G/SG/N/8/PHL/8/Suppl.3  
G/SG/N/10/PHL/7/Suppl.2  
G/SG/N/11/PHL/9/Suppl.3  
 
17 January 2014  
(14-0249)  Page: 1/4  
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 
(EXTENSION OF THE MEASURE) 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
PHILIPPINES 
(Testliner board) 
Supplement 
The following notification, dated 8 January 2014,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines.1 
 
_______________ 
  
Further to the Philippine notification G/SG/N/7/PHL/8–G/SG/N/8/PHL/8–G/SG/N/11/PHL/9 
circulated on 10 June 2010 and notification G/SG/N/8/PHL/8/Suppl.1-G/SG/N/10/PHL/7-G/SG/N/11/PHL/9/Suppl.1 circulated on 11 August 2011, and pursuant to Articles 12.1(b) 
and 12.1(c) and Article 9, footnote 2, of the Ag reement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of 
the Philippines to the WTO hereby notifies that a decision to extend the application of a definitive safeguard measure on testliner board from various countries has been made.
 
 1  SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THER OF CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS 
 Pursuant to Section 19(2) of RA 8800, Depart ment of Trade and Industry referred to Tariff 
Commission, the request of PPMAI for an extension of the definitive general safeguard measure on 
imported testliner board. The Commission concluded that:  
a. The production output of the domestic in dustry, represented by  UPPC, constituted a 
major proportion of the total domestic prod uction of testliner board. The domestic 
industry has undertaken serious efforts to comply with its adjustment plan and there is 
evidence that the industry is making positive adjustment to import competition. 
b. The current safeguard measure is effective. The volume of imports reverted to its pre-
surge level. The domestic testliner board industry has shown improvements in its market share, production, domestic sales, capacity utilization, labor productivity, employment 
and cost of production. 
                                               
1 A copy of the DTI Order Extension has been submitte d electronically. 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/8/Suppl.3 • G/SG/N/10/PH L/7/Suppl.2 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/9/Suppl.3 
 
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  c. While the safeguard measure has proven to be effective, the threat of increased imports 
that can cause serious injury to the domestic industry remains. 
d. The Philippines will continue to be a target market for imported testliner board. 
Discontinuance of the imposition of the safeguard measure will likely lead to the 
domestic industry. 
e. The removal of the safeguard duty will make it  difficult for the domestic industry to price 
its products at a level to at least recover cost to produce and sell. 
f. Without the safeguard measure, the positive gains made by the domestic industry may 
be negated as it still needs time to fully put in place its commitments in the adjustment plan and effectively face import competition. 
2  PRECISE DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT INVOLVED 
Testliner board is the outer layer of the corrugate d board glued to the peaks, thus making a liner-
fluting-liner sandwich. The product is classified under HS Codes 4805.24.00, 4805.25.10 and 4805.25.90. 
 
3  PRECISE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED MEASURE 
i. The imposition of the definitive general safeguard measure on testliner board shall 
be extended for another three (3) years wi th an annual rate of reduction of 5%. 
Thus, a definitive general safeguard duty in the amount of Php 1150.60/MT shall be imposed on the first year, Php 1093.07/MT, for the second year and Php 1038.42/MT, for the third year on imported testliner board from various 
countries. The amount of the duty shall be subject to an annual review to give 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the flexibility to modify the amount of the 
duty if necessary. 
ii. 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 pr oduct originating from a developing 
country if its share to the total Philippi ne imports of the said product is less 
than three percent (3%): Provided, howe ver that developing countries with 
less than three percent (3%) share collectively account for not more than nine percent (9%) of the total Phili ppine imports of the product concerned ”. 
The countries and separate customs territories listed in Annex A are therefore 
excluded from the imposition of the defini tive general safeguard measure on testliner 
board. 
4  DATE OF INTRODUCTION OF THE DE FINITIVE GENERAL SAFEGUARD MEASURE 
The safeguard measure shall take effect 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. 
 
5  EXPECTED DURATION OF THE MEASURE 
The safeguard measure will be applied for three (3) years from the date of entry into force. 
 
