G/SG/N/8/MAR/6  
G/SG/N/10/MAR/6  
G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
11 July 2019 
(19-4595) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Safeguards  Original:  French  
 
  
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(B) OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
ON FINDING A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF  
CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(C) OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2, OF  
THE AGREEMENT  ON SAFEGUARDS  
MOROCCO  
(Coated wood board)  
The following communication, dated 1 0 July 2 019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Morocco.1 
 
_______________  
 
 
In accordance with Article 12.1(b) of the Agreement  on Safeguards, Morocco hereby notifies a finding 
of serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry producing coated wood board, and its 
proposed safeguard measure . This notification contains all pertinent information relating to the 
proposed sa feguard measures, in accordance with Article 12.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards, and 
an offer to consult with  Members having a substantial interest as exporters of the product concerned, 
in accordance with Article 12.3 of the Agreement.  
 
The investigation was initiated on 3 1 July 2 018 in accordance with Article 57 of Law No. 15-09 on 
trade defence measures, under Public Notice No. 09/18 of 1 9 July 2 018. The initiation of the 
investigation was notified to the Committee on Safeguards (document G /SG/N/6/MAR/10).  
 
1. Provide evidence, citing relevant data and the applicable period of investigation of 
serious injury or threat thereof caused by increased imports  
 
Evidence of serious injury  
 
To determine whether there was serious injury to the domestic industry producing the like product, 
an evaluation was undertaken of all relevant factors of an objective and quantifiable nature having 
a bearing on the situation of that industry . In particula r, for the product concerned, developments 
in the data on consumption, production capacity, production, capacity utilization, employment, 
productivity, sales and market share were examined, using the domestic industry data gathered by 
the Ministry during t he investigation for the years 2013 to 2017 and the first half of 2018 (H1 2018).  
 
                                                
1 A copy of the report on the results 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 Divis ion. G/SG/N/8/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/10/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
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  Table No. 1: Factors considered in the analysis of serious injury to the domestic industry  
Index : 
2013=100  
H1 2017=100  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  H1 2017  H1 2018  
Consumption  100 121 131 165 179 100 96 
Imports (m²)  1,859,042  2,562,568  2,913,872  3,829,360  4,264,996  2,489,700  2,343,464  
Imports/ 
Production  100 135 156 177 178 100 87 
Market share 
of imports  100 113 119 124 128 100 99 
Production  100 102 101 117 129 100 108 
Production 
capacity  100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
Capacity 
utilization 
rate 100 103 100 117 128 100 110 
Employment  100 105 103 105 98 100 102 
Productivity  100 97 98 112 132 100 106 
Sales volume  100 99 100 117 121 100 99 
Market share  100 82 76 71 68 100 103 
Profitability  -100 182 -81 -97 -132 -100 -197 
Unit prices  100 106 99 94 93 100 101 
Cost price  100 94 98 94 95 100 104 
Inventories  100 99 89 79 104 - - 
 
Source : Data gathered during the investigation . 
 
Consumption  
 
Domestic consumption rose considerably during the period considered , increasing  21% from 2013 
to 2014, and then 9 % and 26 % in 2015 and 2016 . In 2017 , it increased  8%, rising to twice  its 2013 
level. Similarly, domestic consumption in H1 2018 a mounted to the annual level in 2013.  
 
Rate of increase in imports and in the market share of imports  
 
There was a recent, sharp and significant rise in imports, both in absolute terms (129 %) and relative 
to production (78 %). This was also  true for the  imports' market share, which increased 28 % during 
the period considered while their average prices dropped 7 %. 
 
Production  
 
The level of production was largely stable from 2013 to 2015, with a slight 1 % increase over 
that period . It then rose 16 % and 10 % in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and 8 % from H1 2017 
to H1 2018.  
 
Production capacity and production capacity utilization  
 
Production capacity was stable during the period considered . The capacity utilization rate was also 
stable in 2013, 2014 and 2015 . It increased 16 % and 10 % in 2016 and 2017 . It was 8 % higher in 
H1 2018 than in H1 2017, following the same trend as domestic production.  
 
