G/SG/N/7/ARE/1, G/SG/N/11/ARE/1, 
G/SG/N/7/BHR/1, G/SG/N/11/BHR/1 , 
G/SG/N/7/KWT/1, G/ SG/N/11/KWT/1, 
G/SG/N/7/OMN/1, G/SG/N/11/OMN/1 , 
G/SG/N/7/QAT/1, G/SG/N/11/QAT/1, 
G/SG/N/7/SAU/1, G/SG/N/11/SAU/1  
 
21 October 2016  
(16-5733) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 12.4 OF THE A GREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS BEFORE  TAKING A PROVISIONAL   
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6  
NOTIFICATION PURSUAN T TO ARTICLE 9, FOOT NOTE 2  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
BAHRAIN , KINGDOM OF ; KUWAIT , THE STATE OF ; OMAN, THE SULTANATE OF ; QATAR, 
THE STATE OF ; SAUDI ARABIA, KINGDOM OF ; AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES  
(COOPERATION COUNCIL FOR THE ARAB STATES OF THE GULF "GCC")  
(Ferro Silico Manganese)  
The following communication, dated on 17 October 2016, is being circulated at the req uest of the 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as President of the GCC on behalf of the GCC Member States: Bahrain, 
Kingdom of; Kuwait, the State of; Oman, the Sultanate of; Qatar, the State of; Saudi Arabia, 
Kingdom of; and United Arab Emirates.  
 
_______________  
 
 
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notifies the Committee on Safeguards, on behalf of GCC Member 
States, pursuant to Article 12.4 of the Agreement on Safeguards, and footnote 2 of Article 9 of the 
Agreement on Safeguards that the GCC Bureau of Technical Secretaria t for Anti Injurious Practices 
in International Trade (GCC -TSAIP) hereafter referred as "the Competent Authority" submits its 
notification before taking a provisional safeguard measure on GCC imports of Ferro Silico 
Manganese.  
 
1. Background  
 
As stated in WTO document (G/SG/N/6/ARE/2 -G/SG/N/6/BHR/2 -G/SG/N/6/KWT/2 -
G/SG/N/6/OMN/2 -G/SG/N/6/QAT/2 -G/SG/N/6/SAU/2) a safeguard investigation on Ferro Silico 
Manganese was initiated on 3 October 2016.  
 
2. The product subject to the proposed provisional safeguard meas ure 
 
The product subject to the proposed provisional safeguard measure is Ferro -silico-manganese.  
This product is imported to GCC member countries under HS CODE (72023000) . 
 
3. The proposed provisional safeguard measure  
 
It is proposed to impose a provisio nal safeguard measure in the form of additional duty, which 
is 21% of the CIF value.  
 G/SG/N/7/ARE/1, G/SG/N/11/ARE/1 • G/SG/N/7/BHR/1, G/SG/N/11/BHR /1 • G/SG/N/7/KWT/1, 
G/SG/N/11/KWT/1 • G/SG/N/7/OMN/1, G/SG/N/11/OMN/1 • G/SG/N/7/QAT/1, G/SG/N/11/QAT/1 
• G/SG/N/7/SAU/1, G/SG/N/11/SAU/1  
 
- 2 - 
 
  4.  Entry into force of the proposed provisional safeguard measure  
 
The provisional safeguard measure will come into force from the date determined in the Official 
Gazet te of the GCC -TSAIP. The notice of imposing the provisional safeguard measure is published 
in the Official Gazette of the GCC -TSAIP Volume (9) on 17 October 2016.  
 
5.  The expected duration of the provisional safeguard measure  
 
The provisional safeguard me asure will be applied for two hundred (200) days from the date 
determined in the Official Gazette of the GCC -TSAIP Volume (9) dated on 17 October 2016.  
 
6. (i) Provide Basis for making a preliminary determination, as provided for in 
Article  6, based upon t he fact that increased imports have caused or are 
threatening to cause serious injury as follows:  
 
ABSOLUTE RELATIVE INCREASE IN IMPORTS  
 
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Imports Volume (ton)  34,273.74  40,799.08  112,673.15  125,786.84  
Index  100 119.04  328.74  367.01  
Imports/ production ratio  100 154.11  299.97  451.48  
 
 
The above table shows that there has been a big increase in the imports during the period 
of 2012-2015 by more than 267% in absolute term. Relatively to the domestic production, the 
increase of imports grew by 351.48% during the same period. In addition, the increase in import 
was recent, sharp, sudden and significant.  
 
ECONOMIC IMPACTS  
 
Domestic sales  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Sales Volume  100 90.96  120.76  91.53  
 
The above ta ble shows that the domestic sales decreased during the period 2012 -2015 by 8.47%, 
which affected its market share given the increase in the consumption.  
 
Market share  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Market Share of the Domestic Sales  100 90.31  64.77  50.51  
Market Share of Imports  100 118.19  176.34  202.52  
 
The above table shows that the market share of the domestic sales decreased in 2015 by 49.49% 
compared to 2012, while the market share of the imports increased by 102.52% during the same 
period. The refore, the increased imports have taken over most of the GCC market, and have 
caused a serious injury to the domestic industry.  
 
