WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/1/ARM/1
8 August 2003
(03-4152)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT
ARMENIA
The following communication, dated 28 July 2003, has been received from the World Trade
Organization Notification Agency of the Republic of Armenia.
_______________
With reference to Article 12.6 of the Agreement on Safeguards, the WTO Notification
Agency of the Republic of Armenia has the honour to inform the Committee on Safeguards that the
law on Protection of Domestic Market of the Re public of Armenia was adopted on 18 April 2001.
* * *
Non official translation
THE LAW ON PROTECTION OF DOMESTIC MARKET
(SAFEGUARD MEASURES)
OF
THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
Adopted on 18 April 2001
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. The Subject Matter of the Law
1. This law determines the relations connected with the application of safeguard measures on the
import of products into the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
2. This law does not apply to prohibitions, quantitative restrictions or surveillance measures
applied on the import of products under other laws of the Republic of Armenia.
Article 2. The Legislation on Safeguard Measures
1. The legislation on Safeguard Measures consists of the Constitution of the Republic of
Armenia, the Civil Code of the Republic of Armeni a, the Customs Code of the Republic of Armenia,
this Law and other legal acts.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 2
2. Should international treaties of the Republic of Armenia establish other norms than those
being stipulated by this Law, the provisions of the international treaties shall apply.
Article 3.  Basic Concepts Used in the Law
The following are basic concepts used for the purposes of this Law:
• “economic branch”  shall mean the producers as a whole of products which are like or directly
competitive to the investigated product, operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia,
or those of the producers operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, whose
collective output constitutes more than the half of the total production of like or directly
competitive products in the Republic of Armenia;
• “serious injury”  shall mean a significant and overall impairment in the position of an
economic branch of the Republic of Armenia;
• “threat of serious injury”  shall mean serious injury that is clearly predictable and imminent;
• “investigated  product”  shall mean a product imported into the Republic of Armenia, which is
subject to an investigation for the purpose of application of a safeguard measure;
• “tariff quota”  shall mean the application of differentiated tariff rates on the import of a
product depending on the import volume of that product;
• “interested parties ” shall mean:
(a) the exporter(s) of the investigated product from a foreign country, or foreign
producer(s) of the investigated product;
(b) the importer(s) of the investigated product;
(c) societal amalgamation, union of legal persons a majority of the members of
which are producers, exporters or importers of the investigated product;
(d) the government(s) of the exporting country(ies);
(e) producers of the like or directly competitive product in the Republic of
Armenia;
(f) societal amalgamation, union of legal persons a majority of the  members of
which are producers of the like or directly competitive product in the
Republic of Armenia;
(g) consumer unions;
(h) industrial users of the investigated product;
• “Authorized body”  shall mean a state governmental body authorized by the Government of the
Republic of Armenia, which performs the proceedings envisaged by this Law;
• “participating interested parties”  shall mean those interested parties that have informed the
Authorized body in a written form on their interest in participating in investigations, inaccordance to the provisions of this Law.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 3
Article 4. Safeguard Measures and Terms of Their Application
1. For the purpose of this law, safeguard measures constitute an increase of the applied customs
tariff rate on the import of a product, application of a tariff quota on the import of a product,
application of a quota on the import of a product and application of any combination of the mentioned
measures.
2. Safeguard measures on products imported into the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall
be applied only if it is determined, through an investigation conducted pursuant to the provisions of
this Law, that the investigated product is imported into the territory of the Republic of Armenia in
such increased quantities (absolute or relative to the production of the economic branch) and under
such conditions that cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the economic branch.
II. PROCEDURE OF THE CONDUCT OF INVESTIGATIONS
Article 5. Initiation of an Investigation
1. In case of the existence of sufficient grounds the Authorized body initiates an investigation
aimed at determining the existence of serious injury or threat of serious injury caused to the Economic
branch, as well as the causal link between serious injury or threat of serious injury and the import ofthe investigated product in increasing quantities and under given conditions. An investigation may be
initiated:
(a) upon the initiative of the Authorized body;
(b) on the basis of a written application submitted to the Authorized body by an
economic branch;
(c) on the basis of a written application submitted to the Authorized body by a person
acting on behalf of the economic branch in due form of law.
