G/SG/N/7/PHL/10  
G/SG/N/8/PHL/11  
G/SG/N/11/PHL/12  
 
24 May 2019 
(19-3590) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.4 OF THE A GREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS  BEFORE TAKING A PROV ISIONAL SAFEGUARD  
MEASURE REFERRED  TO IN ARTICLE 6  
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.1(B) OF TH E AGREEMENT ON  
SAFEGUARDS  ON FINDING A SERIOUS  INJURY OR THREAT  
THEREOF CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS  
NOTIFICATION PURSUAN T TO ARTICLE 9, FOOT NOTE 2  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
PHILIPPINES  
(Ceramic floor and wall tiles) 
The following communication, dated 20 May 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the Philip pines.1 
 
_______________  
 
 
Further to G/SG/N/6/PHL/1 2 dated 11 January  2019 and pursuant to Article  12 and Article  9 of the 
WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the WTO hereby notifies 
the Committee on Safeguards of its preliminary determination findings on the investigation on the 
importation of ce ramic floor and wall tiles  from various countries, and before taking a provisional 
safeguard measure under Article 6 of the Safeguards Agreement.  
 
1  PROVIDE THE PRECISE DESCRIPTI ON OF THE PRODUCTS I NVOLVED  
Ceramic floor and wall tiles classified under AHTN Codes 6907.2123, 6907.2124, 6907.2193, 
6907.2194, 6907.2213, 6907.2214, 6907.2293, 6907.2294, 6907.2313, 6907.2314, 6907.2393, 
6907.2394, and 6907.4092.  
 
2  SPECIFY THE PROPOSED  PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARD MEASURE  
The provisional safeguard measure will take the form of a cash bond amounting to Philippine 
Peso 3.00 per kilogram  (PhP 3.00/kg) on all importations of c eramic floor and wall tiles  classified 
under AHTN Codes  6907.2123, 6907.212 4, 6907.2193, 6907.2194, 6907.2213, 6907.2214, 
6907.2293, 6907.2294, 6907.2313, 6907.2314, 6907.2393, 6907.2394, and 6907.4092  for a period 
of 200 days from the date of issuance by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) of the relevant Customs 
Memorandum Order (CMO) or fifteen (15) days after the publication of the DTI Order in two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier. The Order was signed by the Secretary 
of the DTI on 7  May 2019.  
 
Imports originating from developing countries listed in Anne x A shall not be subject to the provisional 
safeguard measure.  Also, unglazed, porcelain, mosaic, and marble tiles are excluded from the 
investigation since they are not produced locally. Further, the preliminary investigation excluded 
                                                
1 A copy of the DTI Administrative Order has been submitted electronically. To consult this document 
please contact Ms. Richards  (anne.richards@wto.org ) or Ms. Naville ( delphine.naville@wto.org ) of the Rules 
Division.  G/SG/N/7/PHL/10 • G/SG/N/8/PHL/11 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/12  
 
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  glazed ceramic tiles  imported from the European Union since said tiles do not compete with locally 
produced tiles.  
 
3  SPECIFY THE PROPOSED  DATE OF INTRODUCTIO N OF THE PROVISIONAL  SAFEGUARD 
MEASURE  
The provisional safeguard measure is scheduled to enter into force upon issuance by the Bureau of 
Customs (BOC) of the relevant Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) or fifteen (15) days after the 
publication of the DTI Order in two (2) newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier. 
The Order signed by the Secretary of the DTI wa s published in two newspapers of general circulation 
on 17 May 2019.  
 
4  EXPECTED DURATION OF  THE PROVISIONAL SAF EGUARD MEASURE, IF A NY DECISION 
ON THE DURATION OF T HE SAFEGUARD MEASURE  HAS BEEN MADE  
The provisional safeguard measure will be in force for two hundred (200) days.  
 
5  PROVIDE THE BASIS FO R: 
(a) Making a preliminary determination, as provided for in Article  6, that increased 
imports have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury  
 
A review of the evidence made available to DTI shows:  
 
1) That the  volume of imports of ceramic  floor and wall tiles : 
 
• in absolute terms, increased from 2013 to 201 6. In 2017, imports are lower by 13%  
over the 2016 level, but higher by 2,170% in 2014 or the pre -surge level ; 
 
• in relative terms, the share of imports to domestic production increased from 4% in 
2013 to 641% in 2016. In 2017, the share of imports was recorded at 549% lower by 
92% to 2016 level, but higher by 523% in 2014 or the pre -surge level. In 2018, share 
of imports was recorded at 542%, lower by 7% to 2016 level, but higher by 516% in 
2014. 
 
2) That the increased imports caused serious injury to the domestic industry as follows:  
 
• during the POI, despite significant increases in market size, the market share of domestic 
manufacturers declined from 96% in 20 13 to 15% in 2017 and 2018 ; 
 
• the share of imported ceramic wall and floor tiles grew from 4% in 2013 to 87% in 2016;  
 
• earnings before interest and tax exhibited a declining trend of 71% in 2014, a sharp 
decline of 203% in 2015 when the operations resulted to loss, an increase of 92% in 
2016 which means that there was an  improvement in operation compared to 2015 but 
the industry remained at  loss. In 2017, the industry's operation continued to exhibit 
losses with the  highest decline of 1,067% and further decl ine of 157% in 2018 . 
 