Profit and loss  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Profit & Loss  100 43.92  32.56  (-225.92)  
 
The above table shows that the  profit has sharply decreased in 2015 by 325.92% compared 
to 2012, marking a significant loss for the complainant in 2015.  G/SG/N/7/ARE/1, G/SG/N/11/ARE/1 • G/SG/N/7/BHR/1, G/SG/N/11/BHR /1 • G/SG/N/7/KWT/1, 
G/SG/N/11/KWT/1 • G/SG/N/7/OMN/1, G/SG/N/11/OMN/1 • G/SG/N/7/QAT/1, G/SG/N/11/QAT/1 
• G/SG/N/7/SAU/1, G/SG/N/11/SAU/1  
 
- 3 - 
 
  Return on investment  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Return on Investment  100 43.93  33.05  (-247) 
 
The above table shows that t he return on investment has sharply decreased during the 
period  2012-2015 by 347%.  
 
Production & capacity utilization  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Production  100 77.24  109.59  81.29  
Capacity Utilization  100 77.24  109.59  81.29  
 
The above table sho ws that the production decreased by 18.71% in 2015 compared to 2012. 
On the other hand, the capacity utilization has also decreased during the period of 2012 -2015 
by 18.71%, which explain the decreasing in the production volume.  
 
Cash flow  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Cash flow  100 (-260.90)  (-74.10)  (-411.16)  
 
The above table shows that the cash flow decreased significantly by 511.16% in 2015 compared 
to 2012.  
 
Employment  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Employees  100 93.49  92.09  60.93  
 
The above table shows that the number of employees has sharply decreased by 39.07% in 2015 
compared to 2012.  
 
Inventory  
(Base year 2012)  2012  2013  2014  2015  
Inventory  100 117.21  123.96  144.63  
 
The above table shows that the Inventory increased by 44.63% in 2015 compared to 2012, which 
indicates that the complainant could not sell its own products inside the GCC market.  
 
EVIDENCE OF SERIOUS INJURY CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS (CAUSATION)  
 
In light of the above, the Competent Authority in the preliminary analys is has concluded that the 
product concerned is being imported to the GCC market in quantities that have increased 
suddenly, sharply and significantly in the recent past, both in absolute term and relative to the 
production. The Competent Authority has exam ined the correlation between the increase in 
imports and the serious injury suffered by the domestic industry such as the decline of sales, 
market share, profits, return on investment, production, capacity utilization, cash flow, and 
employment, as well as  the large increase in inventory. Competent Authority has also examined 
the impact of other factors, other than the massive increase in imports that might cause serious 
injury to the domestic industry, such as trade restrictive practices, consumption, expo rt 
performance and technology. Therefore, the Competent Authority found that there is sufficient 
preliminary evidence to the existence of the causal link between the serious injury caused to the 
domestic industry and the increase of imports of Ferro Silico  Manganese.  
 G/SG/N/7/ARE/1, G/SG/N/11/ARE/1 • G/SG/N/7/BHR/1, G/SG/N/11/BHR /1 • G/SG/N/7/KWT/1, 
G/SG/N/11/KWT/1 • G/SG/N/7/OMN/1, G/SG/N/11/OMN/1 • G/SG/N/7/QAT/1, G/SG/N/11/QAT/1 
• G/SG/N/7/SAU/1, G/SG/N/11/SAU/1  
 
- 4 - 
 
  (ii) Determining the existence of critical circumstances where delay would cause 
damage, which will be difficult to repair  
 
When examining the injury factors, the Competent Authority found that there is an overall 
deterioration of economic ind icators and worsening of financial crises of the domestic industry 
during the period of 2012 -2015. The data showed a significant decline in the production and sales 
volume, as well as a significant increase in inventory volume, prompting the domestic indus try to 
sell at low prices not covering its cost of production, which contributed to the accumulation of the 
debt in the short term and the inability of the complainant to meet its financial obligations. This is 
an addition to the board of Directors decisio n dated on 2 May 2015 about the suspension of 
production and the closure of the plant in case no solution is found.  
 
Accordingly, it is revealed to the Competent Authority through the data and the evidence 
submitted in the complaint that there are critical  circumstances which may lead the domestic 
industry to bankruptcy and plant closure and layoffs. Therefore, any delay of adopting a 
provisional safeguard measure would cause damage which would be difficult to repair. This 
situation requires the application  of the provisions of Article 6 of the Agreement on Safeguards and 
Article 73 of the Regulation, in order to remedy the serious injury faced by the domestic industry.  
 
7. The major exporting countries of imports of the product concerned  
 
Republic of India and Ukraine.  
 
8. Offer of consultations under Article 12.4  
 
Consistent with Article 12.4 of the Agreement on Safeguards, GCC -TSAIP is prepared and ready to 
consult on the provisional safeguard measure with those Members having a substantial interest as 
exporters of the subject products.  
 
9. List of developing countries exempted from the safeguard measure  
 
Afghanistan; Albania; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Bangladesh; Barbados; 
Belize; Benin; Bolivia, Plurinational State of; Botswana; Bra zil; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; 
Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; 
Chinese Taipei; Colombia; Congo; Congo, Democratic Republic of The; Costa Rica; Côte D 'Ivoire; 
Croatia; Cuba; Djibouti; Dominica; D ominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Fiji; Gabon; 
The Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea –Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; 
Honduras; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Jamaica; Jordan; Kenya; Korea, Republic of; 
Kyrgyz  Republic; Lao Peopl e's Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Macao, China; Macedonia, 
The Former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Mauritania; 
Mauritius; Mexico; Moldova, Republic of; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; 
Namibia; Nepa l; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Pakistan; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; 
Peru; Philippines; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and The Grenadines; 
Samoa; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Suriname; 
Swaziland; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Thailand; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; 
Uganda; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; 
and Zimbabwe.  
 
 
__________