WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/N/1/COL/2
25 May 1998
(98-2038)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  Spanish
NOTIFICATIONS OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
COLOMBIA
The following communication, dated 1 May 1998, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Colombia.
_______________
On instruction from my Government, and pursuant to Article 12.6 of the Agreement on
Safeguards, I am notifying herewith to the Committee on Safeguards Title I of Decree No. 152 of
1998, which establishes the procedures and criteria for the adoption of general safeguard measures.
This Decree was published in Colombia's Official Gazette No. 43221.
_______________
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE
DECREES
DECREE NO. 152 OF 22 JANUARY 1998
Establishing procedures and criteria for the adoption of general safeguard measures, transitional
safeguards for products covered by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing and special safeguards
for agricultural products .
The President of the Republic of Colombia, in exercise of his constitutional powers, and in
particular those conferred on him by Article 189, paragraph 25 of the Political Constitution, in
conformity with Law 7 of 1991 and pursuant to Law 170 of 1994, upon recommendation of the
Higher Council for Foreign Trade,
CONSIDERING:
That pursuant to Law 170 of 1994 the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
has been incorporated into Colombia's legislation;
That the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization includes the Agreement on
Safeguards for the application of Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade –
GATT 1994 - which constitutes the general safeguards regime;
That the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing forms part of the Agreement Establishing the
World Trade Organization and provides for transitional safeguards for products covered by the said
Agreement;G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 2
That the Agreement on Agriculture forms part of the Agreement Establishing the World
Trade Organization and provides for special safeguards for products covered by the said Agreement;
That it is necessary to promote competition and the modernization of the domestic production
sector so as to enhance the efficiency of the economy;
That circumstances may arise in which a domestic industry needs the adoption of safeguard
measures to facilitate its adjustment to competition from exports,
DECREES:
TITLE I
GENERAL SAFEGUARDS
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
Article 1.  Scope of Application .  Without prejudice to the special provisions in economic
integration agreements concluded by Colombia, the provisions in this Decree shall apply to imports ofproducts from Member countries of the World Trade Organization.
Article 2.  General Safeguards .  A safeguard measure may be applied if it has been
determined that a product is being imported in such quantities and under such conditions as to cause
or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry that produces like or directly competitive
products.
Article 3.  Definitions .  The following definitions shall apply:
"Serious Injury".  A significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry;"Threat of Serious Injury".  The clear imminence of serious injury."Domestic Industry".  The producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive products
operating in Colombia or those whose collective output of the like or directly competitive products
constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of these products.
"Major Proportion of Domestic Industry".  For the purposes of submitting an application, the
major proportion of domestic industry shall be taken to mean at least 25 per cent thereof in terms of
the volume of production of the like or directly competitive products in comparison with the imported
product.  Nevertheless, for the purpose of initiating the investigation, the percentage shall be 50 per
cent.
In the case of highly concentrated industries in which an exceptionally low number of
producers represent 50 per cent or more of the domestic industry, for the purposes of submitting an
application and initiating an investigation, the re maining producers may be deemed to constitute a
major proportion of domestic industry.
In the case of fragmented industries involving an exceptionally large number of producers, for
the purposes of submitting an application and initiating an investigation, INCOMEX may determine
the major proportion by using statistically valid sampling techniques.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 3
"Like Product".  A product which is identical, i.e. alike in all respects to the imported product
or another product which, although not alike in all respects, has characteristics closely resembling
those of the product imported.
"Directly Competitive Product".  A product whose physical characteristics and composition
differ from those of the imported product but which fulfils the same functions, meets the same needs
and is commercially substitutable.
"Adjustment Programme".  The set of actions adopted by domestic producers to supplement
safeguard measures for the purpose of improving their competitiveness and for orderly adjustment of
their production activities to foreign competition.
"Member".  Any Member of the World Trade Organization.
"WTO".  The World Trade Organization."Interested Parties".  The applicant, other Colombian producers, trade or business associations
a majority of the members of which are producers of the product under investigation, foreign
producers, exporters, importers, governments of exporting or producing countries, consumers or their
associations.
"INCOMEX".  Colombian Foreign Trade Institute.Article 4.  Non-discrimination .  Safeguard measures adopted pursuant to the provisions under
this Title shall apply to all imports of the product under investigation irrespective of their origin.
Article 5.  Confidential documents .  Documents of a confidential nature provided by the
authorities, the applicant or interested parties may only be consulted by INCOMEX.
Any modification deemed to be confidential shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such
by INCOMEX and may not be disclosed without the permission of the party submitting it.  Any
person providing confidential information shall furnish a non-confidential summary thereof or state
the reasons why it is not susceptible of summary.
If INCOMEX finds that the request is not warranted and the interested party is either
unwilling to make the information publ ic or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or in summary
form, INCOMEX may disregard such information unless it can be demonstrated satisfactorily from
appropriate sources that the information is correct.
Notwithstanding the above, the confidential nature of a document cannot be adduced as
grounds for refusing to provide it to the authorities requesting it in the proper exercise of their
functions.  In such cases, the requesting authority is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality of
such documents.
CHAPTER II
Investigation Procedure
Article 6.  Submission of the application .  Upon written application submitted to the
General-Directorate of INCOMEX or to its regional or branch offices by a major proportion of
domestic industry or on its behalf through its representative association, INCOMEX shall initiate the
procedure provided in this Title.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 4
Article 7.  Application requirements .  The application shall refer to a single product and
contain supporting evidence on increased imports, serious injury or threat thereof, and a causal link
between the increased imports and the injury or threat  thereof.  For this purpose, the application shall
contain the following information:
1. Indication of the type of safeguard to be imposed;
2. Identification of the applicant and proof that it represents a major proportion of domestic
industry.  For this purpose, the applicant may submit the domestic producer's certificate issued by
INCOMEX or any other type of documentary evid ence in which INCOMEX certifies its position and
its share of the volume and/or value of total production.  Where the application is made by an
association on behalf of the domestic industry, the domestic producers belonging to the associationshall be identified and the share of each producer in the total volume and value of domestic
production of the like or directly competitive product shall be indicated;
3. Detailed description, technical specification and tariff classification of the imported product
to allow a comparison with the domestic product;
4. Detailed description of the domestic product and proof that it is alike to or directly  competes
with the imported product;
5. Name, domicile and national identity number of the domestic importers and information
available on the foreign producers and/or exporters;
6. Information on the increase in imports (volume, price and country of origin) of the product to
be investigated, in absolute terms or relative to the domestic industry;
7. Information demonstrating and proving the existence of serious injury or threat thereof to the
domestic industry.
For this purpose, the information shall include accounting and financial information relating
to the production line for the product to be investig ated.  Where this is not possible, the information
shall refer to the production of the narrowest group or range of products that includes the like or
directly competitive domestic product.
The information may refer inter alia  to output, utilization of installed capacity, productivity,
inventories, sales and prices on the domestic market, share of the domestic market, profits, and
employment.
General information on the enterprise, where relevant, shall also be provided.
The accounting and financial information shall be submitted in accordance with the
legislation in force and shall be certified by a chartered accountant or the enterprise's internal auditor
pursuant to the legal provisions.  Information relating inter alia  to production, sales and inventories
expressed in terms of value shall be deemed accounting information and shall therefore be certified by
a chartered accountant or the enterprise's internal auditor.