Employment and productivity  
 
Employment increased 8 % from 2013 to 2016 . Beginning in 2017, CBA was forced to reduce its 
staff. In H1 2018, employment was down 14 % compared to 2013 . With respect to productivity, 
there was an upward trend during the period, especially in 2016 and 2017 . After decreasing 3 % G/SG/N/8/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/10/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
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  in 2014 and picking up slightly, by 0.43 %, in 2015, it increased 14 % in 2016 and 18 % in 2017 . 
This rise in productivity resulted from increased production volumes and significant  pressure to 
reduce costs in the face of mounting financial losses, which led to a decline in employment in 2017 . 
In H1 2018, product ivity was 6 % higher than in H1 2017.  
 
Sales and market share  
 
The volume of sales was stable from 2013 to 2015 . There was a 17 % increase i n 2016, accompanied 
by a simultaneous and larger 26 % increase in consumption . Similarly, there was a slight 4 % increas e 
in sales volume from 2016 to 2017  but an 8% increase in consumption during the same period.  
 
The domestic industry lost 32 % of its market share during the period considered . Its market share 
fell continuously, declining 18 % in 2014, 7 % in 2015, 7 % in 201 6 and 4 % in 2017 . This trend 
reflects the fact that imports increased both in absolute terms and relative to consumption . 
Furthermore, although there was  a slight 3 % increase from H1 2017 to H1 2018, the market share 
recorded was the lowest of the entire period.  
 
Profitability  
 
With the exception of the improvement  from 2013 to 2014, the profitability of sales deteriorated 
throughout the period considered . The domesti c industry's losses worsened throughout the period 
considered.  
 
This yearly deterioration in domestic industry profitability was due to the increasingly large 
differential between its selling price and its cost price . Over the period considered, with the e xception 
of 2014, there was a 6.5 % overall decline in prices but only a 5.4 % decline in the cost prices, due 
in part to better capacity utilization and an upturn in productivity.  
 
Selling price of the like product  
 
After a 6 % increase in its average unit s ales price, the domestic industry was forced to match market 
prices by significantly cutting its prices . In 2015 and 2016, prices decreased  by 7% and 4.75 %. This 
decline continued in 2017, bringing prices to their lowest level of the period.  
 
Furthermore, an analysis and comparison of import prices and the domestic industry's selling prices 
in 2017 revealed significant undercutting of domestic prices.  
 
Inventories  
 
After declining continuously from 2014 to 2016 (1 % in 2014, 10 % in 2015 and 11 % in 2016), closing 
stocks increased 31 % in 2017, surpassing their 2013 level.  
 
The domestic industry's efforts to cut prices from 2015 to 2017 in order to move its production and 
hold on to its domestic market share led to decreases in closing stocks in tho se years . However, 
after having reached unprecedented levels during the period considered, in 2017, at a time of rising 
consumption and with their  average prices even lower than in previous years, imports became even 
more dominant on the domestic market, p reventing the domestic industry from maintaining its 
market share and disposing of its production on favourable terms . This naturally led to the build -up 
of rather large inventories compared  to previous years.  
 
Conclusion on serious injury  
 
During the period 2013 -17, the product in question was imported into the Moroccan market in 
increasing quantities and in high volumes . The latest data available confirm that this trend continued 
in 2018.  
 
With regard to the situation of the domestic industry, product ion capacity remained stable over the 
period considered while production increased 29 %. Consequently, production capacity utilization 
also increased 29 % during the period . Despite this increase in the capacity utilization rate, the 
domestic producer was un able to use more than half its installed capacity, which put significant 
pressure on its production costs and even more so on its profitability.  
 G/SG/N/8/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/10/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
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  Employment declined somewhat, while productivity increased, primarily because of the increase in 
production th at coincided with the decline in employment.  
 
Furthermore, while sales volumes increased 22 % over the period 2013 -17, domestic consumption 
increased around 80 %. As a result, the domestic industry's market share dropped 32 % over that 
period.  
 
Moreover , with  the exception of 2014, there was a 6.5 % overall decline in prices during the period 
considered but only a 5.4 % decline in production costs, due in part to better capacity utilization and 
an upturn in productivity . Similarly, except for 2014, which was pro fitable, there were growing losses 
over the following years, which reach ed their peak in 2017 . The situation did not improve in 2018, 
or at least in H1 2018, as the investigation data show that the financial losses for that period were 
double the level recorded for H1 2017.  
 
