G/SG/Q1/EU/1  
 
3 September 2015  
(15-4437)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UN ITED STATES REGARDING 
THE NOTIFICATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION1 
The following communication, dated 28 August 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States. 
 
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The United States thanks the European Union for the notification of the Regulation (EU) 2015/478 
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2015 on common rules for imports (codification) dated 9 June 2015 and poses the following questions: 
 
Question 1  
Paragraph (7) of the introduction to the Regulati on states "{t}he Commission should be informed 
by the Member States of any danger created by trends in imports which might call for Union surveillance or the application of safeguard measur es". Could the EU please clarify the following: 
 
a.  What is the process by which interested parties notify the Member States of a desire for 
surveillance or for safeguard measures? 
b.  If a Member State declines to express an interested party's desire for surveillance or for 
the initiation of a safeguard proceeding to the Commission, does the interested party have 
any recourse to request surveillance or the init iation of a safeguard proceeding directly to 
the Commission? 
c.  What steps do Member States take to verify the accuracy of information submitted by 
interested parties prior to presenting that information to the Commission? 
d.  Can Member States, on their own initiative, request surveillance or a safeguard proceeding 
from the Commission?  If so, what information are the Member States requested to submit 
to the Commission? 
e.  Does the party requesting surveillance n eed to demonstrate the degree to which the 
appropriate domestic industry supports the reques t?  If so, how will this be determined?  
 
Question 2  
Paragraph (14) of the introduction to the Regulation states "{a}n investigation should  precede the 
application of any safeguard measure, subject to the reservation that the Commission be allowed in urgent cases to apply provisional measures" (emphasis added). Please explain the circumstances under which a measure could be imposed without a preceding investigation, other 
than the noted exception for provisional measures?  
 Question 3 
 
Please clarify, with regard to Article 3(5) of the Regulation, whether the referenced time-limit will be a set time-limit for every proceeding or whether this time limit may vary for different 
proceedings. How will the Commission inform interested parties of the time limits envisioned under 
this Article? 
                                               
1 G/SG/N/1/EU/2 (dated 12 June 2015). G/SG/Q1/EU/1 
 
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  Question 4  
 Article 5(1) of the Regulation states "{t}he Commission shall provide information to the Member States concerning its analysis of the information normally within 21 days of the date on which the 
information is provided to the Commission". Will  the analysis be placed on the record of the 
proceeding? Will interested parties be able to review and comment on such analysis during the ongoing safeguard proceeding? 
 
Question 5  Article 5(5) of the Regulation states "{t}he Commission may hear the interested parties". 
However, no additional information is provided on hearings held during the course of a safeguard 
proceeding. Could the Commi ssion please clarify: 
 
a.  Will public hearings be held for every safeguard proceeding or only when requested? 
b.  For any information presented orally, will interested parties be required to submit that 
information in written form as well for inclusion in the public file of the proceeding and for 
consideration by the administering authority? 
c.  Does the Commission have the ability to deny interested parties the ability to present 
information orally?  
 
Question 6 
 Article 5(6) of the Regulation states "{w}here the Commission finds that any interested party or 
third party has supplied it with false or misleading information, it shall disregard that information 
and may make use of facts available". Please confirm that these "facts available" must also be made available for review and comment by interested parties. 
 
Question 7  Article 10(1)(a) of the Regulation discusses retrospective Union surveillance. Please clarify how 
such retrospective surveillance will be carried  out and how the retrospective surveillance may 
differ from imposing new surveillance.  
Question 8 
 Article 14(1)(b) of the Regulation states "{d}ifferent provisions may be laid down at the same 
time and by the same procedure as the surveillance arrangements". Please clarify the nature of 
these "different provisions" and their intended impact of a surveillance or safeguard proceeding.   
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