G/SG/Q2/ZMB/1  
 
16 October 2015  
(15-5447)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A ) OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
ON INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION AND THE REASONS FOR IT, 
AND NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF 
THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UN ITED STATES REGARDING  
THE NOTIFICATION OF ZAMBIA1 
The following communication, dated 15 October 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States. 
 
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The United States thanks Zambia for this notification regarding its safeguard investigation of 
flat-rolled products of iron, non-alloy steel, trailers and semi-trailers, and poses the following questions: 
 
Question 1  Section 1 of the notification notes the imposition of provisional safeguards. However, the form of 
the provisional measure is not contained in the notification. Please identify the type of measure 
that is being applied and, if a tariff incr ease, the amount of the tariff increase. 
 
Question 2 
 Also, with respect to the imposition of provisio nal measures, Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on 
Safeguards (Safeguards Agreement) provides that a Member taking a provisional safeguard 
measure may do so only "[i]n critical circumstances where delay would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair... pursuant to a pre liminary determination that there is clear evidence 
that increased imports have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury." In its notification, 
Zambia does not indicate whether it made such a preliminary determination. Please indicate 
whether Zambia made such a determination, and if so the basis for such a determination.  
Question 3 
 In the notification, Zambia did not address a num ber of the factors listed in Article 4.2(a) of 
Safeguards Agreement, including: the rate and amo unt of the increase in imports, changes in the 
level of sales, production, productivity, and employment, or provide quantitative information on any of these factors. Please explain why this information was not included. Also, Zambia did not provide evidence regarding the existence of a ca usal link between increased imports and serious 
injury or threat thereof in its notification. Please  explain why such evidence was omitted. When will 
Zambia be providing updated information to reflect these obligations in the Safeguards Agreement and in the Committee's notification format?
2 
 
Question 4  
For the factors that Zambia states that it did consider (increasing trend in imports, capacity 
utilization, industry share of consumption and dema nd, and profitability), please indicate the data 
                                               
1 G/SG/N/6/ZMB/1 - G/SG/N/7/ZMB/1 (dated 5 October 2015). 
2 See G/SG/1/Rev.1 - G/SG/N/6/Rev.1 - G/SG/89 (dated 5 November 2009). G/SG/Q2/ZMB/1 
 
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  and time period considered in concluding that the requirements in Article 6 for taking a provisional 
measure were met.   Question 5 
 
Section 2 of the notification states that the "inv estigations" were initiated on 10 July 2015, which 
seems to indicate that there is more than one acti ve investigation. First, please clarify how many 
investigations the notification covers. If there are two (or more) active investigations, please 
clarify the products included, and scope of, each investigation.  Second, the investigation(s) were initiated in July, but the notification was not submitted until 
October 2015. Article 12.1 of the Safeguards  Agreement provides that a Member "shall 
immediately notify" the Committee when it initiates an investigation. As has been pointed out by Members during past Committee meetings, notifications are oftentimes the only way that Members 
and interested parties know of the existence of an investigation, so delayed notifications may 
affect the ability of exporters and other interest ed parties to prepare and present evidence and 
views. Please explain why it took Zambia nearly three months to notify both the initiation of its 
investigation and its decision to apply a provisional safeguard measure. 
 Question 6  
 
Article 12.4 of the Safeguards Agreement states that "[a] Member shall make a notification to the 
Committee on safeguards before taking a provisional safeguard measure referred to in Article 6" 
(emphasis added) and that "[c]onsultations shal l be initiated immediately after the measure is 
taken." Please explain how Zambia's application of provisional measures (starting in July 2015) 
and the notification (made in October 2015) is consistent with this obligation. Also, please identify the period when consultations will take place, as provided for under Article 12.4 of the Safeguards 
Agreement.  
 Question 7  
Section 3 of the notification states that the period of investigation is 10 July 2015 to 
10 January 2016. In other words, the beginning of the period of investigation coincides with the date of initiation. Normally, when an investigating authority conducts a safeguard investigation, it 
looks at past behaviour to determine whether a product is being imported into its territory in such 
increased quantities so as to cause serious injury to its domestic industry. Please explain why Zambia has departed from this norm.  
 
Question 8  The Committee's document regarding the format for notifications states that "Members are 
encouraged to attach, in an electronic form, publicly available document(s) containing the relevant 
decision(s) made by the competent authority. This document may be in the original language of the Member, even when the language is not on e of the official languages of the WTO. The 
document will neither be translated nor circulated to the Committee, but will be made available by 
the Secretariat to Members requesting it." In its notification, Zambia indicates that a decision has been made by the investigating authority to impose a provisional safeguard measure. When will 
Zambia submit the relevant decision discussing the reasoning behind its determination to the 
Secretariat?  
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