G/SG/N/8/UKR/11  
G/SG/N/10/UKR/11  
G/SG/N/11/UKR/9  
 
31 March 2021  
(21-2692) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(B) OF THE AGREEMENT ON  
SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT  
THEREOF CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS  
NOTIFICATION OF A PROPOSAL TO IMPOSE  A MEASURE  
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
UKRAINE  
Wires  
The following communication, dated  and received on 30 March 2021 , is being circulated at the 
request of the delegation of Ukraine . 
 
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Pursuant to Articles 12.1(b) of the Agreement on Safeguards, Ukr aine notifies on finding a serious 
injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry producing wires and on proposed 
safeguard  measures. This notification contains all pertinent information relating to the proposed 
safeguard measures in accordance with Art icle 12.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards and an offer 
for consultations pursuant to Article 12.3 of the Agreement on Safeguards.  
On 24 July 2020 the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (hereinafter referred as 
the Commission) had taken the decision "On initiation and conduction of safeguard investigation on 
imports to Ukraine of wires regardless of country of origin and export" No. SP -458/2020/4411 -03 
(G/SG/N/6/UKR/19 of 09 September 2020, G/SG/N/6/UKR/19/Corr.1 of 21 September 2020).  
On 28 July 2020 the abovementioned decision was published in the official newspaper 
"Uryadovyi  Courier" No. 143.  
The investigation was initiated pursuant to the application of the domestic industry in particular by 
PJSC "Odeskabel" and PJSC "Yuzhcable Works" (hereinafter referred as the Applicant).  
1 PROVIDE EVIDENCE, CITING RELEVANT DATA AND THE APPLICABLE PERIOD OF  
INVESTIGATION OF SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF CAUSED BY INCREASED 
IMPORTS  
Investigation  period: 2017, 2018, 2019, 1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020.  
The results of the analysis of the Applicant 's economic situation show its unstable position on the 
domestic market. During 2017 -2019 the Applicant 's socio -economic indicators improved. However, 
with the increase in the volume of import of goods in the last period to the previous period, some 
indicators of the domestic producer 's deteriorated:  
- production volume s decreased by 7.28%;  
- the sales of the product on the domestic market decreased by 25.34%;  G/SG/N/8/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/10/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/11/UKR/9  
 
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  - the Applicant 's share on the domestic market decreased by 8.57%;  
- the profit from the sale of the product on the domestic market decreased by 38.85% (UAH) and 
by 37,98% (USD);  
- the Applicant 's share in consumption decreased by 8% while the consumption decreased by 
30.92%;  
- sales prices of the Applicant for the product on the domestic market decreased by 9.17% while the 
cost increased by 3.03%;  
- profitability f rom the sale of the product on the domestic market decreased by 30.77%;  
- the level of labor productivity decreased by 6.20% ; 
- stocks at the end of the period increased by 3.16% (by 29.02% during the investigation period);  
- liquidity conditions decreased  by 5.09% (by 35.21% during the investigation period);  
- the employment decreased by 1.12%;  
- the amount of taxes and fees paid to the budgets of all levels decreased by 16.25%.  
The cumulative assessment of the above factors led to the finding of the mater ial injury to the 
national producer.  
2 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON WHETHER THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE INCREASE IN IMPORTS 
OR AN INCREASE IN IMPORTS RELATIVE TO DOMESTIC PRODUCTION  
According to the customs statistics of the State Customs Service during the investigation period:  
• import volumes of the product increased by 128.84% in absolute terms;  
• import volumes relative to production of the product in Ukraine increased by 180.42% and by 
74.79% relative to consumption . 
Based on the above -mentioned, it was  found that during the investigation period there was a 
significant increase in the volume of imports of goods to Ukraine.  
In accordance with Article XIX: 1 of GATT 1994, the investigating authority has considered 
unforeseen developments that led to a sign ificant increase in the volume of import of goods, which 
caused significant injury to the domestic industry producing the like product.  
The increase in the volume of import of goods was caused by unforeseen developments such as 
increased production volumes , increased stocks and exports of goods from the China, increased 
trade tensions between China and the US, decreased demand in Belarus, global trends in the 
development of renewable energy and the introduction of 4G technology.  
According to the report of t he analytical agency IBISWorld, in 2020, the volume of the Chinese 
market of wires and cables reached 327 billion dollars. About 13,308 enterprises are involved in 
production and 1,362,301 people are employed .1 
From 2015 to 2019, exports of wires and cables from China increased by 977 million dollars and 249 
thousand tons .2 The volume of exports of cables and wires from China in 2019 amounted to 22.4 
billion US dollars, which is 17.5% of global exports of cables and wires .3 
According to the statement  of the regional manager of Corning, one of the key players in the fiber 
market, one of the reasons for the increase in imports from China was overproduction. Thus, in 
 
