./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/7/CZE/1
11 March 1999
(99-0971)
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
CZECH REPUBLIC
The following communication, dated 8 March 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the Czech Republic.
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Pursuant to Article 12.4 of the Agreement on Safeguards and in keeping with the format for
notifications under the Agreement on Safeguards adopted by the Committee on Safeguards (G/SG/1),
the Czech Republic hereby gives notification before taking a provisional safeguard measure under
Article 6 of the Agreement on Safeguards.
1. Product subject to proposed safeguard measure
The provisional measure will apply to tariff heading 1701 - Cane or Beet Sugar and
Chemically Pure Sucrose, in Solid Form.
2. Type of proposed provisional safeguard measure
The provisional safeguard measure will be applied in the form of tariff increase by the
introduction of the additional import duty at the level of 80 per cent applied to all imports of sugar
irrespective of their source with the exception of imports originating in the Slovak Republic.
3. Proposed date of introduction of the provisional safeguard measure
The provisional measure is scheduled to enter into force on 12 March 1999.
4. Expected duration of the provisional safeguard measure
The provisional safeguard measure will apply for a period of up to 200 days, during which the
investigation will proceed further.
5. Preliminary determination that increased imports have caused or are threatening to cause
serious injury
It was found that a substantial increase in sugar imports was recorded in the fourth quarter of
1998.  The data provided by the customs statistics produced the following figures:G/SG/N/7/CZE/1
Page 2
Annual sugar imports during the last three campaigns compared
to the current campaign (in tons)
1998 - 19991995 - 1996 1996 - 1997 1997 - 1998
October – December
1998
25,034 8,921 17,376 25,160
Campaign means a period from 1 October to 30 September
Sugar imports per quarters of year (in tons)
1995-96
Q11995-96
Q21995-96
Q31995-96
Q41996-97
Q11996-97
Q21996-97
Q3
6,383 6,458 7,420 6,573 2,977 1,691 3,115
1996-97
Q41997-98
Q11997-98
Q21997-98
Q31997-98
Q41998-99
Q11998-99
Q2 - till
21 March
1,138 2,317 3,956 2,693 8,410 25,160 11,215
When comparing the volume of imports in the last quarter of 1998 with the levels of the
volumes of imports during the same periods in 1996 and 1997, the evidence showed:
- an increase by 845 per cent  compared to imports in the same period in 1996;
- an increase by 1,086 per cent compared to imports in the same period in 1997.
The volume of imports till 2 March 1999 confirms the increasing trend with its 11,215 tons.Substantially increased imports of sugar have adverse affect on the industry, in particular due
to a heavy decrease in domestic sugar purchase and subsequent revenue losses. Continuation of this
import trend would lead to a considerable decline in domestic production and would cause even
greater impairment in the position of the domestic industry.
6. Determination of critical circumstances where delay would cause damage which it would be
difficult to repair
In view of the evidence submitted, the Ministry of Agriculture determined that this constitutes
critical circumstances as provided for in Article 6 of the Agreement on Safeguards. Additional
imports would cause injury that would be difficult to remedy due to the redirection of purchasing
decisions and refusal by the Czech sugar companies to make contracts with the domestic sugar beet
growers to take their production in the framework of the 1999-2000 campaign. The situation is socritical that it calls for immediate action in the form of the provisional safeguard measure.
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