8. If a threat of serious injury is claimed, information shall be provided on a possible increase in
imports, evidenced inter alia  by the existence of a supply contract, the award of a tender or an
irrevocable offer, or as a consequence of export capacity in the country of origin evidenced by an
increase or surplus in installed capacity or an increase in inventories of the like or directly competitive
product, and the likelihood that the exports resulting from this increased potential capacity in the
exporting country will be exported to the Colombian market.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 5
9. A detailed explanation and evidence that the increase in imports is the cause of the serious
injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry.
10. If the application of a provisional safeguard measure is requested, the existence of critical
circumstances pursuant to Article 33 of th is Decree must also be demonstrated.
11. Identification and justification of confidential information, and a non-confidential summary
thereof.  If it is indicated that the information is not susceptible of summary, a statement of the
reasons why summarization is not possible shall be provided.
12. Offer to submit to the authorities any additional documents they might require, to facilitate
verification of the information supplied and to cooperate in the investigation.
13. Submission of supporting evidence and request for the evidence deemed necessary.14. Information on the specific objectives sought, for example, the adoption of modernization
programmes to increase the competitiveness of en terprises and adapt them to the new competitive
conditions in the market.
15. Two copies of the application shall be submitted, one to be placed in the public and the other
in the confidential file.
16. The application shall be signed by the legal representative(s) or the attorney(s) of the
applicant(s).
Paragraph.  The information on injury and increased imports referred to in this Article shall
concern the two (2) years prior to submission of the application and the current year.  If the first halfof the last year has not ended, the information shall concern the previous three (3) years and the
period of the current year that has already elapsed.  In the case of an increase in imports, the period
shall correspond to the last three years for which statistical information is available.
Article 8.  Official receipt of the application .  Within five working days from the working day
following the date of submission of the applicati on, INCOMEX shall notify the applicant in writing
that the application meets the requirements and contains the information specified in the previousArticle.
Where information is lacking or is not clear, INCOMEX shall request the applicant in writing
to provide this information.  This request shall interrupt the period established in the preceding
paragraph until the missing information is provided.
If after two months following the request the missing information has not been supplied, the
applicant shall be considered to have withdrawn the application and an order will be issued for it to be
filed, without prejudice to a further new application by the applicant.
Article 9.  Evaluation of the grounds for application .  INCOMEX shall have a period of
twenty (20) working days from the working day following the date of dispatch of the official receipt
to evaluate whether there are grounds for initiating an investigation.
Whether there are grounds for initiating an inve stigation shall depend on sufficient evidence
of increased imports, injury or threat of injury to the domestic industry and a causal link between
these two elements.
Where appropriate, INCOMEX may ex officio request and/or provide the additional
information and evidence it deems necessary to establish the grounds.  Such information, togetherG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 6
with the information attached to the application fo r the initiation of an investigation, shall constitute
evidence during the procedure.
The technical evaluation of the grounds for initiating an investigation shall be furnished in
writing.
Article 10.  Initiation of the investigation .  If the evaluation finds that there are grounds for
initiating an investigation, INCO MEX shall initiate the investiga tion within the period laid down in
the preceding Article.  If no grounds are found, INCOMEX shall reject the application for an
investigation and order that the case be filed.  In both cases, INCOMEX shall adopt a reasoned
resolution to be published in the INCOMEX chap ter of the Ministry of Foreign Trade Gazette.
Within a period of five (5) working days from the working day following the date of
publication of the resolution on initiation of an in vestigation, INCOMEX shall forward a copy of the
resolution to known interested parties, the Ministry  of Foreign Trade, and the Technical Secretariat of
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee.
The resolution shall contain the following:
(a) A summary of the application;(b) a notice calling for the submission of any relevant information;  and(c) explanation of the evidence found when evaluating the grounds.Paragraph.  Within 15 working days following the initiation of the investigation, the domestic
industry shall submit information on the adjustment programme it intends to implement if a safeguardmeasure is imposed.
Article 11.  Notification to take part in the investigation .  Within the period provided in the
second paragraph of the preceding Article, INCOMEX shall convene the interested parties by means
of a public notice so that they can express their opinions, duly substantiated, and provide or request
evidence that they consider relevant.  The notice shall be published in two (2) national newspapers
with broad circulation and the interested parties shall have a period of thirty (30) working days fromthe working day following the date of publication of the notice in which to respond.  This period may
be extended by one further period of up to eight working days for all interested parties subject to a
duly substantiated request.  Upon expiry of this period, only parties that have indicated their interest
in taking part in the investigation shall be considered interested parties.
Article 12.  Dispatch and receipt of questionnaires by INCOMEX .  Within the period of five
(5) days indicated in the second paragraph of Article 10 of this Decree, if it considers it necessary,
INCOMEX shall send questionnaires to all known interested parties requesting additional information
and evidence concerning the investigation.
The questionnaires duly completed shall be retu rned to INCOMEX within thirty (30) working
days from the working day following the date of th eir dispatch.  This period may be extended for up
to eight working days for all interested parties subject to a duly substantiated request.
Replies to the questionnaires, together with the attached supporting documents and evidence,
shall be submitted in Spanish, or be accompanied by an official translation.  They shall be submitted
in two copies, one to be placed in the public and the other in the confidential file.
Article 13.  Collection of evidence .  After the time-limit for receiving questionnaires and
convening interested parties has expired, within twenty five (25) working days, INCOMEX shallG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 7
collect the evidence requested by the interested parties that it considers useful, necessary, relevant and
valid for verifying the facts investigated.
INCOMEX may collect evidence ex officio from the time of dispatch of the official receipt
until the end of the period provided in this Article.
Article 14.  Verification visits .  At any time during the investigation procedure and before
expiry of the time-limit for collecting evidence, INCOMEX may carry out the verification visits it
deems relevant.  For this purpose, it shall send a written communication to the interested parties it
wishes to visit indicating the date of the visit.  The interested party, giving grounds and within five (5)
working days following dispatch of the communication, may once only request in writing that the date
be changed, proposing a new date which may not be later than five (5) working days from the dateoriginally set.
Article 15.  Arguments .  Interested parties, once only and within fifteen (15) working days
following the expiry of the period fixed in the first paragraph of Article 13 of this Decree, may submit
their views on the investigation in writing and/or contest the evidence produced.  They may alsoexpress their views on whether or not the application of a safeguard measure is in the public interest.
Article 16.  Joint hearings of interested parties .  As from the date of initiation of the
investigation and until the expiry of the time-limit for collecting evidence, INCOMEX may be
requested once only to hold a joint hearing of the interested parties representing different interests so
that they may put forward their arguments and comments on the claims made by the parties during the
investigation.
Hearings shall be held at the request of the interested party or ex officio.  Within five (5) days
following the end of the period fixed for puttin g forward arguments, INCOMEX shall convene a
hearing by a notice published in two national newspapers with broad circulation.  The hearing shall be
held within ten days following publication of the no tice in the place and at the time indicated therein.
Within three days following the hearing, the pa rties shall submit in writing all the arguments
put forward orally during the hearing.  In evaluating the hearing, INCOMEX shall only take into
account arguments expressed in writing.
Article 17.  Conclusions of the investigation .  Within twenty-five (25) working days following
expiry of the period given to the interested parties to put forward their arguments and after the hearing
has been held, if necessary, INCOMEX, on the basis of the available evidence and information, shall
draw up a technical report that shall terminate the inve stigation referred to in this Chapter.  The report
shall contain INCOMEX's findings and conclusions regarding relevant matters of fact and law and, ifthere is an affirmative recommendation, the form, duration and liberalization programme of the
measure to be adopted.
