RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/Q1/TUN/1
G/SCM/Q1/TUN/1
15July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2741)
Original: French Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5AND 32.6OFTHE AGREEMENTS
Replies ofTUNISIA1toQuestions Posed by
theUNITED STATES2
Thefollowingcommunication,dated2July1996,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofTunisia.
___________________
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES
Question 1
TheTunisian lawdoesnotappear toinclude provisions requiring specific levels ofindustry
support asrequired byArticle 5.4oftheA-DAgreement. How isthisprovision implemented
under Tunisian law?
Reply
TheTunisian anti-dumping legislation wasdrawn upinaccordance with Article VIof
theGATT 1947 andtheTokyo Round Anti-Dumping Code towhich, however, Tunisia wasnota
signatory.
Thislegislation wasnotified totheWTO onrequest.
With regard toitsadaptation totheAgreement onImplementation ofArticle VIof
theGATT 1994, atthejointmeeting oftheCommittees onAnti-Dumping Practices andSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures, Tunisia promised tobegin theprocess during thefirsthalfof1997.
Question 2
What istheearliest dateafter initiation ofaninvestigation thatapreliminary dutycan
beimplemented?
1G/ADP/N/1/TUN/1-G/SCM/N/1/TUN/1.
2G/ADP/W/390-G/SCM/W/390.G/ADP/Q1/TUN/1
G/SCM/Q1/TUN/1
Page2
Reply
Article 15ofLaw94-41 onForeign Trade of7March 1994 provides forthepossibility of
introducing aprovisional countervailing dutywhen itappears, afterapreliminary examination, that
animported product shows signs ofbeing dumped. Thisdutyremains applicable foraperiod offour
months fromthedateofapplication, which canbeextended byafurther twomonths bytheMinistry
ofFinance attheproposal oftheMinistry ofTrade.
However, asthelegislation doesnotspecify atime-limit fortheconduct oftheinvestigation,
noearliest dateforimplementation wasestablished.
Seereply toquestion 1asregards theadaptation oftheTunisian legislation toArticle 7.3of
the1994 Agreement concerning provisional measures.
Question 3
What provision hasbeenmade forconducting "new shipper reviews" asrequired under
A-DArticle 9.5?
Reply
TheTunisian legislation doesnotinclude provisions relating tonewshippers asenvisaged in
Article 9.5oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement.
Seereply toquestion 1asregards adaptation tothe1994 Agreement.
Question 4
What provision hasbeenmade toprovide judicial review asrequired byA-DArticle 13?
Reply
Seethereply communicated totheWTO Secretariat inresponse totherelated question posed
byHong Kong (joint meeting oftheCommittees onAnti-Dumping Practices andSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures of25April 1996).
Question 5
There doesnotappear tobearequirement thatsubsidies befound tobespecific prior
toimposing countervailing duties. Isthiscorrect?
Reply
TheTunisian legislation relates tosubsidies asdefined inArticle VIoftheGATT 1947. The
newprovisions oftheAgreement onSubsidies willbeapplied inthecontext oftheadaptation ofour
legislation totheWTO Agreement.
Seethereply communicated totheWTO Secretariat inresponse tothequestion posed bythe
European Union (joint meeting oftheCommittees on25April 1996).G/ADP/Q1/TUN/1
G/SCM/Q1/TUN/1
Page3
Question 6
Could youplease explain what ismeant inArticle 18[page 3]where itstates:
Where aninvestigation shows thattheexporter isdirectly orindirectly responsible
forallorpartofthecountervailing duty, anadditional countervailing dutymay
befixed inaccordance withArticles 14and15ofthisLaw.
Reply
Article 18ofLaw94-41 of7March 1994 wasintended toprevent concerted action between
exporters andimporters withaviewtoselling atdumping prices onexport markets when theexporter,
forthepurpose ofpreserving hismarket share, undertakes topaytheanti-dumping duties payable by
theimporter whenever ananti-dumping proceeding isinitiated intheimporting country.
Question 7
What isthetime-limit forcompletion oftheinvestigations?
Reply
TheTunisian legislation hasnoprovisions relating tothetime-limit forcompletion ofthe
investigations, butsuchprovisions willbeintroduced inconnection withtheadaptation ofthelegislation
totheWTO Agreements.