Taking account of all these factors, it is concluded that the domestic producer suffered serious injury 
in terms of a marked, overall deterioration of its situation during the period considered.  
 
Evidence of causal link  
 
The in vestigation has shown that the increased imports, coinciding with the deterioration in the 
indicators of the domestic producer, are the cause of the serious injury suffered by the domestic 
industry.  
 
Imports of coated wood board grew remarkably during the period considered, particularly in 2016 
and 2017, when they amounted to  3,829,360 m² and 4,264,996 m², respectively, or 2 and 2.3 
times their 2013 level.  
 
There was a similar upward trend in the market share of those imports over the period considered . 
In 2016 and 2017, their share amounted  to over two thirds of the market, while that of the domestic 
industry shrank considerably from 2013 to 2017 . The market  share s of imports and of the domestic 
industry were still  at the same levels in H1 2018.  
 
Similarly, as a percentage of domestic production, imports increased 78 % over the period 
considered.  
 
With regard to  prices, it must be noted that average import prices declined during the period 
considered, going from MAD 43.6/m² in 2013 to MAD 40.8/m² in 2016, and then to MAD 39.6/m² 
in 2017 . Average domestic industry prices decreased  7% over the same period.  
 
A compa rison of the domestic industry's average ex -factory prices and the average ex -customs 
prices of imports has revealed a significant and non -negligible undercutting of domestic prices.  
 
Along the same lines, imports were at their highest level in 2017, when their average price was the 
lowest (MAD 39.65/m²) of the period considered . However, the average price of the domestic 
product was also at its lowest level, which also indicates a drastic drop in domestic industry 
profitability.  
 
Furthermore, an examinatio n of the effects of factors other than the massive imports (i.e. changes 
in consumption, competition between domestic and foreign producers and among domestic 
producers themselves, changes in domestic prices and production costs, technological 
developments , export performance and the ability of the domestic industry to meet domestic 
demand) has shown that no serious adverse effect could result from th ose factors.  
 
It is therefore concluded that there is a genuine and substantial link between the increased i mports 
and the serious injury to the domestic producer.  
 
2. Provide information on whether there is an absolute increase in imports or an 
increase in imports relative to domestic production  
 
An analysis of the import data has shown an upward trend in imports of the product concerned 
throughout the period considered.  
 G/SG/N/8/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/10/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
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  Imports increased 38 % from 2013 to 2014, going from 1,859,042 m² to 2,562,568 m² . This 
rise continued in 2015, with import volumes  up 14 % compared with 2014 . They continued their 
ascent in 2016 and 2017,  increasing 31 % and 11 %, respectively, and amounting to  4,264,996 m² 
in 2017, 2.3 times the 2013 level. 
 
Relative to domestic production, there was a  sustained  upward trend in imports throughout the 
period considered . In short, the share of i mports compared to domestic production increased 78 % 
over the period.  
Table 2 : Imports in absolute terms and relative to production  
 2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  H1 2017  H1 2018  
Imports of coated 
wood board  
(m²)  1,859,042  2,562,568  2,913,872  3,829,360  4,264,996  2,489,700  2,343,464  
Imports/  
production  
(index : 2013=100  
H1 2017=100)  100 135 156 177 178 100 87 
 
Source : Data gathered during the investigation . 
 
Based on the data on imports from 2013 to H1 2018, it is concluded that there has been a recent, 
sudden and sharp increase in imports, both in absolute terms and relative to production.  
 
3. Description of the product involved  
 
The investigated  product  is the following : board made from pieces of wood agglomerated with a 
binding substance , other than oriented strand board (OSB) and waferboard, which is surface covered 
with melamine decor paper or decorative laminates of plastic . This product is currently classified 
under tariff headings:  
 
4410.11.20.11 ; 4410.11.20.19 ; 4410.11.20.90 ; 4410.1 1.30.11 ; 4410.11.30.19 ; 4410.11.30.90 ; 
4410.19.92.11 ; 4 410.19.92.19 ; 4 410.19.92.90 ; 4 410.19.93.11 ; 4 410.19.93.19 and 
4410.19.93.90.  
 