Within the period indicated in the preceding paragraph, INCOMEX shall transmit the
technical report and its conclusions and recommendations to the Technical Secretariat of the Customs,Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee for matters within its competence.
Article 18.  Best available information .  Where the information requested by INCOMEX is
not supplied in accordance with the provisions of this Title or when the investigation is significantly
impeded, the conclusions may be adopted on the ba sis of the facts available.  Likewise, where
INCOMEX finds that an interested party has submitted  incorrect or misleading information, this shall
not be taken into account in its evaluation and findings.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 8
Article 19.  Records .  All information provided by interested parties, together with the
information collected by INCOMEX ex officio, shal l be filed in chronological order in two separate
files, one of which shall contain public and the other confidential information.
Any person may have access to the file containing public information and may request the
permission of INCOMEX to photocopy it.
CHAPTER III
Serious Injury and Threat of Serious Injury
Article 20.  Determination of serious injury .  In determining whether imports of a product
have increased in such volume or under such conditions as to cause serious injury to a domestic
industry, INCOMEX shall evaluate all relevant factors of an objective and quantifiable nature having
a bearing on the situation of that industry:
(a) Import trends:
INCOMEX shall examine the rate and amount of the increase in imports both in absolute
terms and relative to the domestic industry as well as apparent domestic consumption (ADC).  It shall
also take into account the price of imports, the import conditions and the share of the domestic market
taken by increased imports.
(b) Production trends:
INCOMEX shall take into account the trends in  the following indicators and the behaviour
that could reasonably have been expected from each in the light of the performance of the economy.
- Trend in output in absolute terms and relative to sales and domestic consumption;
- trend in sales on the domestic market (volume and price) and net sales income, as
well as the relationship between the two;
- trend in the utilization of installed capacity;
- productivity trends;
- profit and loss accounts;- employment.
(c) Price trends and impact of the imports:
INCOMEX shall examine the trend in selling pr ices for the product on the domestic market,
as well as the performance that could reasonably have been expected in the light of fluctuations in theexchange rate and the performance of price indices in the economy, in order to determine whether the
imports have depressed prices or have prevented price increases that otherwise would have occurred.
(d) The trend in the volume of inventories, in absolute terms and relative to sales and domestic
production;
(e) Financial statements of the producing enterprise and for the production line of the product
investigated.  Where it is not possible to obtain in formation on the production line, the impact shall beG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 9
measured in relation to the production of the narrowest group or range of products that includes the
like or directly competitive domestic product;
(h) Direct or indirect labour used on the production line or for the more restricted group or range,
measured in terms of the number of workers and the amount of wages.
Paragraph.  The absence of negative trends or the presence of positive trends in one or more
of the factors referred to in this provision does not constitute a decisive criterion.
Article 21.  Threat of serious injury .  In determining a threat of serious injury caused by
imports, the following shall be considered in additio n to the imminent effects on the factors referred to
in the preceding Article:
1. The possibility of an increase in imports due inter alia to the existence of a supply or
sales contract, the award of a tender, an irrevocable offer or other similar contract.
2. An increase in the export capacity of the country of origin due to increased utilization
of installed capacity for the product investigated or an increase in inventories.
3. The likelihood that the exports resulting fro m this increased potential capacity in the
exporting country will be exported to the Colombian market.
4. The existence of letters of credit for the payment abroad of imports of the product
investigated.
Paragraph.  The absence of negative trends or the presence of positive trends in one or more
of the factors referred to in this provision does not constitute a decisive criterion.
Article 22.  Period for the evaluation of serious injury or threat of serious injury .  The
evaluation of the factors referred to in the preceding Articles shall include the period mentioned in the
paragraph in Article 7 of this Decree.
Article 23.  Causal link .  A safeguard measure shall only be adopted where, on the basis of
objective evidence, the investigation shows that there is a causal link between increased imports of theproduct concerned and the serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry.
Where factors other than those related to the imports are causing injury to the domestic
industry, their impact shall not be attributed to increased imports.
CHAPTER IV
Procedure for the Adoption of Safeguard Measures
Article 24.  Adoption of safeguard measures .  After the investigation pursuant to Chapters II
and III of this Decree has been terminated, the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Comm ittee shall
consider the technical report submitted by INCOMEX within fifteen (15) working days following the
date of its receipt by the Technical Secretariat and shall make a recommendation to the Higher
Council for Foreign Trade.
Where the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee considers that the criteria for the
adoption of the measure have been met, it shall request the Ministry of Foreign Trade to hold the
consultations referred to in this Decree.  If it cons iders that the criteria have not been met, it shall
recommend to the Higher Council for Foreign Trad e that it should not adopt or recommend the
measure, depending on the type of safeguard.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 10
After the consultations referred to in the preceding paragraph have been held, the Ministry of
Foreign Trade shall transmit the findings to the High er Council for Foreign Trade, together with the
recommendation of the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, so that, subject to its
evaluation, a quantitative safeguard may be adopted or a recommendation made to the ColombianGovernment to adopt a tariff safeguard.
Where the Higher Council for Foreign Trade disagrees with the negative recommendation by
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, it shall request the Ministry of Foreign Trade to
hold the consultations provided for in the second paragraph of this Article.
If the Higher Council for Foreign Trade decides not to apply a quantitative safeguard measure
or to recommend to the Colombian Government the application of a tariff safeguard, it shall inform
the interested parties accordingly in writing, through the Secretary of the Council, within five (5)
working days following its decision.
Article 25.  Type of measure .  A safeguard measure shall be applied only to the extent
necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry and
to facilitate adjustment.
The safeguard measure applied shall preferably be a tariff increase and a quantitative
restriction shall be applied to the product investigated only if it is not possible to apply a tariffincrease.
The measures adopted shall allow the level of concessions granted by Colombia under
Article II of the GATT 1994 to be exceeded.  The meas ures shall be such as to facilitate adjustment of
the domestic industry concerned so that the economic and social benefits exceed the costs of themeasure.
Article 26.  Quantitative restrictions .  Where the safeguard measure adopted is in the form of
a quantitative restriction, the following obligations shall be taken into account:
(a) Quota volume.  A quantitative restriction shall not reduce the volume of imports below the
average level of imports over the last three years representative of trade flows for which statistics areavailable, unless it can be shown that a different level is necessary to prevent or remedy the serious
injury;
(b) In cases in which a quota is allocated among supplying countries, the allocation of shares in
the quota may be agreed with Members having a substantial interest in supplying the productconcerned.  In cases in which this method is not reasonably practicable, shares shall be allotted to
supplying Members having a substantial interest in supplying the product based upon the proportions
of the total quantity or value of imports of the product supplied by each Member during the
representative period, due account being taken of any special factors which may have affected or may
be affecting the trade in the product.
Exceptionally and subject to consultation with exporting Members that have a substantial
interest, under the auspices of the WTO Committee on Safeguards, a different form of allotting shares
may be used if it can be demonstrated that:
(i) Imports from certain Members have increased in a disproportionate percentage in
relation to the total increase of imports of the product investigated in the
representative period;
(ii) there are justified reasons for making an exception;  andG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 11
(iii) the conditions of distribution are equitable to all suppliers of the product investigated.
This exception may not be applied in cases of threat of serious injury.
Paragraph.  The criteria for allotting import quotas regulated in this Article shall be
established in the Decision on applying the measure.
