G/SG/N/8/PHL/9  
G/SG/N/10/PHL/8  
G/SG/N/11/PHL/10  
 
21 May 2015  
(15-2660)  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 PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 12.1(C) 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
PHILIPPINES  
(Newsprint) 
The following communication, dated 7 May 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines. 
_______________ 
  Further to Philippine notification G/SG/N/6/PHL/9, G/SG/N/6/PHL/9/Suppl.1, 
G/SG/N/6/PHL/9/Suppl.2, G/SG/N/6 /PHL/9/Suppl.3 and pursuant to Articles 12.1(b) and 12.1(c) 
and Article 9, footnote 2, of the Agreement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the 
Philippines to the WTO, hereby notifies that a de cision to apply a definitive safeguard measure on 
newsprint from various countries has been made
1. 
 1. Serious injury or threat ther eof caused by increased imports 
 
The domestic industry suffered and is suffering significant impairment in its overall condition in terms of shrinking market share, declining domestic production and sales, underutilization of rated capacity, operating losses and its competitive position over the period of investigation due to the 
surge in imports of newsprint. The declining tr ends in both industry employment and labor 
productivity constitute serious impairment.   
2. Absolute increase in imports or an in crease in imports relative to domestic 
production  
From volumes not exceeding 30,000 MT during 2007 to 2011, imports suddenly escalated 
to 51,826 MT in 2012 and continued to increase to 61,294 MT in 2013 and 62,024 MT in 2014. Thus, after settling at around the 50% level in 2010 and 2011, the share of imports to domestic 
production of newsprint abruptly rose to 103%  in 2012, marking the first time that imports 
surpassed domestic output. It increased further to 107% in 2013 and 103% in 2014. 
 There is an upward trend in newsprint imports during the POI.  
                                               
1 A copy of the Order was submitted (in original la nguage only) in electronic  form. To consult this 
document, please contact Ms Budd ( hilary.budd@wto.org ) or Ms Naville ( delphine.naville@wto.org ) of the 
Rules Division. G/SG/N/8/PHL/9 • G/SG/N/10/PHL/8 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/10 
 
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3. Precise description of the product involved  Note 4 to Chapter 48 of the Harmonized System (HS) states that the expression "newsprint" 
means uncoated paper of a kind used for the printing of newspapers, of which not less than 50% 
by weight of the total fibre content consists of wood fibres obtained by a mechanical or chemi-mechanical process, unsized or very lightly sized, having a surface roughness Parker Print 
Surf (1 MPa) on each side exceeding 2.5 microm etres (microns), weighing not less than 40 g/m2 
and not more than 65 g/m2.  
Hdg. 
No. 
 AHTN Code 
2012 Description Rate of Duty (%) ASEAN 
Member 
States 
Enjoying 
Concession MFN 
ATIGA 2012 - 
2013 2014 - 
2015 
(1) 
4801 (2) 
 4801.00.10 4801.00.90 (3) 
Newsprint, in rolls or sheets. - Weighing not more than 55g/m2 - Other (4) 
 
7 7 (5) 
 
7 7 (6) 
 
0 0 (7) 
 
All. All. 
 
4. Precise description of the proposed measure 
 
i. A definitive safeguard duty effective for three (3) years shall be imposed on 
newsprint imported from various countries. The duty shall be applied to newsprint 
classified under AHTN Codes 4801.0010 and 4801.0090. 
ii. The amount of safeguard duty to be imposed for the first year shall be 
Php980.00/MT (May 2015 to April 2016), for the second year - Php800.00/MT 
(May 2016 to April 2017), and for the third year - Php640.00/MT (May 2017 to 
April 2018). 
iii. The safeguard measure shall be reviewed yearly with a view to further liberalizing 
the measure to prod the domestic industry to adjust to import competition. 
iv. Imported newsprint which will be used for the printing of textbooks for elementary 
and secondary schools to be procured by accredited printers under the DepEd projects are exempt from the definitive general safeguard measure. To avail of 
exemption, importers shall present to the Bureau of Customs a certification from 
DepEd stating that the shipment of newsprint will be used for printing DepEd textbooks. 
v. Pursuant to Section 13 of RA 8800 and Rule 13.1.d of its IRR, "a general safeguard 
measure shall not be applied to a product originating from a developing country if its share to the total Philippine imports of the said product is less than three percent 
(3%): Provided, however that developing countries with less than three percent 
(3%) share collectively account for not more than nine percent (9%) of the total Philippine imports of the product concerned". The countries and separate customs 
territories listed in Annex A are therefore excluded from the imposition of the 
definitive general safeguard measure on newsprint. The composition of the 
developing countries on the de minimis  list may change based on a review of the 
most recent data available as part of the annual review which will be conducted by 
the DTI during the implementation period. 
vi. To avail of exemption from payment of th e safeguard duty, importers of newsprint 
originating from a WTO member developing country shall submit a Certificate of 
Country of Origin (CO) issued by the authorized agency/office in the country of 
origin. The said CO shall be authentica ted by the Philippine Embassy/Consulate. 
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/9 • G/SG/N/10/PHL/8 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/10 
 