4. Description of the proposed measure  
 
It is proposed that the safeguard measure take the form of a tariff quota in excess of which an 
additional duty will have to be paid.  
 
The import quota not subject to the additional duty is set at 3,000,000 m² (the equivalent 
of 23,250,000 kg ). The additio nal duty will take the form of a specific duty in the amount 
of MAD 1.6/kg.  
 
5. Proposed date of introduction of the measure  
 
The proposed safeguard measure will take effect from the date of entry into force of the ministerial 
order imposing the measure.  
 
6. Expected duration of the measure  
 
The expected duration of the proposed measure is three years.  
 
7. For a measure with a duration of more than three years, provide the proposed date 
for the review (under Article 7.4) to be held not later than the mid -term of the measure, 
if such a date for the review has already been scheduled  
 
Not applicable . 
 
8. If the duration is over one year, provide the expected timetable for progressive 
liberalization of the measure  G/SG/N/8/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/10/MAR/6 • G/SG/N/11/MAR/6  
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To liberalize the measure, the overall quota volume should be increased 10 % each period after the 
first year the measure  is applied , as shown in the table below:  
Table 3 : Liberalization of the tariff quota over the period of application of the safeguard 
measure  
 Year 1  Year 2  Year 3  
Quota (m²)  3,000,000  3,300,000  3,630,000  
Quota* (kg)  23,250,000  25,575,000  28,132,500  
 
* This is the equivalent in kilograms of the quota expressed in square metres.  
 
9. Developing countries exempt from the measure under Article 9.1 of the Agreement 
on Safeguards  
 
The developing countries excluded from the measure because the shares of their exports in 
Morocco's imports do not exceed 3 % are listed below:  
 
Afghanistan ; Albania ; Angola ; Antigua and Barbuda ; Argentina ; Armenia ; Kingdom of Bahrain ; 
Banglades h; Barbados ; Belize; Benin; Bolivia; Botswana ; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam ; Burkina Faso ; 
Burundi ; Cabo Verde ; Cambodia ; Cameroon ; Central African Republic ; Chad; Chile; China; Chinese 
Taipei ; Colombia ; Congo; Costa Rica ; Côte d'Ivoire ; Cuba; Democratic Repu blic of the Congo ; 
Djibouti ; Dominica ; Dominican Republic ; Ecuador ; Egypt; El Salvador ; Eswatini ; Fiji; Gabon; 
Gambia ; Georgia ; Ghana; Grenada ; Guatemala ; Guinea ; Guinea -Bissau; G uyana ; Haiti; Honduras ; 
Hong Kong, China ; India; Indonesia ; Jamaica ; Jordan ; Kazakhstan ; Kenya; Republic of Korea ; 
Kuwait ; Kyrgyz Republic ; Lao People's Democratic Republic ; Lesotho ; Liberia ; Macao, China ; 
Madagascar ; Malawi; Malaysia ; Maldives ; Mali; Mauritania ; Mauritius ; Mexico; Republic of Moldova ; 
Mongolia ; Montenegro ; Mozambique ; Myanmar ; Namibia ; Nepal; Nicaragua ; Niger; Nigeria ; Oman; 
Pakistan ; Panama ; Papua New Guinea ; Paraguay ; Peru; Philippines ; Qatar; Rwanda ; Saint Lucia ; 
Saint Kitts and Nevis ; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ; Samoa ; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ; Senegal ; 
Seychelles ; Sierra Leone ; Singapore ; Solomon Islands ; South Africa ; Sri Lanka ; Suriname ; 
Tajikistan ; Tanzania ; Thailand ; The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ; Togo; Tonga; 
Trinidad  and Tobago ; Tunisia ; Uganda ; U nited Arab Emirates ; U ruguay ; Vanuatu ; 
Bolivarian  Republic of Venezuela ; Viet Nam; Yemen ; Zambia ; Zimbabwe.  
 
10. Offer of consultations under Article 12.3  
 
In accordance with Article 12.3 of the Agreement on Safeguards, Morocco is ready to consult on the 
proposed safeguard measure with those Members having a substantial interest as exporters of the 
products concerned.  
 
__________