Article 27.  Duration of the measure .  Safeguard measures shall only be applied for such
period of time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury or threat thereof and to
facilitate adjustment of the domestic industry concerned.  The period shall not exceed four (4) years,
including the period of application of any provisional measure, unless it is extended pursuant to thefollowing Article.
In any event, the total period of application of a safeguard measure including the period of
application of any provisional measure, the period  of initial application and any extension thereof
shall not exceed eight (8) years.
Article 28.  Requirements for extending the measure .  At the request of a significant
proportion of the domestic industry affected, the pe riod of application of a safeguard measure may be
extended provided that another investigation is held  according to the procedure laid down in this Title,
that there are grounds for continuing to impose the safeguard measure in order to prevent or remedythe serious injury or threat thereof, and that there is evidence that the domestic industry is adjusting.
A request for extension shall be submitted six months before the expiry of the term of the
safeguard measure being applied and the relevant provisions of this Decree concerning the level of
concessions, notifications and consultations shall be observed.
Any safeguard measure extended may not be more restrictive than the measure applied at the
end of the initial period and shall continue to be  liberalized in accordance with Article 32 of this
Decree.
Article 29.  Period of non-application of a measure .  A safeguard measure may be applied to
import of a product which has been subject to such a measure only after the expiry of a periodcorresponding to that during which such measure had been previously applied, provided that this is at
least two (2) years.
Notwithstanding the above, a safeguard measure with a duration of 180 days or less may be
applied again to the import of a product if:
(a) One year has elapsed since the date of introduction of the measure;  and(b) a safeguard measure has not been applied on the same product more than twice in the
five-year period immediately preceding the date of introduction of the measure.
Article 30.  Mid-term review .  When a safeguard measure is adopted for an initial period
exceeding three years, half way through the period of application of the measure, INCOMEX shall ex
officio review the situation, including trends in the factors that determined the serious injury or threat
thereof, in order to establish whether it is necessary to maintain the measure, withdraw it or increasethe pace of liberalization.
For this purpose, within the 30 working days prior to the mid-term of the safeguard measure,
INCOMEX shall request the producers identified in the initial application to submit  inter alia  the
following information:G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 12
(a) Import trends over the last three years (volume, price and country of origin) for which
information is available;
(b) information on production levels, utilization of installed capacity, inventories,
productivity, sales and prices on the domestic market, domestic market share, profit
and loss accounts, and employment for the previous three calendar years and the
quarters of the current year completed one month before the request for information;
(c) detailed information on the adjustment or modernization programme adopted or being
implemented by each producer.
Depending on the circumstances, INCOMEX may request additional relevant information in
order to establish whether it is necessary to mainta in the safeguard, withdraw it or increase the pace of
liberalization.
Within the following 30 working days, the ente rprises concerned shall submit the information
requested and the supporting evidence and shall request the information and evidence they deem
necessary.  They shall also identify the information they consider confidential, giving their reasons for
doing so.
Where it deems necessary, INCOMEX shall hold a hearing or shall visit the facilities of the
domestic producers it considers relevant, notifying its intention and purpose at least 15 calendar days
before the hearing or visit.
Within 45 working days following receipt of the information or the conduct of the hearing or
visit mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as appropriate, INCOMEX shall carry out its evaluationin order to determine whether or not the measure should be maintained or withdrawn or the pace of
liberalization increased.
The findings of the evaluation, together with the corresponding recommendation, shall be
transmitted to the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee.  Where the Committee considers
that the measure should be withdrawn or modified to increase the pace of liberalization, it shall make
a recommendation to the Higher Council for Foreign Trade which, if it deems it relevant, shall applythe measure, in the case of a quantitative safeguard, or recommend its adoption to the Colombian
Government, in the case of a tariff safeguard.
Article 31.  Evaluation of the adjustment programme .  During the investigation or the
mid-term review, INCOMEX and the Ministry re sponsible for the product in question, where
appropriate with the support of experts in competition, shall evaluate the adjustment programme
submitted pursuant to the paragraph in Article 10 of this Decree, and may propose amendments
thereto.
Verification of compliance with the adjustment programme proposed by the applicant shall be
a necessary requirement for extension of the measure applied.
Article 32.  Gradual liberalization of the measure .  In order to facilitate adjustment in a
situation where the expected duration of a safeguar d measure is over one year, the measure shall be
progressively liberalized at regular intervals during the period of application.
The pace of liberalization of measures shall be specified in the administrative act adopting
them, taking into account the period necessary to prevent or remedy the serious injury and facilitate
adjustment, as well as the possibilities of extending the measure.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 13
CHAPTER V
Provisional Safeguard Measure
Article 33.  Application requirements .  In critical circumstances where delay would cause
injury which the domestic industry producing the like or directly competitive product would find it
difficult to repair, a provisional safeguard measure may be adopted pursuant to a preliminary
determination that there is clear evidence that increased imports have caused or are threatening to
cause serious injury.
A preliminary determination of critical circumstances shall be based on clear evidence that
there has been a substantial increase in imports over the last six (6) months for which statistics areavailable, taking into account their volume and whether or not there has been a rapid accumulation of
inventories of the domestic product and a reduction in sales and profit margins.
Article 34.  Adoption of the measure .  Within a period of fifteen (15) working days from the
date of official receipt of the application, INCOMEX shall submit a technical report to the Customs,Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee describing the circumstances specified in the preceding Article
and making the relevant recommendation.
The Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee shall consider the technical report
submitted by INCOMEX within ten (10) working days following its receipt by the TechnicalSecretariat and shall make a recommendation to the Higher Council for Foreign Trade on adoption of
the measure.
After having received the recommendation of the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade
Committee, the Higher Council for Foreign Trade, after review, shall decide whether or not torecommend the adoption of a tariff safeguard to the Colombian Government.
If the Higher Council for Foreign Trade decides not to recommend the application of a
measure to the Colombian Government, it shall info rm the interested parties accordingly in writing
through the Secretary of the Council within five (5) working days following its decision.
Article 35. Type of measure .  Provisional safeguard measures shall be in tariff form.
Article 36.  Duration .  A provisional safeguard measure shall remain in effect until a
definitive safeguard measure is adopted or it is decided not to impose one.  Its duration shall not in
any case exceed 200 calendar days.  During this period, the investigation shall continue as provided in
this Title in order to decide whether or not a definitive safeguard measure should be imposed.
The duration of a provisional safeguard measure shall be added to the initial period of
application of the definitive measure.
Article 37.  Deposit of security .  If it is decided to adopt a provisional safeguard measure,
importers when making their import declaration may decide to pay the customs duties applied under
the measure or deposit security with the National Customs and Excise Directorate (DIAN) to
guarantee payment.  The security shall be for the period indicated in the decision adopting the
measure and shall be in accordance with the provisions of the relevant customs regulations.
At the end of the investigation, if it is decided not to adopt a definitive safeguard measure, the
National Customs and Excise Directorate shall order the discharge of the security or the return of the
customs duties paid when the provisional safeguard measure was applied, pursuant to Title III of
Decree 1909 of 1992 or the regulations which replace, amend or revise them.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 14
CHAPTER VI
Level of Concessions and Consultations
Article 38 Level of concessions and other obligations. If the Government proposes to apply a
safeguard measure, it shall endeavour to maintain a substantially equivalent level of concessions and
other obligations to that existing under GATT 1994 with the exporting Members which would be
affected by such a measure.  To achieve this objective, the Government may, through the Ministry of
Foreign Trade, reach agreement with the Members concerned on any adequate means of trade
compensation for the adverse effects of the measure on their trade.
