G/ADP/N/1/NZL/2/ Suppl.6  
G/SCM/N/1/NZL/2/Suppl.6  
15 August  2017 
(17-4378) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Anti -Dumping Practices  
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  Original:  English 
 
  NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER  
ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS  
NEW ZEALAND  
Supplement  
The following communication, dated 14 August 2 017, is being ci rculated at the request of the 
delegation of New Zealand.  
 
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Pursuant to  Article 18.5 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, and Article 32.6 of the Agreement on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures, New Zealand is notifying the amendments to its anti -dumping and 
countervailing duties legislation as outlined below.  
In May 2017 the New Zealand Parliament passed the Trade (Anti -dumping and Countervailing 
Duties) Amendment Act 2017  (the Amendment Act). This made a number of amendments to the 
Trade (Anti -Dumping and Cou ntervailing Duties) Act 1988  (the Principal Act). Copies of the 
Amendment Act and the Principal Act are attached to this notification.  
The changes introduced by the Amendment Act are:  
(1) Inserting a new public interest test as an additional step in a dump ing or subsidy 
investigation (including a third country dumping investigation) and a full review of an 
anti-dumping or countervailing duty.  
(2) Inserting a power to defer, not impose, terminate, or suspend an anti -dumping or 
countervailing duty in situatio ns involving natural disasters or emergencies.  
(3) Extending the current suspension of anti -dumping duties on residential building 
materials by two years and one month.  
(4) Clarifying procedures for investigations, reviews, and the imposition of duties.  
(5) Making other minor drafting changes to modernise and simplify the Principal Act.  
Inserting a new public interest test as an additional step in investigations and full 
reviews  
The responsible Ministry (currently the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Em ployment) will 
conduct a public interest test if it has concluded an investigation and the responsible Minister 
(currently the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) has determined that there is dumping 
or subsidisation causing material injury to the d omestic industry This test will consider the effects 
of the imposition of duties in terms of a list of factors including affordability and availability of 
product for consumers and downstream industries, and the financial performance of the domestic 
indust ry. G/ADP/N/1/NZL/2/Suppl.6 • G/SCM/N/1/NZL/2/Suppl.6  
- 2 - 
  The test contains a presumption in favour of imposing duties. If the test reveals that the costs of 
the imposing a duty would materially outweigh  the benefits then the responsible Minister must 
decline to impose a duty.  
Officials will also conduct a pu blic interest test following any full review of a duty currently in place.  
The public interest test provision will commence on 29 November  2017 (six months after the 
passing of the Amendment Act ). 
Inserting a power to defer, terminate, suspend or not impos e a duty in situations 
involving natural disasters or emergencies  
The responsible Minister may suspend or terminate existing duties, or defer or not impose new 
duties, if the users of the affected product have been significantly impacted by a natural disas ter 
or emergency.  
The definition of emergency is linked to the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002.  
Extending the current suspension of anti -dumping duties on residential building material 
by two years and one month  
In 2014 Parliament placed a temporary suspension on anti -dumping duties on residential 
construction materials until 31 May 2017 to improve the affordability of housing construction.  
The Amendment Act extends this suspension for a further two years and one month until 
30 June 2019.  
Clarifying procedures for investigations, reviews and imposition of duties  
The Amendment Act clarifies a number of sections of the Principal Act including the existing 
procedure for investigations, the notice and access to information provisions, how the rat e or 
amount of a duty is determined, and certain provisions on reviews and reassessments.  
These clarifications include changing the authority to conclude and determine the result of reviews 
from the responsible Ministry to the responsible Minister, and all owing for a more streamlined 
process in establishing new duties for new exporters.  
Making other minor drafting changes to modernise and simplify the principal Act  
The Amendment Act makes minor drafting changes to the Principal Act, including renaming the 
Principal Act from the Dumping and Countervailing Duties Act 1988  to the Trade (Anti -dumping 
and Countervailing Duties) Act 1988 , restructuring the Principal Act into parts, inserting a purpose 
section and an overview section, and modernising and simplifyin g the language.  
 
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