2. A written application submitted to the Authorized body shall contain the following
information:
(a) names and addresses of applicant(s) and of producers known to the applicant(s)
operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia who produce like or directly
competitive products;
(b) description of the imported product, including its technical characteristics, uses, the
tariff classification number and the customs tariff rate applied on the import of the
product;
(c) description of like or directly competitive products produced in the Republic of
Armenia, including their technical characteristics and uses;
(d) percentage of the production of like or directly competitive products represented by
the applicants in the total production of those products in the Republic of Armenia;
(e) causal link between the increased import of the given product and serious injury
caused or threat of serious injury to the economic branch;
(f) factors indicating the existence of serious injury caused to the economic branch
during three years preceding the application, including:G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 4
• volume of the domestic production;
• utilization of production capacity;
• inventory level of the product;
• market share;
• employment and wages;
• changes in the product prices;
• profits and losses;
(g) in case of a serious injury, in addition to the information mentioned in the
subparagraph (f) of this paragraph, also the probability that the import volumes of the
investigated product into the territory of the Republic of Armenia will increase andserious injury will result;
(h) if a provisional measure is requested in the application, information substantiating the
necessity of imposing the provisional safeguard measure.
3. An investigation may be initiated in case of incompleteness of the information referred to in
paragraph 2 of this Article, if the information submitted to the Authorized body and the informationunder its disposal are sufficient for conducting the investigation and making appropriate conclusions.
4. In order to verify the existence of sufficient grounds for initiating an investigation the
Authorized body shall examine the accuracy of the facts submitted to it or being under its disposal,
and may request additional information from the applicant within 10 days after the receipt of a writtenapplication. Upon receipt of a written request for additional information from the Authorized body,
the applicant shall submit the requested information to the Authorized body within 10 days after the
receipt of the request.
5. The written application may be withdrawn prior to initiation of the investigation. In this case
the application shall be considered not to have been submitted.
Article 6. Consultations with Producers of the Republic of Armenia
1. Consultations on safeguard measures between the Authorized body and economic entities of
the economic branch shall take place before the initiation of an investigation upon a written request
made by economic entities of the economic branch or by the initiative of the Authorized body.
2. Consultations shall take place within 10 days of the submission to the Authorized body of the
written application mentioned in the Article 5 of this Law.
3.  Issues on the trends and conditions of the import of the investigated product, on economic
and commercial situation related to it, as well as on measures to be applied shall be discussed duringconsultations.
4. Consultations shall be conducted also during the application of a safeguard measure. Such
consultations shall be organized not later than the mid-term of the application period of a safeguard
measure, and shall cover the following issues:
(a) the effects of the measure,
(b) the process and modes of liberalization of the measure,G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 5
(c) the necessity of further application of the measure.
Article 7. Decision on Init iating an Investigation
1. In case of the existence of sufficient grounds the Authorized body shall, within one month of
receipt of the application made by the economic branch or on its behalf, submit to the Government of
the Republic of Armenia a proposal for a permission to initiate the investigation in due form of law ofthe Republic of Armenia.
2. The Government of the Republic of Armenia shall make a decision on initiating the
investigation or on refusing the initiation of the in vestigation within fifteen days of receipt of the
proposal made by the Authorized body.
3. In case of the absence of sufficient grounds for the initiation of an investigation the
Authorized body shall, within one month of receipt of the application made by the economic branch
or on its behalf, make a decision not to initiate the investigation. The Authorized body shall inform, in
a written form, the applicant(s) about its decision within seven days of the date the decision has been
made.
Article 8. Notification on Initiation of an Investigation
1. The Authorized body shall publish a notification on the initiation of an investigation in mass
media.
