RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/5
G/SCM/Q1/ZWE/5
ORGANIZATION 14March 1997
(97-1041)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5AND 32.6OFTHE AGREEMENTS
Replies ofZIMBABWE1
toQuestions posed bytheEUROPEAN COMMUNITY2,
HONG KONG3,JAPAN4andtheUNITED STATES5
Thefollowing communication, dated 10March 1997, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofZimbabwe.
_______________
REPLY TOQUESTION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
Thecountervailing dutylegislation ofZimbabwe consists ofonlyonesection e.g.Section 79
divided into4paragraphs andonesection ongeneral procedural issues. Could Zimbabwe explain
howitintends toapply theprovisions, suchasdefinition ofsubsidy, specificity requirements, calculation
ofsubsidy, etc.oftheWTO Subsidies Agreement inconducting countervailing dutyinvestigations?
Section 235oftheCustoms andExcise Actprovides forthemechanism. Itgives theMinister
power tomake suchregulations ashemaydeem expedient toprescribe anything tobeprescribed under
theprovisions ofthisAct,togiveforce oreffect totheActorforitsbetter administration. Regulations
maytherefore bemade todealwithsuchcases.
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS FROM HONG KONG
Questions
(a) What isthelegalstatus oftheAgreement inZimbabwe? Doesithavetheforceoflaw?
Ifthedomestic legislation isinconflict withtheAgreement, which willtakeprecedence?
Section III(b) oftheConstitution ofZimbabwe provides thatinternational agreements
donotformpartofourlawsunless incorporated intolawbyorunder anActofParliament.
Therefore theAgreements donothavetheforce oflaw.However, oncetheAgreements have
beenincorporated theyformpartofourlawsandtheywillbegiven effect to.Theyshallprevail
1G/ADP/N/1/ZWE/2-G/SCM/N/1/ZWE/2.
2G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/2-G/SCM/Q1/ZWE/2,3G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/4-G/SCM/Q1/ZWE/4,
4G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/3-G/SCM/Q1/ZWE/3,5G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/1-G/SCM/Q1/ZWE/1.G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/5
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evenwhen theyareinconflict withanyother lawincluding theCustoms andExcise Actitself,
section 102oftheAct.
(b) AretheA-Dofficials ofZimbabwe required, legally orotherwise, toobserve the
provisions oftheAgreement intheconduct ofA-Dproceedings, ortoconsult them,
forexample ontheinterpretation ofdomestic legislation?
No.
(c) What isthetimetable ofthereview andanysubsequent amendments tothedomestic
legislation?
Zimbabwe isintheprocess ofrevising itslawstoreflect theprovisions oftheA-D
Agreement. Wehavenoprecise indication ofwhen these revisions willbecompleted, itis
anon-going process.
(d) HowwillZimbabwe ensure compliance withtheAgreement before itslawsarebrought
intototalconformity withit?
Section 235oftheCustoms andExcise Actprovides forthemechanism. Itgives the
Minister power tomake suchregulations ashemaydeem expedient toprescribe anything to
beprescribed under theprovisions ofthisAct,togiveforce oreffect totheActorforitsbetter
administration. Regulations maytherefore bemade todealwithsuchcases.
2. What judicial review procedures hasZimbabwe putinplace inobservance ofitsobligations
under Article 13(Judicial Review) oftheAgreement?
Order 33,Rule256oftheHighCourt ofZimbabwe rules, provided forthereview ofdecisions
orproceedings ofanyinferior court, oranytribunal, board orofficer performing judicial, quasi judicial
oradministrative functions. Order 33,Rule256isinconformity withArticle 23oftheAgreement
onAnti-Dumping.
3. What isZimbabwe 'spolicy andlawfortheimplementation ofWTO Panel Reports?
Ourpolicy istoadhere tothem. Panel reports areautomatically adopted, these areadapted
bymaking regulations inpursuance toSection 235.
REPLY TOQUESTION FROM JAPAN
Article 73(1) oftheZimbabwean Lawstipulates adefinition of"local content" atthebeginning.
However, thewords "local content" donotappear atallthroughout thefollowing provisions ofPartIV
concerning anti-dumping duties andcountervailing duties.
Q. Whyarethewords "local content" defined inPartIVoftheZimbabwean Law?
Section 85(1) defines "local content" forpurposes specified insections 89(1)(b)(i), 89(2) and
89(3).G/ADP/Q1/ZWE/5
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REPLIES TOQUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES
1. Areyouintheprocess ofrevising yourlawtoreflect theprovisions oftheUruguay Round
Anti-Dumping andSubsidies andCountervailing Measures Agreements? Doyouhaveany
indication ofwhen these revisions willbecompleted?
Yes,Zimbabwe isintheprocess ofrevising itslawstoreflect theprovisions oftheUruguay
Round Agreements. Wehavenoprecise indication ofwhen these revisions willbecompleted, itis
anon-going process.
2. TheA-DAgreement doesallow comparison oftheexport price withaprice inathirdcountry
provided thatsuchprice is“representative ”(A-DArticle 2.2);however, under II.77(1)(b) of
Zimbabwe ’slawthehighest comparable price mustbeused. Could youplease explain this
apparent inconsistency?
