if such a measure is applied.
(2) Investigation is terminated on the date when the Government adopts a Regulation on
the introduction of a safeguard measure or rejects the proposal on its introduction.  The measure shall
only be introduced in so far as the circumstances which led the Ministry to submit the proposal
persist.
(3) In the case where the Government does not take a decision on a safeguard measure
within 12 months from the date of initiation of the investigation, the investigation shall be considered
to be terminated.
§ 22
(1) The Ministry shall publish a notice of the completion of an investigation in the
Commercial Bulletin.  The date of publication shall be considered as a date of notification of the
completion of an investigation to the interested part ies.  The Ministry shall also make the information
on the completion of an investigation available on Internet.
(2) In case of introduction of a provisional measure a notice of the completion of an
investigation shall contain
(a) a description in the Combined Nomenclature of the imported product, which was a
subject of the investigation, its description, characteristic features and purpose of use,
(b) details demonstrating that the  product  in question is being imported into the territory
of the Czech Republic in increased quantity,
(c) established facts demonstrating the existence of serious injury to the domestic
industry or imminent threat thereof,
(d) the evidence of a causal link between increased imports and serious injury or
imminent threat thereof,
(e) information regarding the adopted measure.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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Terms and Period of Application a Measure
§ 23
(1) A safeguard measure shall be applied to the extent and the period of time necessary to
prevent or remedy serious injury or imminent threat thereof to the domestic industry and sufficient for
the domestic industry to create conditions allowing it to adjust to newly occurring circumstances.
(2) If a safeguard measure takes the form of a quantitative restriction, such a measure
shall not reduce the volume of imports below the average level of imports in the last 3 years for which
statistics are available, unless clear justification is given that a different level of reduction in imports
is necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry.
§ 24
(1) A safeguard measure may be applied for a period of up to 4 years.  The duration of a
provisional safeguard measure shall be included in this period.
(2) If the period of application of the safeguard measure exceeds 1 year, a Regulation on
the introduction of that safeguard measure shall contain a timetable for its phasing out at regular
intervals in a way enabling the domestic industry to create conditions allowing it to adjust to newly
occurring circumstances having bearing on the situation in the given domestic industry.
(3) During the application of a safeguard measure adopted for a period exceeding 3 years,
the Ministry shall in the mid-term of the duration of the measure review the necessity of its continued
application.  For the purpose of this review, the Ministry may require information from partiesconcerned who shall provide such information.  When the required information is not provided, the
Government may by a Regulation revoke the application of applied safeguard measure without the
review.  Where the reasons giving rise to adoption of a measure have ceased to exist, in part or in full,
the Government shall adopt a Regulation revoking applied measure or reducing its pace.
§ 25
Extension of a Safeguard Measure
(1) The period of application of a safeguard measure may be extended by a Regulation of
the Government upon an application under  § 10 submitted no later than 9 months before the expiry ofthis period.  An application may be submitted to the Ministry by the interested party in the
investigation as a result of which a safeguard measure is being applied. In addition to requirements set
forth in § 10(2), an application shall contain details demonstrating that extended period of application
of the measure continues to be necessary to preven t or remedy serious injury to the domestic industry
and that the domestic industry is adjusting to newly occurring circumstances.  The provisions of § 11to 18 shall apply to an investigation.
(2) The total period of application of a safeguard measure including the extension thereof
shall not exceed 8 years.
(3) In cases where the Government extends by a Regulation the period of application of  a
safeguard measure, it shall not be more restrictive than it was at the end of the initial period and a
schedule for further liberalization of its pace shall be provided.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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§ 26
Reimposition of a Safeguard Measure
(1) A safeguard measure may be reimposed on the basis of an application to initiate an
investigation under § 10.  The provisions of § 11 to 18 shall apply to an investigation.
(2) No measure shall be reimposed for the same for a period of time equal to that during
which such measure had been previously applied.
(3) Notwithstanding the duration of a previously applied safeguard measure for the same
product, the period of non-application shall be at least 2 years unless the duration of a safeguard
measure is 180 days or less and if:
(a) at least one year has elapsed since the date of introduction of a safeguard measure on
the import of that product, and
(b) such a safeguard measure has not been applied on the same product more than twice
in the five-year period immediately precedin g the date of introduction of the measure.
§ 27
Imports from developing countries
A safeguard measure shall not be applied to limit the import of products originating in a
developing country, which is a Member of the WTO, as long as its share of imports of the product
concerned into the Czech Republic does not exceed 3 per cent of the total volume of imported
products into the Czech Republic, provided that developing countries with less than 3 per cent share
collectively account for not more than 9 per cent of the total volume of imported products into the
Czech Republic.
§ 77
Official Language
Investigations under Part One of this Act and licencing procedures under Part Two of this Act
are conducted in Czech.  All written submissions are submitted in Czech and any documentary proofmust be provided with the officially attested translation into Czech.  In the case where an interested
party in an investigation or a participant in licencing procedures is a foreign, the ministry shall during
the oral hearings authorize the presence of an inte rpreter registered in the Register of Interpreters,
provided he has been acquired at the expense of the interested party in the investigation or the
participant in licencing procedures.
§ 78
Provision of data for the purpose of this Act
(1) If statistical data regarding the volumes and customs value of the import or export for
the purpose of this Act is not available from the Czech Statistical Office, it shall be provided by the
Ministry of Finance - General Directorate of Customs upon request from the Ministry.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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(2) The Ministry and the Ministry of Finance - General Directorate of Customs exchange
on a reciprocal basis all data regarding licencing and customs proceedings, in the pace of data
specified in the decision under § 71 (1).
§ 79
Responsibility for Damages
The State shall not be held responsible for any damage arising from a decision taken for the
reasons set in this Act as well as from the introduction of a measure under this Act; this does notimpinge on the responsibility of the state under a special legal regulation
18.
§ 80
Relationship with the Administrative Code
(1) Administrative Code shall not applicable to the proceedings under Part One of
Chapter I of this Act.19
(2) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, Ad ministrative Code shall be applicable to the
proceeding of the Ministry in licencing procedures under Part One of Chapter II.
§81
Relationship with International Treaties
Provisions of this Act shall apply unless otherwise provided by the international treaty
binding the Czech Republic and published in the Collection of Laws; in such a case provisions of  an
international treaty shall be applied.
-------------------
18 Act No. 82/1998 Coll.,
19 Act No. 71/1967 Coll.,
PART TWO
CHANGE OF ACT No. 42/1980 Coll., ON ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN
COUNTRIES
§ 82
§ 52, 53, 54, and 56 of  Act No. 42/1980 Coll., on Economic Relations with Foreign Countries
as amended by Act No. 102/1988 Coll., Act No. 113/1990 Coll., Act No. 513/1991 Coll., Act No.
228/1992 Coll., and Act No. 223/1994 Coll., are hereby repealed.G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
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PART THREE
CHANGE OF ACT No. 252/1997 Coll., ON AGRICULTURE
§ 83
§ 3 in Act No. 252/1997 Coll., on Agriculture is hereby repealed.
PART SIX
§ 87
Effective Date
This Act shall enter into force on 1 July 2000.
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