6  EXPECTED TIMETABLE FOR PROGRESSIVE LIBERALIZATION OF THE MEASURE 
If extended, the measure shall be liberalized afte r three (3) years from the date of entry into 
force. 
 
7  MAJOR EXPORTING MEMBERS OF IMPORTS OF THE PRODUCT INVOLVED: 
South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are the major suppliers of the 
imported product in 2012. 
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/8/Suppl.3 • G/SG/N/10/PH L/7/Suppl.2 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/9/Suppl.3 
 
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  LIST OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND SEPARATE CUSTOMS 
TERRITORIES EXCLUDED FROM TH E IMPOSITION OF DEFINITIVE 
SAFEGUARD MEASURE ON TESTLINER BOARDS 
 
East & Southern 
Africa West Africa 
 North Africa 
 South Asia 
 
Angola Benin Algeria Afghanistan 
Botswana Burkina Faso Egypt, Arab Rep. Bangladesh 
Burundi Cameroon Libya Bhutan 
Comoros Cape Verde Morocco British Indian Ocean 
Congo Dem. Rep. Chad Tunisia    Territory 
Djibouti Central African Rep.  East Timor 
Eritrea Congo Rep.   India 
Ethiopia Cote d'Ivoire  Maldives 
Kenya Equatorial Guinea  Nepal 
Lesotho Gabon  Pakistan 
Madagascar Gambia, The  Sri Lanka 
Malawi Ghana   
Mauritius Guinea   
Mozambique Guinea, Bissau   
Namibia Liberia   
Reunion Mali   
Rwanda Mauritania   
Seychelles Niger   
Somalia Nigeria   
South Africa Sao Tome & Principe   
Sudan Senegal   
Swaziland Sierra Leone   
Tanzania Togo   
Uganda    
Zambia    
Zimbabwe    
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/8/Suppl.3 • G/SG/N/10/PH L/7/Suppl.2 • G/SG/N/11/PHL/9/Suppl.3 
 
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Europe & Central 
Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Albania Bahrain Anguilla American Samoa 
Armenia Iran, Islamic Rep. Antigua & Barbuda Brunei Darussalam 
Azerbaijan Iraq Argentina Cambodia 
Belarus Israel Aruba Christmas Is. 
Bosnia & Jordan Bahamas Cocos (Keeling) Is. 
     Herzegovina Kuwait Barbados Cook Is. 
Bulgaria Lebanon Belize Fiji 
Croatia Oman Bermuda French Polynesia 
Cyprus Qatar Bolivia Guam 
Czech Republic Syrian Arab Rep. Brazil Hong Kong, China 
Estonia United Arab Emirates British Virgin Islands Indonesia 
Georgia West Bank & Gaza Cayman Islands Johnston Is. 
Greenland Yemen, Rep. Chile Kiribati 
Hungary  Colombia Korea, Dem. Rep. 
Kazakhstan  Costa Rica Lao, PDR 
Kyrgyz Republic  Cuba Macau, China 
Latvia  Dominica Marshall Islands 
Lithuania  Dominican Rep. Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 
Macedonia, FYR  Ecuador Midway Is. 
Malta  El Salvador Mongolia 
Moldova  Falkland Is. (Malvinas) Myanmar 
Poland  French Guiana Nauru 
Romania  Grenada New Caledonia 
Russian Federation  Guadeloupe Niue 
Slovakia  Guatemala Northern Marianas Is. 
Slovenia  Guyana Palau 
Tajikistan  Haiti Pitcaim Is. 
Turkey  Honduras Papua New Guinea 
Turkmenistan  Jamaica Samoa 
Ukraine  Martinique Solomon Islands 
Uzbekistan  Mexico Tokelau 
Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep.   Montserrat Tonga 
  Netherland Antilles Tuvalu 
  Nicaragua Vanuatu 
  Norfolk Islands Wake Is. 
  Panama Wallis & Futuna Is. 
  Paraguay  
  Peru  
  Puerto Rico  
  St. Helena  
  St. Kitts & Nevis  
  St. Lucia  
  St. Pierre & Miquelon  
  St. Vincent & the   
       Grenadines  
  Suriname  
  Trinidad & Tobago  
  Turks & Caicos Islands  
  Uruguay  
  US Virgin Islands  
  Venezuela  
 
 
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