G/L/1396  
G/SG/N/12/IND/2  
 
30 August 2021  
(21-6482) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 
IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.5 OF THE AGREEMENT ON  
SAFEGUARDS TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS OF PROPOSED  
SUSPENSION OF CONCESSIONS AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS  
 REFERRED TO IN PARAGRAPH 2 OF ARTICLE 8  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
INDIA 
The following communication, dated and received on 27 August 2021, is being circulated at the 
request of the delegation of India.  
 
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Pursuant to Article 12.5 of the Agreement on Safeguards, and in accordance with the agreed format 
for notifications (G/SG/1,  1 July 1996; amended on 19 October 2009, G/SG/1/Rev.1  - 
G/SG/N/6/Rev.1  - G/SG/89) the Government of India provides the immediate notification to the 
Council fo r Trade in Goods of proposed suspension of concessions and other obligations referred to 
in paragraph 2 of Article 8.  
1. Which Member is proposing suspension of concessions and other obligations 
referred to in Article 8.2  
India.  
2. Specify the measure, the product subject to the measure, the WTO document that 
notified the safeguard measure, and the Member imposing the measure in relation 
to which the Member is proposing suspension of concessions and other obligations 
referred to in Article 8.2 of the Agreeme nt on Safeguards.  
The measures at issue are the definitive safeguard measures adopted by the European Union (EU) 
on certain steel products. The measures imposed by the EU consist of tariff -rate quotas imposed on 
26 steel product categories with an out -of-quota duty of 25%. The definitive measures were imposed 
on 1 February 2019 through Regulation (EU) 2019/159 and have been extended through 
Regulation  (EU) 2021/1029.  
The EU notified the imposition of the definitive measure to the WTO in document 
G/SG/N/8/EU /1/Suppl.1 - G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.1 - G/SG/N/11/EU/1/Suppl.2 dated 
7 February  2019.  
The EU recently notified the extension of the measure for three years, in document 
G/SG/N/8/EU/1/Suppl.2 – G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.11 – G/SG/N/11/EU/1/Suppl.8 dated 
11 June 2021. G/L/1396 • G/SG/N/12/IND/2  
 
- 2 - 
 
  3. Describe the proposed suspension of concessions and other obligations referred to 
in Article 8.2, and the proposed date from which it will come into effect.  
India provides this written notification to safeguard its rights to suspend the application of 
substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations pursuant to Article 8 of the Agreement on 
Safeguards. India also reserves the right to withdraw, modify, supplement or replace this 
notification, and/or make a further notification or notifications,  should it deem appropriate, including 
in light of any subsequent developments.  
India hereby notifies the Council for Trade in Goods of its decision to suspend concessions or other 
obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 199 4) that are 
substantially equivalent to the amount of trade affected by the measures of the EU.  
The substantially equivalent level of concessions or other obligations under the GATT 1994 were 
calculated by assessing the impact of the safeguard measure on I ndia's exports of the products 
concerned to the EU between 2017 (the year before the measures were applied) and 2020. India 
estimated that the safeguard measures have resulted in the decline of exports to the tune of 
EUR 1.168 billion on which the duty col lection would be EUR 292.01 million. Accordingly, India 's 
proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from 
products originating in the EU.  
The proposed suspension of substantially equivalent concessions and oth er obligations under the 
GATT 1994 to the trade of the EU would be in the form of an increase in duty on the selected products 
originating in the EU. The details of the suspension of concessions and other obligations will be 
provided to the Council for Tra de in Goods before their application.  
The suspension of concessions and other obligations will continue to apply until the safeguard 
measures of the EU are lifted.  
 
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