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  5. Date of introduction of the de finitive general safeguard measure 
 The definitive general safeguard measure is schedul ed to enter into force upon issuance of the 
relevant Customs Memorandum Order by the Philippine Bureau of Customs or 15 days after the 
publication of the DTI Order in two (2) newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier. 
The Order signed by the Secretary of the DTI on 5 May 2015 and was published on 11 May 2015 in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
6. Expected duration of the safeguard measure  The definitive general safeguard measure on imports of newsprint shall be implemented for a 
period of three (3) years. 
 7. Expected timetable for progressi ve liberalization of the measure 
 
The safeguard measure shall continue to be liberalized annually for the second and third year of the three-year implementation period to the extent  of redressing or preventing the injury and to 
facilitate adjustment by the domestic industry from the adverse effects directly attributed to 
increased imports.  8. Major exporting Members of imports of the product involved 
 
South Korea, the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesi a, Canada and the United States of America are 
the major suppliers of the imported product during the POI.  
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/9 • G/SG/N/10/PHL/8 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/10 
 
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  ANNEX 
LIST OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND SEPARATE CUSTOMS 
TERRITORIES EXCLUDED FROM THE IMPOSITION OF DEFINITIVE 
SAFEGUARD MEASURE ON NEWSPRINT 
East & Southern Africa West Af rica North Africa South Asia 
Angola 
Botswana Burundi Comoros Congo Dem. Rep. Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Reunion Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Africa Sudan 
Swaziland 
Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Benin 
Burkina Faso Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Rep. Chad Congo, Rep. Cote d'Ivoire Equatorial Guinea Gabon Gambia, The Ghana Guinea Guinea, Bissau Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Sao Tome & Principe Senegal 
Sierra Leone 
Togo Algeria 
Egypt, Arab Rep. Libya Morocco Tunisia  Afghanistan 
Bangladesh Bhutan British Indian Ocean Territory East Timor India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka 
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/9 • G/SG/N/10/PHL/8 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/10 
 
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East & Central Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Albania 
Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Georgia Greenland Hungary Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lithuania Macedonia, FYR Malta 
Moldova 
Poland Romania Russian Federation Slovakia Slovenia Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan Yuguslavia, Fed. Rep. Bahrain 
Iran, Islamic Rep. Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar Syrian Arab Rep. United Arab Emirates West Bank & Gaza Yemen, Rep. Anguilla 
Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Bolivia Brazil British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Rep. Ecuador 
El Salvador 
Falkland Is. (Malvinas) French Guiana Grenada Guadaloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Martinique Mexico Montserrat Netherland Antilles Nicaragua Norfolk Islands Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico St. Helena St. Kitts & Navis St. Lucia 
St. Pierre & Miquelon 
St. Vincent & the     Grenadines Suriname Trinidad & Tobago Turks & Caicos Islands Uruguay US Virgin Islands Venezuela American Samoa 
Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Christmas Is. Chinese Taipei Cocos (Keeling) Is. Cook Is. Fiji French Polynesia Guam Hong Kong, China Indonesia Johnston Is. Kiribati Korea, Dem. Rep. Lao, PDR Macau, China Malaysia Marshall Islands 
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 
Midway Is. Mongolia Myanmar Nauru New Caledonia Niue Northern Marianas Is. Palau Pitcaim Is. Papua New Guinea People's Rep. of China Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands Thailand Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Vietnam Wake Is. Wallis & Futuna Is. 
 
 
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