2. The notification shall include the following information:
(a) description of domestic like or directly competitive products, including their technical
characteristics and uses;
(b) names and addresses of the applicants and producers of domestic like or directly
competitive products known to the Authorized body;
(c) the country(ies) of origin of the investigated product;
(d) summary of the information received with  respect to the matter, on which the
statement on the increased quantities of import, serious injury or threat of serious
injury is based;
(e) information on the possibility of application of a provisional measure;
(f) schedule of conducting the investigation, including:
• the proposed date of application of the provisional measure;
• the proposed dates of initiation and completion of the investigation;
• the dates by which the interested parties shall inform the Authorized body on
their desire to participate in the investigation;
• the dates by which the interested parties may submit their written arguments
to the Authorized body;
• the date by which the participating interested parties may apply to the
Authorized body for consultations.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 6
Article 9. Duration of an Investigation
The duration of an investigation cannot exceed six months. The Authorized body may extend
the mentioned period maximum by two months if there are sufficient grounds for extension. In the
event of extension of the period the Authorized body shall publish an official notification in mass
media indicating the reasons and the duration of the extension.
Article 10. Consultations Upon Request of the Participating Interested Parties
1. The Authorized body shall, upon request of the participating interested parties, organize
consultations, at which all participating interested parties may present information and arguments. A
written request for consultations shall be submitted no later than 15 days after the publication of the
decision on application of a provisional measure, and if a provisional measure is not projected, within
45 days of initiation of the investigation.
2. Participating interested parties shall subm it to the Authorized body the list of the
representatives who will participate in the consultations at least 7 days before the date of
consultations.
3. Consultations shall be presided over by an authorized representative of the Authorized body,
who shall assure that confidentiality of information representing trade and (or) state (official) secret is
preserved, as well as shall provide an equal opportun ity for all the parties to present their views. The
Authorized body shall make protocols of the consultations, which shall be promptly placed in the
public file, with the exception of confidential information, pursuant to the Article 23 of this Law.
Article 11. Written Arguments
1. In case if consultations are held, any participating interested party may submit written
arguments and objections on any matter relevant to the investigation no later than 10 days before the
scheduled date of consultations. Within 10 days after the consultations parties participated inconsultations may submit further written arguments and objections in response to the information and
arguments presented during the consultations.
2. In case if consultations are not held, any participating interested party may submit to the
Authorized body written arguments relevant to the investigation, no later than 45 days before the
proposed date of completion of the investigation. Within 10 days after the deadline for presenting the
written arguments participating interested parties may submit additional written arguments inresponse to the written arguments submitted by other parties.
3. In case of considering the possibility of application of a provisional safeguard measure
participating interested parties may submit to the Authorized body their written arguments relevant to
the investigation, no later than 15 days before the proposed date of the application of a provisionalsafeguard measure.
Article 12. Public File
1. The Authorized body shall establish a public file  on each investigation, where, subject to the
requirements on preserving confidentiality pursuant to the Article 23 of this Law, all the conclusions,decisions, notifications, protocols of consultations, written arguments submitted to the Authorized
body that are relevant to the matter, and any other document the Authorized body considers
appropriate for public disclosure shall be placed.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
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2. Materials of the public file shall be available for the general public for acknowledgement and
copying.
Article 13. Information and Facts Available
1. For the purpose of conducting investigations the Authorized body may request information
from the state governing and local self-governing bodies, as well as participating interested parties.
2. The Authorized body may make its conclusions and decisions on the basis of the information
being at its disposal if any participating interested  party restricts access to or refuses to provide the
necessary information within the period of time prescribed by the Authorized body or otherwise
significantly impedes the investigation process.
Article 14. The Conclusion on Serious Injury or Threat of Serious Injury
1. The Authorized body shall, through an investigation, make a conclusion on serious injury or
threat of serious injury, including also the causal link between serious injury or threat of serious injury
and importation of the investigated product in increased quantities and under  given conditions. The
conclusion of the Authorized body shall be based on the factors relevant to the matter having abearing on the situation in the economic branch, particularly:
(a) import volume of  the investigated product and the rate of its increase;
(b) share of the domestic market captured by the increased imports of the investigated
product;
(c) prices of the imported products;
(d) the impact of imports of the investigated product in increased quantities and under
given conditions on the economic branch, taking into account the following factors:
• volumes of the domestic production,
• production capacity utilization,
• inventories of the product,
• market share,
• sales level,
• employment and wages,
• product prices in the domestic market,
• profits and losses,
(e) factors not related to the increased imports of the investigated product, which are
causing or threatening to cause serious injury to the economic branch.
