. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/Q1/EGY/1
28 April 1999
(99-1711)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT
Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES
Regarding the Notification of EGYPT1
The following communication, dated 23 April 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
_______________
The Egyptian safeguard law refers to an “unjustifiable increase in imports” (Articles 1, 2, 79,
and 82), “increased imports” (Article 81), and “imports” (Article 84).
1. How does Egypt intend to apply the “increased quantities” standard relating to imports in
Article 2.1 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (Safeguards Agreement)?
2. How does Egypt define “unjustifiable” and in what context will this term be used?3. Will the safeguard remedy imposed under Article 84 of the Egyptian law address serious
injury caused by “imports” or serious injury caused by “ increased  imports” (emphasis added)?
Article 84.1 of the Egyptian law provides for safeguard measures “to the extent necessary to
prevent or remedy serious injury caused to the domestic industry.”  Article 5.1 of the Safeguards
Agreement, on the other hand, states that a WT O Member shall apply safeguard measures “ only to the
extent necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustment ” (emphasis added).
Thus, Egyptian law on its face appears to allow the Egyptian Government to apply a measure of any
magnitude, so long as it is of sufficient magnitude to prevent or remedy serious injury.  In addition,
Egyptian law does not address the issue of industry adjustment.
4. How does Egypt plan to address the limitati on embodied in the term “only,” and how does
Egypt plan to address the industry adjustment requirement?
Article 84.2 of the Egyptian law provides that if a safeguard measure in the form of a
quantitative restriction is used, “the determined quantities for each country shall not be less than the
average volume of imports for the most recent three years or any period the investigating authoritiesmay consider necessary to remove the injury provided that it is justified.”  Article 5.1 of the
Safeguards Agreement, on the other hand, states that “If a quantitative restriction is used, such a
measure shall not reduce the quantity of imports below the level of a recent period which shall be the
average of imports in the last three representative years for which statistics are available, unless clear
                                                     
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justification  is given that a different level is necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury.”
Article 5.2(a) addresses the issue of country allocations.
5. Explain how the provision in Egyptian law relating to the overall “quantity of imports” is
consistent with Article 5.1 of the Safeguards Agreement.
6. How does Egypt plan to address the “representative” years requirement in Article 5.1 of the
Safeguards Agreement?
7. If Egypt departs from the general rule that the quota allow in at least that quantity imported
during the most recent three representative years, on what basis consistent with the Article 5.1 “clear
justification” requirement will Egypt do so?
8. Explain how the quota allocation in Article 84.3 of the Egyptian law is consistent with
Article 5.2(b) of the Safeguards Agreement.
9. Does Egypt intend to make the determination required by Article 7.2 of the WTO Safeguards
Agreement before extending a safeguard measure?
10. Will Egypt “progressively liberalize” safeguard measures of more than one year duration at
regular intervals, and conduct mid-term reviews of measures exceeding three years duration, as
required by Article 7.4 of the Safeguards Agreement?
11. Has Egypt promulgated any regulations governing the conduct of safeguard investigations,
and have they been notified to the Safeguards Committee?  If not, does Egypt intend to promulgate
regulations, and will they be notified?
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