1 https://www.ibisworld.com/china/market -research -reports/wire -cable-manufacturing -industry/ . 
2 https://trendeconomy.com/data/h2/China/8544 . 
3 http://www.worldstopexports.com/insulated -wire-exports -country/ . G/SG/N/8/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/10/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/11/UKR/9  
 
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  2018, the world 's largest telecom operator China Mobile had to hold two tenders each for  more than 
100 million kilometers optical cable. However, one of the tenders was canceled, which led to a 
considerable accumulation of stocks and an acute increase in exports.  
In addition, the search for alternative markets is caused by increased trade ten sions between China 
and the US and decreased exports to the US, where the consumption of cable and wire products is 
one of the strongest in the world.  
Also, in 2019, the US Commission on International Trade decided that the export of aluminum wires 
and cab les from China had caused serious injury to domestic producers and decided to apply high 
anti-dumping and anti -subsidy duties .4 
According to Corning, in 2019 the demand for optical fiber products5 decreased in the 
Republic  of Belarus, which also led to active search for markets abroad, particularly, in Ukraine.  
The growth of imports was caused by global trends in the development of renewable energy and the 
introduction of 4G technology.  
In 2016, the Chinese government introduced the Thirteenth Five -Year Plan for Renewable Energy 
Development (2016 -2020), which is part of the Thirteenth Five -Year Plan for Social and Economic 
Development, which aims to increase the share of clean energy to 20% by 2030.  
At the same time, due to the construction of a significa nt number of environmentally friendly power 
plants, China has faced the problem of overproduction and irrational territorial distribution of energy 
capacity. Thus, in 2017 more than 30% of renewable energy in Xinjiang and Gansu provinces was 
not used at al l. 
Regarding the introduction of 4G technology and expansion of coverage, in 2020 South Korea, Japan, 
Norway, Hong Kong, USA, Netherlands, Taiwan, Hungary, Sweden, India, Czech Republic, Belgium, 
Australia, Singapore and Kuwait had more than 90% coverage. In another 25 countries, including 
Poland, coverage ranges from 80% to 90%. In 32 countries, including Italy, Germany, Romania and 
Turkey, coverage is between 70% and 80% .6 
At the same time, 4G was launched in Ukraine for the first time only in 2018 .7 During the official 
briefing of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the three largest mobile operators, which took 
place at the end of 2020, it was announced that from 1 July 2020 only 5.4 million Ukrainians had 
access to 4G connection. During the bri efing the intention to provide access to 4G for 95% of the 
population of Ukraine and cover 95% of roads of national importance was also announced .8 
As a result of a combination of factors, foreign producers began to reorient their markets, which 
affected the volume of imports of goods to Ukraine.  
In addition, the threat of increased imports of cables originating from China is confirmed by recent 
EU-initiated anti -dumping and anti -subsidy investigations into imports of cable and wire products 
originating fr om China. In particular, the European Commission considers that the Chinese 
government has adopted several comprehensive strategies and policies applicable to 
telecommunications and fiber -optic cable sectors, including "The China Broadband Strategy", 
"The Made in China 2020 Plan", and "The 13th Five-Year Plan". In addition, China has introduced 
specific subsidy schemes applicable to Chinese fiber optic cable industry, in the form of direct 
transfers, restrictions on the collection of government revenues, th e provision of goods and services 
at a reduced price, and so on.  
Also, during the investigation period, the growth trends of imports correlated with the growth trends 
of their share in consumption (by 74.79%) and in the production of goods in Ukraine (by 1 80.42%). 
This trend occurs while the consumption of goods in Ukraine decreased by 30.92% and the 
 
4 https://www.reuters.com/article/us -usa-trade -china -aluminum -idUSKBN1XU2DX . 
5 https://www.cableman.ru/content/mirovoi -rynok -opticheskogo -kabelya -i-volokna -perenasyshchen . 
6 https://www.opensignal .com/sites/opensignal -com/files/data/reports /global /data-2019-
05/the_state_of_mobile _experience _may_2019_0. pdf. 
7 http://www.visnuk.com.ua/uk/publication/100008435 -pid-znakom -4g. 
8 https://itechua.com/news/125238 . G/SG/N/8/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/10/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/11/UKR/9  
 
