. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SG/Q1/ECU/9 
3 October 2012 
 (12-5353) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES 
Regarding the Notification of ECUADOR1 
   The following communication, dated 1 October 2012, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United States.  
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  The United States thanks Ecuador for its notification of Resolution No. 43 of the Foreign 
Trade Committee entitled  "Requirements and Procedures for the Application of Safeguard Measures" , 
(hereinafter  Resolution No. 43) and poses the following questions: 
 
Question 1 
 
 Article 1(c) of Resolution No. 43  defines domestic industry as "{t}he producers as a whole of 
the like or directly competitive products operating within the national territory are those whose 
collective output of like or directly competitive products constitutes at least 40 per cent of total 
domestic production of those products that are claimed to be affected by the increased imports", and 
25 per cent if the industry is "fragmented producers and small and medium enterprises".  This is in 
contrast to Article 4.1(c) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, which states that the term domestic industry "shall be understood to mean the producer s as a whole of the like or directly competitive 
products operating within the territory of a Member, or those whose collective output of the like or 
directly competitive products constitutes a major pr oportion of the total domestic production of those 
products".  The definition that Ecuador would use in Resolution No. 43 appears to define the term 
"producers as whole" in an internally inconsiste nt manner, as the producers accounting for 25 per cent 
or 40 per cent of domestic production would by  definition account for less than all domestic 
production and therefore could not be "the producer s as a whole of the like or directly competitive 
products operating within the territory of a Member ".  Please explain how Ecuador's definition is 
consistent with the definition in Article 4. 1(c) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.   
 
Question 2 
  With regards to Article 1(c), please also expl ain whether Ecuador's definition would allow the 
competent authority, in determining whether a domestic industry is seriously injured or threatened with serious injury, to focus on evidence relating to  the condition of some domestic producers, so long 
as they accounted for at least 25 per cent or 40 per cent of the domestic production, while disregarding 
evidence relating to the condition of domestic produ cers that account for much or all of remaining 
domestic production.  
                                                      
1 G/SG/N/1/ECU/6.   G/SG/Q1/ECU/9 
Page 2  
 
  Question 3 
 
 Again, with regards to Article 1(c), please explain how Ecuador determined that the 25 and 
40 per cent shares of total domestic production should be the thresholds that constitute a "major 
proportion" for purposes of Article 4.1(c) of th e WTO Agreement on Safeguards.  Also, please 
explain whether Ecuador is pre-determining whethe r these percentages of domestic production will be 
sufficient to constitute a "major proportion of th e domestic production" in each case.  If so, please 
explain how Ecuador found these thr esholds to be determinative. 
 
Question 4 
 
 Article 1(f) identifies five types of entities that  may be considered to be "interested parties" 
but also indicates that "not necessarily" all of them  would be.  Under what circumstances might an 
exporter or foreign producer of the imported produc t, for example, not be an interested party? 
 
Question 5 
 
 Article 1(f) also states that in terested parties can be "{d}omes tic industrial users and domestic 
consumers, provided they are representative  and it is possible to identify them".  Please clarify what 
factors would the investigating authority examine to determine whether domestic industrial users and 
domestic consumers are "representative" and, thereby, considered to be interested parties.  Also, at 
what phase of the investigation and in what form w ould information be requested by the investigating 
authority to assist its making of such a determination?  
Question 6 
  Please explain what types of entities would fall u nder the provisions of Article 1(f)(5) that the 
investigating authority might "deem" to be interest ed parties.  Please also identify any factors that 
would be examined during this process.  
Question 7 
  The Second General Provision provides that the investigating authority "shall guarantee that 
the duly recognized parties that have established a genuine interest in the investigation are given 
access to non confidential information in the file and to the non confidential summary".  Please 
delineate the process and procedures by which in terested parties are able to access the non-
confidential information in the file and the non-confidential summary information.   
 
  
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