Article 39.  Consultations .  Without prejudice to the consultations referred to in Article 26 of
this Decree, if the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee recommends the application or
extension of a safeguard measure, the Ministry of Foreign Trade shall have a period of thirty (30)
days in which to hold consultations with the exporting Members that have a substantial interest in
order to consider the evidence of serious injury or threat thereof, to exchange views on the measure
and to seek an understanding on ways of concluding the trade compensation agreements referred to inthe preceding Article.
If a provisional safeguard measure is adopted, the consultations shall commence immediately
following its adoption.
When the time-limit for holding consultations has expired, the Government, after having
heard the views of the Higher Council for Foreign Trade, may adopt the safeguard measure it deems
appropriate even if there is no agreement with the exporting Members.
CHAPTER VI
Notification to the World Trade Organization
Article 40.  Notification to the Committee on Safeguards .  The Ministry of Foreign Trade
shall notify the following to the WTO Committee on Safeguards:
(a) The initiation of an investigation;
(b) A finding of serious injury or threat thereof;
(c) The Colombian Government's decision to apply or extend a safeguard measure.
Within five (5) working days following publication of the relevant decision, the
Ministry of Foreign Trade shall transmit a copy of the administrative act adopting or
extending the safeguard measure, together with additional information containingevidence of the serious injury or threat thereof caused by increased imports; the
proposed measure, the date of its introduction, its planned duration and the timetable
for its progressive liberalization.  In the case of an extension, it shall also furnish
evidence that the domestic industry is adjusting.
(d) A decision by the Colombian Government to impose a provisional measure shall be
notified prior to its adoption;
(e) The outcome of the consultations referred to in Articles 26 and 39 of this Decree and,
where appropriate, the agreed compensation or the suspension of concessions or other
obligations.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 15
Article 41.  Notification to the Council for Trade in Goods .  The Ministry of Foreign Trade
shall notify the following to the Council for Trade in Goods, through the WTO Committee on
Safeguards:
1. The outcome of the consultations referred to in Article 39 of this Decree;2. trade compensation agreements;3. suspension of concessions and other obligations.Article 42.  Prohibition on disclosing confidential information .  The notifications referred to
in this Chapter shall not oblige the competent authority to disclose confidential information.
TITLE II
TRANSITIONAL SAFEGUARDS FOR PRODUCTS COVERED BY
THE AGREEMENT ON TEXTILES AND CLOTHING
CHAPTER I
General Principles
Article 43.  Scope of application.   Transitional safeguards shall apply to the products
identified in Annex 1 to the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing that have not been integrated
into GATT 1994 through notification by the Government to the WTO Textiles Monitoring Body.
Article 44.  Definitions .  For the purposes of this Title, the following definitions shall apply:
"Serious damage".  A significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry;"Threat of serious damage".  The clear imminence of serious damage."Domestic industry".  The producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive products
operating in Colombia or those whose collective output of the like or directly competitive products
constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of these products;
"Major proportion of domestic industry".  For the purposes of submitting an application, the
major proportion of domestic industry shall be taken to mean at least 25 per cent thereof in terms ofthe volume of production of the like or directly competitive products in comparison with the imported
product.  Nevertheless, for the purpose of initiating the investigation, the percentage shall be 50 per
cent.
In the case of highly concentrated industries in which an exceptionally low number of
producers represent 50 per cent or more of the domestic industry, for the purposes of submitting an
application and initiating an investigation, the re maining producers may be deemed to constitute a
major proportion of domestic industry.
In the case of fragmented industries involving an exceptionally large number of producers, for
the purposes of submitting an application and initiating an investigation, INCOMEX may determine
the major proportion by using statistically valid sampling techniques.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 16
"Like product".  A product which is identical, i.e. alike in all respects to the imported product
or another product which, although not alike in all respects, has characteristics closely resembling
those of the product imported.
"Directly competitive product".  A product whose physical characteristics and composition
differ from those of the imported product but which fulfils the same functions, meets the same needs
and is commercially substitutable.
"Member".  Any Member of the World Trade Organization."WTO".  The World Trade Organization.
"Interested parties".  The applicant, other Colo mbian producers, trade or business associations
a majority of the members of which are producers of the product under investigation, foreign
producers, exporters, importers, governments of exporting or producing countries, consumers or their
associations.
"INCOMEX".  Colombian Foreign Trade Institute.
Article 45.  Article 5 of this Decree shall apply to the transitional safeguards referred to in this
Title.
Article 46.  Requirements for application of transitional safeguard measures .  A transitional
safeguard measure may be adopted when it is demonstrated that a particular product is being imported
in such quantities as to cause serious damage or threat thereof to the domestic industry producing like
and/or directly competitive products.  Serious damage or threat thereof must demonstrably be caused
by such increased quantities in total imports of that product and not by such other factors astechnological changes or changes in consumer preference.
Paragraph.  The transitional safeguard shall be applied as sparingly as possible, consistently
with the provisions of this Title.
Article 47.  Discriminatory nature of the measure .  A transitional safeguard shall only be
applied to imports from the Member or Members to which the serious damage or threat thereof maybe attributed.
Article 48.  Interests of exporting Members .  Pursuant to Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on
Textiles and Clothing, the application of a transitional safeguard shall take into account the interests
of exporting Members as set out below:
(a) Least-developed country Members shall be accorded treatment significantly more
favourable than that provided to the ot her groups of Members referred to in this
Article, preferably in all its elements but, at least, on overall terms;
(b) Members whose total volume of textile and clothing exports is small in comparison
with the total volume of exports of other Members and who account for only a small
percentage of total imports of that product into the importing Member shall be
accorded differential and more favourable treatment in the fixing of the conditions for
quantitative restrictions.  For those suppliers, due account will be taken of the futurepossibilities for the development of thei r trade and the need to allow commercial
quantities of imports from them;
(c) With respect to wool products from wool-producing developing countries whose
economy and textiles and clothing trade are dependent on the wool sector, whoseG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 17
total textile and clothing exports consist almost exclusively of wool products, and
whose volume of textiles and clothing trade is comparatively small in the markets of
the importing Members, special consideration shall be given to the export needs of
such Members when considering quota levels, growth rates and flexibility;
(d) More favourable treatment shall be accorded to re-imports by a Member of textile and
clothing products which that Member has exported to another Member for processing
and subsequent re-importation, when these products are imported from a Member for
which this type of trade represents a significant proportion of its total exports of
textiles and clothing.
The more favourable treatment referred to in this Article may consist of the adoption of a
measure for a shorter period than that applied to other parties on which it is imposed, or in the case of
quantitative restrictions a volume higher than that provided in the third paragraph of Article 69 of this
Decree, or any other appropriate method.
CHAPTER II
Investigation Procedure
Article 49.  Initiation of the procedure.  At the request of a major proportion of domestic
industry or on its behalf through its representative association, subject to fulfilment of therequirements listed in the following Article, IN COMEX shall carry out the relevant investigation.
The application shall be submitted to the General-Directorate of INCOMEX or to its regional  or
branch offices.
