. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/Q1/KOR/15
G/SCM/Q1/KOR/15
20 January 1999
(99-0184)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing MeasuresOriginal:  English
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS
Replies to Questions Posed by VENEZUELA1
Regarding the Notification of KOREA2
The following communication, dated 10 November 1998, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Korea.
_______________
Q1. Article 4-2, paragraph 1, of the Decree of the Customs Act establishes that the Minister
of the competent ministry in charges of an indu stry affected by the unfair practice may request
the Minister of Finance and the Economy to impose an anti-dumping duty under the conditions
prescribed by the Ordinance of the Prime Minister.
Would Korea please explain the circumstances or parameters under which the
competent Minister may request imposition of an anti-dumping duty in accordance with
Article 4-2, paragraph 1, of the Decree of the Customs Act?
Reply
Article 5.6 of the A-D Agreement stipulates that an investigation can be initiated without an
application by the domestic industry in such special circumstances as there is sufficient evidence of
dumping, injury and a causal link.  Instead of providing for the investigation authority to initiate aninvestigation by itself, Korean law allows the comp etent Minister responsible for the injured industry
to request an investigation by submitting a written application.  Therefore, the circumstances under
which the Minister may request the imposition of an  anti-dumping duty would be similar to those for
self-initiated investigations in other countries.  The same evidence of dumping, injury and a causal
link as described in Article 5.2 of the Agreement is required in the application by the Minister.  Nosuch application by the Minister has been made in the Korean anti-dumping investigation history.
Q2. In accordance with paragraph 2, indent 5, of Article 4-3, the Trade Commission may
reject an application "… in case it becomes unnecessary to initiate an investigation, e.g., a
measure has been taken prior to the initiation of  an investigation to eliminate any adverse effect
on the domestic industry".
Would Korea please clarify what measures th e above Article refers to for the purposes
of eliminating any adverse effect of dumping on the domestic industry?
                                                     
1 G/ADP/Q1/KOR/13-G/SCM/Q1/KOR/13
2 G/ADP/N/1/KOR/4 & G/SCM/N/1/KOR/3G/ADP/Q1/KOR/15
G/SCM/Q1/KOR/15
Page 2
Reply
The measures could include safeguard measures on the product, or anti-dumping measures or
price undertakings on like products.  If any of these measures are already in force, imposition of a
new measure would be unnecessary.
Q3. In accordance with Article 4-10, paragraph 2, provisional measures may be applied for
a period of four (4) months, which may be extended to a maximum of six (6) months, at the
request of a supplier of significant importan ce in the trade of the product.  However,
Article 17.4 of the Agreement on Subsidies  and Countervailing Measures provides that
provisional measures may not be applied for more than four (4) months.
Would Korea please explain how the provision of the Decree of the Customs Act is
compatible with the provision of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures?
Reply
Article 4-10, paragraph 2, of the Decree originates from the provision of Article 7.4 of the
Anti-Dumping Agreement.  In Korean law, the articles for anti-dumping measures are generally
applied also to countervailing measures.  With regard to the period of provisional countervailingmeasures, however, the Korean investigating authority will directly apply the Agreement on Subsidies
and Countervailing Measures and limit the period to four months.
Q4. In accordance with paragraph 1, indent 1, of Article 4-7 of the Regulation of the
Customs Act, "… where an exporter wishes to  propose undertakings to the Trade Commission
… such undertakings shall include the following items:  1.  an undertaking that the exporter …
will cease exporting within such a period as dete rmined after consultation with the Minister of
Finance and  the Economy".
Would Korea please explain the objective and scope of this provision and how it is
consistent with the Articles on undertakings in the WTO Agreements?
Reply
According to Article 8.1 of the Agreement, Korean law provides undertakings to cease
dumped exports.  When any exporter voluntarily offers undertakings to cease dumped exports, a
consultation over the period of the undertaking will be conducted between the exporters and theauthority.  The period will not be longer than five years and not longer than necessary to counteract
dumping which is causing injury, as described in Article 11 of the Agreement.  Therefore, Article 4-7
of the Regulation is consistent with the Agreement.
__________