2. In case of threat of serious injury the Author ized body, in addition to the factors mentioned in
the paragraph (1) of this Article, shall take into account the following factors:
(a) the export capacities of the investigated product in the exporting countries or
countries of origin;
(b) possibilities of increasing the imports of the investigated products into the territory of
the Republic of Armenia;
(c) other factors.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 8
Article 15. Termination of Investigation
1. If, through the investigation, the Authorized body concludes that no safeguard measures are
necessary, it shall submit a proposal to the Government of the Republic of Armenia on terminating the
investigation in due form of law.
2. The decision to terminate the investigation shall include conclusions made in the result of the
investigation and a brief description of the grounds of the conclusions.
III. APPLICATION OF SAFEGUARD MEASURES
Article 16. Consultations with Interested Countries
1. Before application of a safeguard measure and, in case of application of a provisional
safeguard measure, immediately after the measure takes effect, the Authorized body shall carry out
consultations with the interested countries supplying the investigated product upon an appropriate
written request.
2. The following issues shall be examined during the consultations:
(a) trends and conditions of imports of the investigated product, the economic and trade
situation related to it;
(b) opportunities for the implementation of mutually acceptable measures aimed at
improving the created situation;
(c) the measures to be applied and their possible effects.
Article 17. Application of Safeguard Measures
1. If the Authorized body, after the investigation conducted pursuant to the provisions of this
Law, concludes that the investigated product is being imported into the territory of the Republic of
Armenia in such increased quantities and under such conditions that cause or threaten to cause seriousinjury to the economic branch, the Authorized body shall submit to the Government of the Republic
of Armenia a proposal on the application of a safeguard measure, in due form of law.
2. The Government of the Republic of Armenia shall discuss the proposal of the Authorized
body within one month of the date of its receipt, and shall, if necessary, take appropriate measures for
application of the safeguard measure in due form of law of the Republic of Armenia.
3. In the case of application of quotas and tariff quotas the release of  products into the territory
of the Republic of Armenia for free circulation may be allowed only upon availability of import
permission. Import permissions or other documents necessary for importation shall be granted in due
form established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
4. Before the application of the measure, safeguard measures shall not prevent the release of the
products into the territory of the Republic of Armenia that have already been on their way to the
Republic of Armenia.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
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Article 18. Application of Provisional Safeguard Measures
1. Provisional safeguard measures shall be applied only in critical circumstances where there are
evident facts, demonstrating that the increased import of the investigated product have caused or
threatened to cause serious injury to the economic branch, for the prevention or remedy of which
expeditious interference is required.
2. Provisional safeguard measures shall be applied in the form of an increase of applied customs
tariff rates (independently from the tariff rate applied on the import of the product). The duration of
provisional safeguard measures can not exceed 180 days.
3. The Government of the Republic of Armenia may, in due form, adopt Decisions having
power of law regarding the application of provisional safeguard measures.
4. The Decisions on application of provisional safeguard measures shall be adopted not earlier
than one month from and not later than six months after the date of initiation of the investigation.
5. The product subject to a provisional safeguard measure can be imported into the territory of
the Republic of Armenia for free circulation upon payment of customs duty set by the provisional
measure, or upon provision of a security or other equivalent assurance.
6. The Authorized body shall continue investigations during the application of a provisional
safeguard measure in order to determine the necessity of further application of a safeguard measure.
7. If, after further investigations, the Authorized body concludes that increased imports of the
investigated product into the territory of the Republic of Armenia do not cause or threaten to cause
serious injury to the economic branch, the exceeding amounts of duties paid during the application of
the provisional safeguard measure shall be refunded to the payers within three months after thedecision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia on it.
Article 19. Quotas as Safeguard Measures
1. In case of application of quotas the permitted quantity of the import of the investigated
product shall be established based on the average quantity of imports of the given product during the
last three years. A quantity less than the average quantity of imports during the last three years may be
established if it is necessary to prevent or remedy the serious injury caused or threat of serious injury.