Article 50.  Application requirements . The application referred to in the preceding Article
shall be submitted in writing and shall contain the following information:
(a) Identification of the applicant;
(b) Proof that it represents a major proportion of the domestic industry concerned;
(c) Detailed description of the domestic product and the imported product showing their
tariff classification;
(d) Proof that an imported product is alike to or directly competes with the domestic
product;
(e) Detailed information (volume, price and country of origin) on import trends over the
previous three years up until the two months immediately prior to the month in whichthe application is submitted.  Import statistics shall be based on the information
provided by the DIAN and, if these are not available, on the import registers kept by
INCOMEX or any other similar evidence appropriate to the circumstances.  These
data should be based on the statistical information available;
(f) Information on output, utilization of installed capacity, inventories, market share,
sales, domestic prices, exports, profits, in vestment, employment and wages during the
period referred to in subparagraph (e) of this Article. Financial statements shall be
drawn up in accordance with the national accounting standards applicable;
(g) Elements which show the causal link between the increase in imports and the serious
damage to the domestic industry or threat thereof;G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 18
(h) If a threat of serious damage is claimed, information shall be provided on a possible
increase in imports due, for example, to the existence of a supply contract, the award
of a tender or an irrevocable offer, or as a consequence of export capacity in the
country of origin, i.e. an increase in or surplus of installed capacity or an increase in
inventories of the like or directly competitive product and the likelihood that theexports resulting from this increased pote ntial capacity in the exporting country will
be exported to the Colombian market;
(i) Submission of supporting evidence and request for the collection of evidence deemed
necessary;
(j) Offer to submit to the authorities any additional documents they might require, to
facilitate verification of the information supplied and to cooperate in the
investigation;
(k) Identification and justification of confidential information, and a non-confidential
summary thereof.
Article 51. Submission of the application .  The application shall be submitted in two (2)
copies signed by the legal representative(s) or the attorney(s) of the applicant(s).
One copy of the application shall be placed in the public and the other in the confidential file.Article 52. Receipt of the application .  Within five (5) working days from the date of
submission of the application, INCOMEX shall notify the applicants of the official receipt of the
application, indicating that it meets the requirements set out in the preceding Articles.
Where INCOMEX finds that information listed in  the preceding Article is lacking, it shall
request the applicant to provide this information.  This request shall be made in writing and shall
interrupt the period established in the preceding pa ragraph until the missing information is provided.
If after (2) two months following the request th e additional information has not been supplied,
the applicant shall be considered to have withdrawn the application and an order will be issued for it
to be filed, without prejudice to the submission of a new application.
Article 53 .  Conclusions of the investigation .  Within forty (40) working days following the
official receipt of the application, INCOMEX shall terminate the investigation, drawing up a report
containing its findings regarding the existence of serious damage or threat thereof and its attribution to
a particular Member or Members of the WTO.  For these purposes, INCOMEX may carry outverification visits in order to verify the information on which the report's findings are based.
Within fifteen (15) working days following the date of its receipt by the Technical Secretariat,
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee shall examine the technical report submitted by
INCOMEX in order to determine whether the imports  have caused or threaten to cause serious
damage to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products.
Where the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee considers that the criteria for the
adoption of the measure have been met, it shall request the Ministry of Foreign Trade to hold the
consultations referred to in Articles 63 and 64 of this Decree and shall recommend the adoption of themeasure to the Higher Council for Foreign Trade.  If it considers that the criteria have not been met, it
shall recommend to the Council that it should not adopt the measure.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 19
Where the Higher Council for Foreign Trade disagrees with a negative recommendation by
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, it shall request the Ministry of Foreign Trade to
hold the consultations provided in the third paragraph of this Article.
If the Higher Council for Foreign Trade decides not to apply a quantitative safeguard
measure, it shall inform the interested parties a ccordingly in writing, through the Secretary of the
Council, within five (5) working days following its decision.
CHAPTER Ill
Determination of Serious Damage or Threat of Serious Damage
Article 54.  Import trends .  INCOMEX shall examine the rate of growth and the volume of
imports both in absolute terms and relative to the domestic industry and apparent domestic
consumption.  It shall also take into account the price of imports and the share of the domestic market
taken by increased imports.
Article 55.  Determination of serious damage.   In determining whether imports of a product
have increased in such volume or under such conditions as to cause serious damage to the domestic
industry, INCOMEX shall evaluate the effect of those imports on the state of the domestic industry
taking into account the following economic variables:
(a) Trend in output in absolute terms and relative to sales and domestic consumption;
(b) productivity trends;(c) trend in the utilization of installed capacity;(d)     trend in sales on the domestic market;(e)     trend in domestic prices;(f)     share of the domestic market;
(g) trend in inventories;
(h) profit and loss accounts;(i) trend in investment;(j) trend in employment;(k) trend in wages.
Paragraph.  The absence of negative trends or the presence of positive trends in one or more
of the factors referred to in this provision does not constitute a decisive criterion.
Article 56.  Determination of the threat of serious damage .  In determining a threat of serious
damage caused by imports, the following shall be considered in addition to the imminent effects onthe factors referred to in the preceding Article:
 
(a) The possibility of an increase in imports due to the existence of a supply contract, the
award of a tender, an irrevocable offer or the existence of a sales contract;  andG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 20
(b) the export capacity in the country of origin, i.e. whether there has been an increase or
surplus in installed or utilized capacity or an increase in inventories of the like or
directly competitive product, and the likelihood that the exports resulting from this
increased potential capacity in the exporting country will be exported to the
Colombian market.
Paragraph.  The absence of negative trends or the presence of positive trends in one or more
of the factors referred to in this provision does not constitute a decisive criterion.
Article 57 .  Period for the evaluation of serious damage or threat of serious damage .  The
factors indicated in Articles 54, 55 and 56 of this Decree shall be evaluated taking into account the
period mentioned in the paragraph in Article 7 of this Decree.
Article 58.  Causal link . A safeguard measure shall only be adopted where the investigation
shows that there is a causal link between the increase in total imports of the product concerned and the
serious damage to the domestic industry or threat thereof and that this damage is not attributable to
other factors such as technological chan ge or changes in consumer preference.
Article 59.  Attribution of damage . Damage or threat thereof referred to in Articles 55 and 56
of this Decree shall be attributed on the basis of a sharp and substantial increase in imports, actual or
imminent, from each exporting Member individually, on the basis of the level of imports as compared
with imports from other sources, market share, and import and domestic prices at a comparable stageof commercial transaction.
The imminent increase shall be measurable and shall not be determined on the basis of
allegation, conjecture or remote possibility resulting, for example, from the production capacity
existing in the exporting Members.
CHAPTER IV
Provisional Safeguard Measures
Article 60.  Application Requirements .  In critical circumstances where delay would cause
damage which the domestic industry producing the like or directly competitive product would find itdifficult to repair, a provisional safeguard measure may be adopted pursuant to a preliminary
determination that there is clear evidence that increased imports have caused or are threatening to
cause serious damage.
A preliminary determination of critical circumstances shall be based on clear evidence that
there has been a substantial increase in imports over the last six (6) months for which statistics are
available, taking into account their volume and whether or not there has been a rapid accumulation of
inventories of the domestic product and a reduction in sales and profit margins.
Article 61.  Adoption of the measure.   Within a period of fifteen (15) working days from the
date of official receipt of the application, INCOMEX shall submit a technical report to the Customs,
Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee describing the circumstances specified in the preceding Article
and making the relevant recommendation.
The Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee shall consider the technical report
submitted by INCOMEX within fifteen (15) working days following its receipt by the Technical
Secretariat in order to verify the circumstances re ferred to in the preceding Article and consequently
to decide on the recommendation to be made to the Higher Council for Foreign Trade concerning the
adoption of the measure.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 21
After having received the recommendation of the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade
Committee, the Higher Council for Foreign Trade, after review, shall decide whether or not to
recommend the adoption of a quantitative safeguard measure.
