G/SG/Q2/UKR/3  
 
27 June 2016  
(16-3449)  Page: 1/2  
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 UNDER ARTICLE 12.1( С) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UN ITED STATES REGARDING 
THE NOTIFICATION OF UKRAINE1 
(Flexible porous plates, blocks and sheets of polyurethane foams) 
The following communication, dated 23 June 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States. 
 
_______________ 
 
 The United States thanks Ukraine for its Article 12.1(b) and (c) notifications regarding its investigation of flexible porous plates, blocks and sheets of polyurethane foams, as well as its 
notification pursuant to Article 9, footnote 2 of  the WTO Agreement on Safeguards ("Agreement"), 
and poses the following questions: 
Question 1 
It appears from the notification that there are three petitioning firms and that those firms 
constitute a major proportion ( e.g., more than 50%, as per the notification) of total domestic 
production. Please clarify whether there are other Ukrainian producers. If so, did Ukraine gather 
data from them and include the data in the industry data that formed the basis for the 
determination.  
Question 2 Looking at the various data elements in the noti fication, it appears that Ukraine made a present 
(i.e., May 2016) serious injury finding based primarily on data from 2012-14. Did the competent 
authorities gather data for 2015? If not, please explain why not, particularly given the inclusion of partial year 2015 and 2016 import pricing data. 
Question 3 
Article 9.1 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards  ("Agreement") provides for special treatment for 
a developing country if its market share is le ss than 3% and where the developing countries' 
aggregate share is less than 9%. Footnote 2 to Article 9.1 provides that "[a] Member shall 
immediately notify an action taken under paragraph 1 of Article 9 to the Committee on Safeguards." Most Members comply with the foot note 2 obligation by providing a list of the 
                                               
1 G/SG/N/8/UKR/5-G/SG/N/10/UKR/5-G/SG/N/11/UKR/5 (dated 10 June 2016). G/SG/Q2/UKR/3 
 
- 2 - 
 
  developing countries excluded from a measure, and developing countries generally see this as a 
vital transparency step, as notifications are often the best method to know whether a measure will be applied to them. 
Ukraine's notification provides a list of least developed countries as determined by the United 
Nations. Please explain why Ukraine limited its li st only to least developed countries, and did not 
include all developing countries that are Members of the WTO, as provided for in Article 9.1. 
Also, the list of least developed countries from the United Nations2 includes Yemen; however, 
Ukraine did not list Yemen in its notification. Please explain this omission.  
Question 4 Ukraine's notification states that "[a]ccording to  the List of Least Developed Countries of [the] 
United Nations 'special safeguards measures' do not apply ..." (emphasis added). Please explain 
the relevance of the term "special safeguards measures" in relation to the safeguard measures 
covered under the Agreement. 
Question 5 
Related to the responses to questions 3 and 4 abov e, please indicate when Ukraine will submit a 
corrected or revised notification. 
 
__________  
                                               
2 http://www.un.org/en/development /desa/policy/cdp/ldc/ldc_list.pdf .