2. If the investigated product is imported into the territory of the Republic of Armenia from
more than one country, the permitted import quantity established by the quota shall be allocated
among supplying countries. The allocation of the permitted import quantities among the supplying
countries may be made by consent with the supplying countries. If allocation by this method isdifficult to implement in practice, the allocation among the supplying countries shall be carried out
proportionately, based on their average share in the total import of the given product into the Republic
of Armenia during the last three years.
3. In the case if the allocation methods referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article are not
practicable or reasonable, other methods of allocation may be used after prior consultations with the
supplying countries.
4. The duration of a safeguard measure, where the allocation method mentioned in paragraph 3
of this article is used, shall not exceed four years. This period cannot be extended, notwithstanding theprovisions of the Article 20 of this law.G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
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5. Other methods of allocation cannot be used in case of threat of serious injury.
Article 20. The Duration of a Safeguard Measures
1. The duration of an initial safeguard measure, including the duration of the provisional
safeguard measure, shall not exceed four years.
2. The mentioned period can be extended, if the Authorized body determines through
investigations, conducted according to the provisions of this Law, that the application of the safeguard
measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury, and that there is evidence that
the situation in the economic branch is improving due to the application of the safeguard measure.
3. The investigation with respect to the extension of the period of the safeguard measure shall be
initiated at least six months before the end of the period of the initial measure already being applied.
4. The total duration of a safeguard measure (including the duration of the provisional measure
and the duration of the initial and extended measures) shall not exceed eight years.
5. Extension of the period of a safeguard measure shall cover the same products, on which the
initial safeguard measure was applied. The conditions of the extended safeguard measure shall not be
more restrictive than those at the end of the period of application of the initial measure.
6. If the duration of a safeguard measure exceeds one year, the conditions of application of the
measure shall be periodically liberalized during the whole period of application, as well as during the
extension period of the measure.
Article 21. Review of Safeguard Measures
1. If the duration of applied safeguard measure is more than three years (including the duration
of application of the provisional measure), the Authorized body shall, not later than the mid-term of
the period, conduct a review of the current situation connected, particularly, with the effects of the
safeguard measure on the economic branch, as well as with the process of implementing the plan
aimed at adjustment, regulation or development of the economic branch for meeting foreign
competition. The Authorized body shall, through the review, determine the necessity of continuing or
ceasing the application of the safeguard measure, or modifying the conditions of its application.
2. The Authorized body shall publish a notification on the results of the review and of
conclusions and decisions thereof.
3. Investigations for review shall be conducted according to the procedure of investigations
established by this Law.
Article 22. Reapplication of a Safeguard Measure
1. A safeguard measure may be reapplied on the import of a given product, on which a
safeguard measure has been applied, only after two years of expiration of the applied safeguard
measure.
2. Notwithstanding the provision of the paragraph 1 of this Article, where the duration of the
applied safeguard measure does not exceed 180 days, a safeguard measure with a duration of 180 days
or less may be reapplied to the import of a given product if:G/SG/N/1/ARM/1
Page 11
(a) at least one year has elapsed since the date of introduction of a safeguard measure on
the import of that product, and
(b) safeguard measures have not been applied on the same product more than twice in the
five-year period immediately proceeding the date of reapplication of the measure.
Article 23. Preservation of Confidentiality.
1. The Authorized body shall, in due form of la w, preserve confidentiality of any information
representing a trade secret, which has been obtained in the course of conduct of its authority granted
by this Law.
2. The employees of the Authorized body have no right to publish or otherwise disseminate, as
well as to use for personal advantage any confidential and official information obtained in the course
of performing their official duties.
3. In case of disclosure of the information constituting a trade secret the injury caused to an
economic entity is subject to reimbursement from the state budget, in due form of law.
IV. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 24. Entry into Force
This Law shall enter into force from the date of its official promulgation.
The President of the Republic of Armenia R. Kocharyan
Yerevan
14 May 2001
HO – 175
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