If the Higher Council for Foreign Trade decides not to adopt a quantitative safeguard
measure, it shall inform the interested parties a ccordingly in writing, through the Secretary of the
Council, within five (5) working days following its decision.
Article 62.  Duration .  A provisional safeguard measure shall remain in effect until a
definitive safeguard measure is adopted or it is decided not to impose one.
The duration of a provisional safeguard measure shall be added to the initial period of
application of the definitive measure.
CHAPTER V
Consultations and Notification
Article 63. Request for consultations.  Where it is determined according to the procedure
specified in this Title that there is serious damage  or threat thereof, within ten (10) working days
following the recommendation by the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, the Ministry of
Foreign Trade shall request consultations with exporting Members liable to be affected by themeasure.  Where a provisional safeguard measure is adopted, consultations with exporting Members
shall be requested within five (5) days following adoption of the measure.
The request for consultations shall be accompanied by the following information:
(a) The effects of the imports on the domestic industry in relation to output, productivity,
utilization of installed capacity, inventories, market share, exports, wages,
employment, profits and investment;
(b) the basis for attributing the damage notified to the Member, in particular, the increase
in imports from such Member, compared with the trend in imports from other
sources, market share and import prices;  and
(c) the measure proposed, indicating the level of the restriction, the duration and the
annual increase.
Article 64.  Consultations .  Within sixty (60) days following the request for consultations by
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Trade, together with
INCOMEX, shall hold bilateral consultations with the exporting Members affected by the measure so
as to review the situation and set an appropriate level of restrictions.
If, in the consultations, there is mutual understanding that the situation calls for restraint on
imports from a particular exporting Member, the level of such restraint shall be fixed at a level not
lower than the actual level of exports or imports from the Member concerned during the 12-month
period terminating two months preceding the month in which the request for consultation was made.
Article 65.  Adoption of the measure .  Following the consultations referred to in this Chapter,
the Ministry of Foreign Trade shall transmit its findings to the Higher Council for Foreign Trade,
together with the recommendation by the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, so that after
review, the Council may determine whether or not to apply a transitional safeguard.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 22
In any event, the period of validity of any determination of the existence of serious damage or
actual threat thereof, for the purposes of applying a transitional safeguard measure shall expire 90
days after the date of the request for consultations referred to in Article 63 of this Decree.
Article 66. Notification of the measures . The Ministry of Foreign Trade shall notify the
following to the Textiles Monitoring Body of the WTO:
(a) The request for consultations, together with the information referred to in Article 63
of this Decree, within five (5) days following its submission;
(b) The agreement with one or more exporting Members on the measure to be adopted,
within sixty (60) calendar days following the date of application of the measure orwithin any reasonable period agreed with the exporting Member;
(c) If no agreement is reached, the measure shall be notified within sixty (60) calendar
days following the date of its application.  The Textiles Monitoring Body shall
conduct an examination of the matter and make appropriate recommendations within30 days;
(d) The provisional measure within five (5) days following its adoption.  In this case, the
notification shall include the measure adopted and the request for consultations,
together with the information referred to in Article 63 of this Decree;
(e) The agreement reached as a result of the consultations held on the adoption of a
provisional safeguard measure, within ninety (90) days following the date of its
application.  The Textiles Monitoring Body may make such recommendations as itdeems appropriate.
CHAPTER  VI
Transitional Safeguard Measures
Article 67.  Type of safeguard measure .  A transitional measure shall be in the form of a
quantitative restriction.
Article 68.  Duration .  A safeguard measure may be adopted for up to three years without
extension.  The measure shall no longer apply if the product is integrated into GATT 1994 if this
occurs before the expiry of the period for which it was adopted.
Article 69.  Level of the quantitative restriction .  A quantitative restriction shall not be lower
than the volume of imports during the 12-month period terminating two months preceding the month
in which the request for consultation referred to in Article 63 of this Decree was made.
Should the restraint measure remain in force for a period exceeding one year, the level for
subsequent years shall be the level specified for the first year increased by a growth rate of not less
than 6 per cent per annum, unless otherwise justified to the Textiles Monitoring Body.  The restraint
level for the product concerned may be exceeded in either year of any two subsequent years by carry-
forward and/or carry-over of 10 per cent of which carry-forward shall not represent more than five percent.  No quantitative limits shall be placed on the combined use of carry-over, carry-forward and the
provision in the following paragraph.
When the measure covers more than one product from another Member of the WTO, the level
of restraint agreed for each of these products may be exceeded by 7 per cent, provided that the totalG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 23
exports subject to restraint do not exceed the total of the levels for all products so restrained on the
basis of agreed common units.  Where the periods of application of restraints of these products do not
coincide with each other, this provision should be applied to any overlapping period on a pro rata
basis.
For the purposes of this Article, the provisions on preferential treatment under Article 48 of
this Decree shall be taken into account.
TITLE III
Special Safeguards for Agricultural Products
Article 70.  Special safeguards .  Special safeguards for agricultural products are an additional
duty applied pursuant to the provisions of Articl e 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture in Law 170 of
1994, which allows the tariff duties bound in the first part of the Schedule of Concessions annexed to
GATT 1994 to be exceeded.
Article 71.  Requirements for applying a special safeguard measure .  Import of an
agricultural product listed in the first part of the Schedule of Concessions annexed to GATT 1994 and
designated in the Schedule with the symbol "SSG" as being the subject of a concession in respect of
which the provisions of Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture annexed to the Agreement
Establishing the WTO, approved by Law 170 of 1994, may be invoked, may only be the subject ofadditional duties in the following cases:
1. If the volume of imports of this product entering Colombian customs territory during
any year exceeds a trigger level which relates to the existing market access
opportunities pursuant to Article 74 of this Decree, or, but not concurrently;
2. if the price at which imports of this product may enter Colombian customs territory,
determined on the basis of the c.i.f. import price of the shipment concerned expressed
in terms of its domestic currency, falls below a trigger price equal to the average
1986-1988 reference price for the product concerned.
Paragraph 1.  The reference price used to invoke the provisions of this Article shall, in
general, be the average c.i.f. unit value of the product concerned, or otherwise shall be an appropriate
price in terms of the quality of the product and its stage of processing.
It shall, following its initial use, be publicly specified and available to the extent necessary to
allow other Members of the WTO to assess the additional duty that may be levied.
Paragraph 2.  Where measures are taken in conformity with Article 5 of the Agreement on
Agriculture, annexed to the Agreement Establishing the WTO, approved by Law 170 of 1994, there
shall be no recourse in respect of such measures to the provisions of paragraphs 1(a) and 3 of
Article XIX of GATT 1994 or paragraph 2 of  Article 8 of the Agreement on Safeguards.
Article 72.  Imports under access commitments .  Imports under current and minimum access
commitments established as part of a concession referred to in the first paragraph of the preceding
Article shall be counted for the purpose of determining the volume of imports required for invoking
the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 71 and Article 74, but shall not be affected by any additionalduty imposed under either the aforementioned provisions or those set out in paragraph 2 of Article 71
and in Article 75 of this Decree.
Article 73.  Future imports.   Any supplies of the product subject to the safeguard measure
which were en route  on the basis of a contract settled before the additional duty is imposed underG/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 24
paragraph 1 of Article 71 and Article 74 of this Decree shall be exempted from any such additional
duty.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, they may be counted in the volume of imports of the product in
question during the following year for the purposes of triggering the provisions of paragraph 1 of
Article 71 of this Decree in that year.