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  Applicant 's share decreased by almost 8%. At the same time, in the last period to the previous one 
there is a much larger decrease in the price of imports to t he price of similar goods in Ukraine.  
Considering the above, the investigating authority concluded that these factors led to a recent 
unpredictable increase in imports into Ukraine and, as a consequence, caused serious injury to 
domestic producers and an i mbalance in favor of foreign producers and suppliers of goods.  Аlso, the 
above facts indicate the existence of a causal link between the growing imports of goods into Ukraine 
and the fact of deteriorating financial and economic situation of the domestic producer and the lack 
of influence of other factors.  
The major exporting countries of imports of the product involved  
Countries of imports  1st period   2nd period  3rd period  4th period  
China, tons  3 059  4 605  4 465  6 101  
EU, tons  1 266  2 898  4 694  3 423  
Belarus, tons  654 1 300  2 429  2 258  
Turkey, tons  51 195 596 1 202  
Russian Federation, tons  835 652 229 214 
3 PROVIDE PRECISE DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT INVOLVED  
Insulated wires, cables and other insulated electric conductors not fitted with connectors; optical 
fiber cables, made up of individually sheathed fibers which can be classified under UKTZED codes 
8544 49 20 00, 8544 49 91 00, 8544 60 10 10, 8544 60 10 98, 8544 60 90 10, 8544 60 90 90, 
8544 70 00 10, 8544 70 00 90.  
During the investig ation the description of the product was clarified:  
Insulated wires, cables and other insulated electric conductors not fitted with connectors which can 
be classified under UKTZED codes 8544 49 20 00, 8544 49 91 00, 8544 60 10 10, 8544 60 10 98, 
8544 60 90  10, 8544 60 90 90; optical fiber cables, made up of individually sheathed fibers 
connectors which can be classified under UKTZED codes 8544 70 00 10, 8544 70 00 90.  
4 PROVIDE PRECISE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED MEASURE  
Safeguard duty of 23.5%.  
5 PROVIDE P ROPOSED DATE OF INTRODUCTION OF THE MEASURE  
April 2021.  
6 PROVIDE EXPECTED DURATION OF THE MEASURE  
Safeguard measures are planned to be imposed for a period of 3 years.  
7 PROVIDE FOR A MEASURE WITH A DURATION OF MORE THAN THREE YEARS 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.  G/SG/N/8/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/10/UKR/11 • G/SG/N/11/UKR/9  
 
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  8 IF THE EXPECTED DURATION IS OVER ONE YEAR, TO PROVIDE EXPECTED TIMETABLE 
FOR PROGRESSIVE LI BERALIZATION OF THE MEASURE  
The duty level should be decreased by 5% annually during measures validity.  
1st year (from the date of application) — 23.5%;  
2nd year (12 months from the date of application) — 22.3%;  
3rd year (24 months from the date of applica tion) — 21.2%.  
9 TO PROVIDE INFORMATION RELATING TO THE EXTENSION OF A SAFEGUARD MEASURE  
Not applicable.  
10 EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COUNTRIES FROM THE SCOPE OF THE DEFINITIVE MEASURES  
According to Article 9.1 of the Agreements on Safeguards (List of the Leas t Developed Countries of 
the United Nations) and Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine  "On the application of special measures  
regarding imports to Ukraine", Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Ukraine dated 
June 24 2010, Free Trade Agreement betwe en the Government of Ukraine and the Government of 
Montenegro dated November 18 2011, Free Trade Agreement of the Commonwealth of Independent 
States, dated October 18 2011 and taking into account Chapter 8 of Article XXIV of 
General  Agreement on Tariffs an d Trade 1994 imports of goods described in paragraph 3 of this 
notification to Ukraine originating from the following countries should be excluded from the 
application of the definitive measures: the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the 
Kingdom of Norway, the Swiss Confederation, the Republic of Montenegro, the Republic  of 
Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic  of Kyrgyzstan, the 
Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic  of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the 
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Angola, the People 's Republic of Bangladesh, the 
Republic of Benin, the Kingdom of Bhutan, the Republic  of Burkina Faso, the Republic of Burundi, 
the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Central  African  Republic, the Republic of Chad, the Union of the 
Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Djibouti, the State of Eritrea, the 
Federal Democratic Republic of  Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Gambia, the Republic of Gui nea, the 
Republic of Guinea -Bissau, the Republic of Haiti, the Republic of Kiribati, the Lao People 's Democratic 
Republic, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Liberia, the Republic of Madagascar, the Republic 
of Malawi, the Republic of Mali, the Islami c Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Mozambique, the 
Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Niger, 
the Republic of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, the Republic of Senegal, 
the Republic of Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of 
South Sudan, the Republic of the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Timor -Leste, the Republic of 
Togo, Tuvalu, the Republic of Uganda, the United Republic of Tan zania, Vanuatu, the Republic of 
Yemen, the Republic of Zambia, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the United Mexican States, the 
Republic of Indonesia.  
11 PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THE DECISION ON APPLICATION OF THE MEASURES AND 
INFORMATION REGARDING PROCEDUR ES FOR PRIOR CONSULTATIONS WITH THOSE 
MEMBERS HAVING A SUBSTANTIAL INTEREST AS EXPORTERS OF THE PRODUCT 
CONCERNED  
As a measure to prevent the extension of COVID -19, Ukraine proposes, if necessary, to hold 
consultations substantially in the form of an excha nge of views by providing the information in 
writing or by means of videoconference.  
Members having a substantial interest as exporters of the product subject to the investigation that 
would like to consult with Ukraine are encouraged to send their positio n papers to 
meconomy@me.gov.ua  (for official registration) and to e -mail address of the individuals, responsible 
for investigation suhanov@me.gov.ua  before April  09 2021 or request a videoconference to be held 
before April  09 2021.  
 
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