G/SG/N/6/IND/46  
 
30 September 2019  
(19-6325)  Page: 1/2 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.1(A) OF TH E AGREEMENT ON  
SAFEGUARDS ON INITIA TION OF AN INVESTIGA TION AND  
THE REASON FOR IT  
INDIA 
(Single Mode Optical Fibre)  
The following communication, date d 30 September,  2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of India .1 
 
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Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (Safeguards Agreement), India 
notifies that a safeguard investigation has been initiated as follows:  
1. Specify the date when the investigation was initiated  
India initiated the investigation on 23 September, 2019. A copy of Notice of Initiation of the 
investigation is attached.  It has been published in Part -I Section I of the Gazette of India 
Extraordinary . 
2. Period of Investigation  
The Period of Investigation (POI) considered for the purpose of present investigation is from   
2016-17 to June 2019. The investigating authority has taken six months period (i.e. January 
2019 to June  2019) as the most recent p eriod.  
3. Product under Consideration  
The product concerned (PUC) is "Single -Mode Optical Fibre" which refers to the Optical Fibre 
used to facilitate transmission of a single spatial mode of light as a carrier and is used for 
signal transmission within cer tain bands.  
4. Reasons for initiation of investigation  
The investigation has been initiated following the examination of the safeguard petition of the 
Domestic Industry (DI) alleging serious injury and threat thereof caused by increased import 
of the PUC i nto India. Relevant factors having significant bearing on the serious injury and/or 
threat of serious injury to domestic industry, inter-alia, are as below:  
• There is a sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports in 2018 -19, both in 
absolute terms as well as relative to DI production;  
                                                
1 A copy of the GOI  Gazette notification SMO Fibre 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/6/IND/46  
 
- 2 - 
 
  • Imports in 2018 -19 have more than tripled from 2016 -17 and 2017 -18 levels and 
have continued to be at increased levels during the most recent period, i.e. January 
2019 to June  2019;  
• There is a confluence of a num ber of developments such as global over -capacity in 
Fibre industry, imposition of anti -dumping duty by China against most of the Optical 
Fibre manufacturing countries, and other fiscal/non -fiscal restriction imposed on sale/ 
use of China -made Optical Fibre , which has resulted in sudden diversion of imports to 
India.  
• DI's share in Indian demand for independent customers has declined significantly in 
the most recent period (i.e. in January 2019 -June 2019), whereas the share of imports 
has increased drasticall y; 
• Profitability has considerably declined during the POI and DI is running in losses in the 
most recent period.  
Accordingly, it has been found that prima -facie increased imports of PUC have caused or are 
threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic  producers of PUC. Hence, it has been 
decided to initiate the safeguard investigation.  
5.  Point of contact for the investigation  
All interested parties may make their views known within a period of 30 days from the date 
of the notice issued (i.e. 23 September 2019) to:  
Director General  
Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)  
Jeevan Tara Building, 4th Floo r 
5, Parliament Street  
New Delhi -110001  
All known interested parties are also being addressed separately. Any other party to the 
investigation w ho wishes to be considered as an interested party may submit its request on 
aforementioned address within 30 days from the date of notice issued.  
If no information is received within the prescribed time limit or the information received is 
incomplete, the Director General may record its findings on the basis of the facts available on 
record. The information must be submitted in hard copies as well as in soft copies.  
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