3) That increased imports were the substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry 
based on the following:  
 
• the significant increase in the volume of imported ce ramic floor and wall tiles preceded 
the serious injury to the i ndustry from 2015 to 2017 ; and 
 
• the conditions of competition show that the market share of locally produced ce ramic 
floor and wall tiles  was essentially displaced during the POI as the share of imports in 
the domestic market significantly increased.  
 G/SG/N/7/PHL/10 • G/SG/N/8/PHL/11 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/12  
 
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  (b) Determining that there are critical circumstances where delay would cause damage 
which it would be difficult to repair  
 
There are also other factors that contributed to the existence of critical circumstances, such as zero 
tariff rates for imported ceramic  floor and wall tiles which allowed exporters to easily penetrate the 
market. Further, the implementation of trade remedy measures by other countries may result to 
surge in imports of ceramic tiles in the local market.  
 
6  OFFER OF CONSULTATIO NS 
The Governmen t of the Philippines offers consultations on the provisional safeguard measures.  
ANNEX  
LIST OF DEVELOPING C OUNTRIES AND SEPARAT E CUSTOMS TERITORIES  
EXCLUDED FROM THE  IMPOSITION OF THE PR OVISIONAL SAFEGUARD MEASURE  
ON THE IMPORTATION O F CERAMIC FLOOR AND WA LL TILES  
East & Southern 
Africa  West Africa  North Africa  South Asia  
Angola  
Botswana  
Burundi  
Comoros  
Congo Dem. Rep. 
Djibouti  
Eritrea  
Eswatini  
Ethiopia  
Kenya  
Lesotho  
Madagascar  
Malawi  
Mauritius  
Mozambique  
Namibia  
Reunion  
Rwanda  
Seychelles  
Somalia  
South Africa  
Sudan  
Tanzania  
Uganda  
Zambia  
Zimbabwe  Benin  
Burkina Faso  
Cameroon  
Cape Verde  
Central African Rep.  
Chad 
Congo, Rep.  
Cote d'Ivoire  
Equatorial Guinea  
Gabon  
Gambia, The  
Ghana  
Guinea  
Guinea, Bissau  
Liberia  
Mali 
Mauritania  
Niger  
Nigeria  
Sao Tome & Principe  
Senegal  
Sierra Leone  
Togo Algeria  
Egypt, Arab Rep.  
Libya 
Morocco  
Tunisia  Afghanistan  
Bangladesh  
Bhutan  
British Indian Ocean  
  Territory  
East Timor  
India 
Maldives  
Nepal  
Pakistan  
Sri Lanka  
 
  G/SG/N/7/PHL/10 • G/SG/N/8/PHL/11 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/12  
 
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East & Central Asia  Middle East  Americas  East Asia & Pacific  
Albania  
Armenia  
Azerbaijan  
Belarus  
Bosnia &  
  Herzegovina  
Bulgaria  
Croatia  
Cyprus  
Czech Republic  
Estonia  
Georgia  
Greenland  
Hungary  
Kazakhstan  
Kyrgyz Republic  
Latvia  
Lithuania  
Macedonia, FYR  
Malta  
Moldova  
Poland  
Romania  
Russian Federation  
Slovakia  
Slovenia  
Tajikistan  
Turkey  
Turkmenistan  
Ukraine  
Uzbekistan  
Yuguslavia, Fed. Rep.  Bahrain  
Iran, Islamic Rep.  
Iraq 
Israel  
Jordan  
Kuwait  
Lebanon  
Oman  
Qatar  
Saudi Arabia  
Syrian Arab Rep.  
United Arab Emirates  
West Bank & Gaza  
Yemen, Rep.  Anguilla  
Antigua & Barbuda  
Argentina  
Aruba  
Bahamas  
Barbados  
Belize  
Bermuda  
Bolivia  
Brazil  
British Virgin Islands  
Cayman Islands  
Chile 
Colombia  
Costa Rica  
Cuba 
Dominica  
Dominican Rep.  
Ecuador  
El Salvador  
Falkland Is. (Malvinas)  
French Guiana  
Grenada  
Guadaloupe  
Guatemala  
Guyana  
Haiti 
Honduras  
Jamaica  
Martinique  
Mexico  
Montserrat  
Netherland Antilles  
Nicaragua  
Norfolk Islands  
Panama  
Paraguay  
Peru 
Puerto Rico  
St. Helena  
St. Kitts & Navis  
St. Lucia  
St. Pierre & Miquelon  
St. Vincent & the  
  Grenadines  
Suriname  
Trinidad & Tobago  
Turks & Caicos Islands  
Uruguay  
US Virgin Islands  
Venezuela  American Samoa  
Brunei Darussalam  
Cambodia  
Christmas Is.  
Chinese Taipei  
Cocos (Keeling) Is.  
Cook Is.  
Fiji 
French Polynesia  
Guam  
Hong Kong, China  
Johnston Is.  
Kiribati  
Korea, Dem. Rep.  
Korea, Rep.  
Lao, PDR  
Macau, China  
Malaysia  
Marshall Islands  
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.  
Midway Is.  
Mongolia  
Myanmar  
Nauru  
New Caledonia  
Niue 
Northern Marianas Is.  
Palau  
Pitcaim Is.  
Papua New Guinea  
Samoa  
Singapore  
Solomon Islands  
Thailand  
Tokelau  
Tonga  
Tuvalu  
Vanuatu  
Wake Is. 
Wallis & Futuna Is.  
 
__________