Thisstatement isnotaccurate. Section 90oftheCustoms andExcise Act(Chapter 23:02),
basically provides foranythree methods ofcomparison, andthehighest comparable price when there
isnodomestic price tocompare thegoods with, isoneofthem. Theothers arethecostofproduction
ormanufacture orwhen itcannot befound, thedomestic price astheinvestigating authority may
determine.
3. When canaprovisional measure beimposed under paragraph 78?
Aprovisional measure canbeimposed under Section 91oftheActifintheMinister 'sopinion:
(a) anygoods havebeenorarebeing orarelikely tobeimported incircumstances inwhich
theyaredeemed interms ofsubsection (1)ofsection 90tobedumped (section 90(4)(a))
andwhen theeffect ofsuchimportation hasbeen orwillbetocause orthreaten
detriment toanestablished industry inZimbabwe ortoaffect detrimentally the
establishmentorexpansionofanindustryinZimbabwe(section90(4)(b)).TheMinister
maybynotice inthegazette impose aprovisional measure thatwillbeeffective from
thedateofpublication inthegazette.
4. Under paragraph 79(3) howistheamount ofthecountervailing dutydetermined?
Theamount ofcountervailing dutyisdetermined under section 92(3) byreference thatitshall
notexceed theamount asdetermined bytheinvestigating authority ofthebounty orsubsidy referred
toinparagraph (a)ofsubsection (2)ofsection 92.Section 92(3) conforms withArticle 19.4ofthe
Agreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures which requires acountervailing dutytobe
equivalent tothesubsidy found toexist.
5. What provision hasbeenmade forconducting reviews ofnewshippers asprovided forunder
A-DArticle 9.5?
Noprovision hasbeenmade forconducting reviews ofnewshippers asprovided forunder
A-DArticle 9.5.
6. What provision hasbeenmade forjudicial review asprovided forunder A-DArticle 13?
Order 33,Rule256oftheHigh Court ofZimbabwe rules, provided forreview ofdecisions
orproceedings ofanyinferior court, oranytribunal, board orofficer performing judicial, quasi judicialG/ADP/Q1/ZWE/5
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oradministrative functions. Order 33,Rule256isinconformity withArticle 23oftheAgreement
onAnti-Dumping.
7. What provision hasbeenmade fortermination ofanorder asrequired byA-DArticle 11.3?
Section 93(7) provides thatonceasubstantive order hasbeenputinplace, itcanberepealed
bytheMinister. Aprovisional anti-dumping charge islimited tothree months andmaybeextended
forafurther period notexceeding threemonths. Section 94,inaddition provides thatthenotice should
belaidbefore parliament, ifnotitshallcease tobeinforce.
8. What provision ismade under Zimbabwe ’slawforadjusting normal value orexport price as
appropriate toensure afaircomparison asrequired under A-DArticle 2.4?
Section 90(2)(a) -thecomparison ofprices shallbemade atthesame level oftrade andin
respect ofsales made atasnearly aspossible thesame time; orwhen there isnoexport price the
investigating authority maydetermine export priceonthebasisofthepriceofwhen theimported goods
arefirstresold toanindependent buyer orifnotresold, onsuchbasis astheinvestigating authority
thinks under section 90(20)(b).
9. Whyisreference made insection 73to“local content ”?
Section 85(1) defines "local content" forpurposes specified insections 89(1)(b)(i), 89(2) and
89(3).
10. Zimbabwe ’slawdoesnotappear tohaveanyrequirements forfiling apetition orconducting
aninvestigation suchasthose required byA-DArticle 5?Canyouplease explain what
information isrequired tobepresented inorder forthegovernment toinitiate acaseandhow
investigations areconducted?
Investigations areinitiated byoronbehalf ofadomestic industry. Regulations withthis
information weremade interms ofsection 235(1)(c) which provides formaking ofregulations dealing
withthemanner inwhich complaints astothedumping ofgoods shallbemade andtheinvestigations
thereof byaboard oraperson appointed forthispurpose. Zimbabwe 'slawhasrequirements forfiling
ofapetition orconducting investigations asprovided bythecustoms andexcise (Anti-Dumping and
Countervailing Duties) (investigation) Regulations Statutory Instrument 429of1984. Information
required tobepresented toinitiate investigations issetoutinsection 4oftheRegulations andtheconduct
ofinvestigations issetoutinsection 5.These provisions basically comply withA-DArticle 5.
11. What istherelationship between theWTO Agreements andZimbabwe ’slaw?
Section III(b) oftheConstitution ofZimbabwe provides thatinternational agreements donot
form partofourlawsunless incorporated intolawbyorunder anActofParliament. Therefore the
Agreements donothavetheforce oflaw. However, oncetheAgreements havebeenincorporated
theyform partofourlawsandtheywillbegiven effect to.They shallprevail evenwhen theyare
inconflict withanyother lawincluding theCustoms andExcise Actitself, section 102oftheAct.
12. What istheearliest datethatanA-DorCVD investigation canbecompleted?
Ourlegislation doesnotprovide foranearly completion ofinvestigations.