. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/7/BGR/2/Rev.11
23 September 2002
(02-5070)
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
BULGARIA
Revision
The following communication, dated 10 September 2002, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Bulgaria.
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Document G/SG/N/7/BGR/2 should have contai ned six sections.  The full substantive text
should therefore read as follows:
Pursuant to Article 12.4 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards and taking into account the
approved format for notifications under that Article (document G/SG/1), the Republic of Bulgaria
hereby notifies its decision to take a provisional safeguard measure under Article 6 of the Agreement
on Safeguards.
1. Product subject to the proposed provisional safeguard measure
Tariff No: 3102 30 90 0
Description: Ammonium nitrate, other than in aqueous solution
According to the results of the preliminary in vestigation, the ammonium nitrate produced by
the domestic producers is a directly competitive product to the imported ammonium nitrate.  The
comparative analysis has shown that the domestic technology and the technology used for the
imported product are similar, the quality characteristics of both products are equal.  The domestic andimported ammonium nitrate is used primarily in agriculture.
2. The proposed provisional safeguard measure
Increase of the customs duty on imports of ammonium nitrate to 40 per cent.
3. Date of introduction of the safeguard measure
The provisional safeguard measure entered into force on 1 July 2002.
                                                     
1 In English only.G/SG/N/7/BGR/2/Rev.1
Page 2
4. Expected duration of the measure
The provisional safeguard measure is imposed for a period of 180 days.
5. Preliminary determination, as provided for in Article 6, that increased imports have
caused or are threatenin g to cause serious injury
The competent authority evaluated the development of imports, production, consumption,
sales, market share, productivity, capacity utilization, prices and employment for the years 1999 to
2001.
The import of ammonium nitrate started in 1999.  Imports of the product concerned grew in
absolute terms and relative to consumption between 2000 and 2001.  During the year 2000, the
imports were impeded by the provisional safeguard duty imposed during the period
28 November 2000 – 6 March 2001.  The increase of the imports of ammonium nitrate in 2001
amounts to 328 per cent compared to the year 2000.
Annual ammonium nitrate import during the last three years
1999 2000 2001
Volume, tonnes 21,959 17,560 57,601
Market Share of Imports, % 6 4.1 12.3
Source: Customs Statistics and Ministry of Economy
Substantially increased ammonium nitrate imports resulted in decrease of the volume of the
domestically produced product in 2001 compared to the year 2000 by 4 per cent, regardless of the
relative increase in consumption.
Production capacity utilization decreased due to the increased imports.  Continuation of this
import trend would lead to a considerable decline in the domestic production and would impair the
domestic industry.  In the relevant industry the number of people employed decreased.
The market share of the imported product grows and affects negatively Bulgarian producers'
sales, diminishing their market share.  The compet ent authority has made a preliminary determination
that there is clear evidence of a causal link between increased volumes of imports and reduced sales
volumes of the product concerned.
6. Determination of critical circumstances where delay would cause damage which it
would be difficult to repair
Domestic producers are suffering a decline in production and sales as a result of increased
imports of ammonium nitrate.
Bulgarian producers are threatened with significant impairment.  It is presumed that serious
injury will occur as a result of the deviation of trade flows from countries against which trade remedy
measures have been imposed.  Some of these countries are actively exporting to Bulgaria and have
significant production capacities.
Therefore, it was considered that there exists a critical situation in which any delay in the
adoption of a provisional safeguard measure would cau se damage, which would be difficult to repair.
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