CHAPTER II
Application of Safeguard Measures
Article 74.   Application of a special safeguard measure by volume .  Any additional duty
imposed under paragraph 1 of Article 71 of this Decree may only be levied at a level which shall not
exceed one third of the level of the ordinary custom s duty in effect in the year in which the action is
taken.  The trigger level shall be set according to the following schedule based on market access
opportunities defined as imports as a percentage of the corresponding domestic consumption during
the three preceding years for which data are available:
1. Where such market access opportunities for a product are less than or equal to 10 per
cent, the base trigger level shall equal 125 per cent.
2. Where such market access opportunities for a product are greater than 10 per cent but
less than or equal to 30 per cent, the base trigger level shall equal 110 per cent.
3. Where such market access opportunities for a product are greater than 30 per cent, the
base trigger level shall equal 105 per cent.
In all cases the additional duty may be imposed in any year where the absolute volume of
imports of the product concerned entering Colombian customs territory exceeds the sum of (x) the
base trigger level set out in this Article multiplied by the average quantity of imports during the three
preceding years for which data are available and (y) the absolute volume change in domestic
consumption of the product concerned in the most recent year for which data are available compared
to the preceding year, provided that the trigger level shall not be less than 105 per cent of the average
quantity of imports in (x) above.
Paragraph.  Where domestic consumption is not taken into account, the base trigger level
under paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply.
Article 75.  Application of a special safeguard by price.   The additional duty imposed under
paragraph 2 of Article 71 of this Decree shall be set according to the following schedule:
1. If the difference between the c.i.f. import price of the shipment expressed in terms of
the domestic currency (hereinafter referred to as the "import price") and the trigger
price as defined under that paragraph is less than or equal to 10 per cent of the trigger
price, no additional duty shall be imposed.
2. If the difference between the import price and the trigger price (hereinafter referred to
as the "difference") is greater than 10 per cent but less than or equal to 40 per cent of
the trigger price, the additional duty shall equal 30 per cent of the amount by which
the difference exceeds 10 per cent.
3. If the difference is greater than 40 per cent but less than or equal to 60 per cent of the
trigger price, the additional duty shall equal 50 per cent of the amount by which the
difference exceeds 40 per cent, plus the additional duty allowed under paragraph 2.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Page 25
4. If the difference is greater than 60 per cent but less than or equal to 75 per cent, the
additional duty shall equal 70 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeds
60 per cent of the trigger price, plus the additional duties allowed under paragraphs 2
and 3.
5. If the difference is greater than 75 per cent of the trigger price, the additional duty
shall equal 90 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeds 75 per cent,
plus the additional duties allowed under paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.
Article 76.  Perishable products .  For perishable and seasonal products, the conditions set out
in Articles 74 and 75 shall be applied in such a manner as to take account of the specific
characteristics of such products.  In particular, shorter time periods under paragraph 1 of Article 71and Article 74 may be used in reference to the corresponding periods in the base period and different
reference prices for different periods may be used under paragraph 2 of Article 71.
CHAPTER III
Duration of Special Safeguard Measures
Article 77.  Duration of special safeguard measures .  Any additional duty imposed under
paragraph 1 of Article 71 of this Decree shall only be maintained until the end of the year in which it
has been imposed.
CHAPTER IV
Notification and Consultations
Article 78.  Notification of the special safeguard .  The adoption of a special safeguard
measure by volume under paragraph 1 of Article 71 of this Decree shall be notified by the Ministry of
Foreign Trade in writing, including the relevant data, to the Committee on Agriculture of the WTO as
far in advance as may be practicable and in any ev ent within ten days following application of the
measure.
In cases where changes in consumption volumes must be allocated to individual tariff lines
subject to measures adopted under Article 74 of this Decree, relevant data shall include the
information and methods used to allocate these changes.
The adoption of any measure by price under paragraph 2 of Article 71 of this Decree shall be
notified in writing by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, including relevant data, to the Committee onAgriculture of the WTO within ten days of the application of the first such measure or, for perishable
and seasonal products, the first measure in any period.
Article 79.  Consultations prior to application of a special safeguard measure .  In adopting
safeguard measures under Article 71 of this Decree, interested Members shall be afforded theopportunity to hold consultations with Colombia in respect of the conditions of application of such
measures.
The adoption of any special safeguard measures by price, shall be notified in writing by the
Ministry of Foreign Trade including relevant data to the Committee on Agriculture of the WTOwithin ten days of the application of the first su ch measure or, for perishable and seasonal products,
the first measure in any period.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
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CHAPTER V
Procedure and Competence
Article 80.  Procedure .  A WTO special safeguard measure for agricultural products referred
to in this Title shall be applied immediately subject to compliance with the requirements laid down in
the preceding Articles.
Article 81.  Request for and consideration of special safeguard measures .  The adoption of a
special safeguard measure for agricultural products may be requested by interested private natural or
legal persons or by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Following submission of the application, INCOMEX, together with the Ministry of
Agriculture, shall examine it within a maximum period of 15 working days from the date of official
receipt.  If a safeguard measure is requested by interested parties, the application shall show that the
conditions laid down in Articles 71, 74 and 75 of this Decree for application of a special safeguard
have been met.
Article 82.  Adoption of measures .  Within the period mentioned above, INCOMEX, together
with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, shall make the relevant recommendation to
the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee for its consideration.
The Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee, after having considered the requirements
set out in this Title for the adoption of a measure, shall make a recommendation to the Higher Council
for Foreign Trade within the following ten working da ys so that the Council may consider it and make
a relevant recommendation to the Colombian Government.
If the request is made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it shall be
transmitted directly to the Customs, Tariffs and Foreign Trade Committee the purposes provided in
the preceding paragraph.
If the Higher Council for Foreign Trade decides not to recommend the application of a tariff
safeguard to the Government, it shall inform the inte rested parties accordingly in writing, through the
Secretary of the Council, within five (5) work ing days following the date of its decision.
TITLE IV
Dispute Settlement
Article 83.  Dispute settlement .  The provisions of Articles 23 and 24 of GATT 1994 and the
WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding shall apply to consultations and the settlement of disputes
arising under the Agreement on Safeguards.
TITLE V
Final Provisions
Article 84.  Exclusive application of safeguard measures.   An application to apply one of the
general or transitional safeguard measures for products covered by the Agreement on Textiles andClothing or a special safeguard measure for agricultural products, as provided in this Decree, shall
automatically exclude the possibility of requesting application of any other form of safeguard
provided in this Decree.G/SG/N/1/COL/2
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Article 85.  Publication and disclosure of decisions .  Decisions taken in application of this
Decree shall be published in the INCOMEX chapter of the Ministry of Foreign Trade Gazette, and
Decrees in the Official Gazette.
INCOMEX shall transmit copies of the administ rative acts referred to in the preceding
paragraphs to known interested parties.
Article 86.  Repeal clause.   This Decree repeals Decree 809 of 1994 as far as the Member
countries of the World Trade Organization are concerned, as well as any other provisions that are
inconsistent.
Article 87.  Entry into force.   This Decree shall enter into force on the date of  publication.
For publication and implementation.Done at Santa Fe de Bogotá on 22 January 1998.
Carlos Lemos Simmonds
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Credit, responsible for the functioning of the Office
of the Minister for Finance and Public Credit.
Eduardo Fernández Delgado
Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development
Antonio Gómez Merlano
Minister for Foreign Trade
Carlos Ronderos Torres
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