. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/ADP/AHG/W/175/Rev.3 
15 October 2007 
 (07-4424) 
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
Working Group on Implementation  
 
 
DRAFT RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING  
THE CONDUCT OF VERIFICATIONS 
 
Revision  
 
 
 The Committee notes that Article 6.7 of the Ag reement on Implementation of Article VI of 
GATT 1994 envisages that investigating authoriti es may carry out on-the-spot investigations 
(hereinafter "verifications") in the territory of ot her Members in order to verify or obtain further 
details about information submitted.  The Committee recognizes that the conduct of such verifications 
is not mandatory, and that investigating authorities intending to carry out such verifications must 
obtain the agreement of the firms concerned and canno t proceed when there is an objection on the part 
of the government of the Member in question.    
The Committee is mindful that Annex I of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of 
GATT 1994 contains a series of procedures that Me mbers conducting verifications must apply and 
comply with, and that the results of verifications must be made available or disclosed to the firms 
investigated, and may be made available to the a pplicants, subject to the requirement to protect 
confidentiality.    
The Committee notes that the Ag reement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 
does not prescribe any detailed rules about when or  how firms and governments should be notified of 
an investigating authority's intention to conduct a ve rification.  Nor does it specify in detail either the 
manner in which the results should be  made available or disclosed, nor the precise contents thereof.  
In practice, Members follow a variety of appro aches when addressing these particular aspects of the 
verification process.  The Committee recognizes that these variances may reflect the particularities of 
different national legal structures and/or systems of anti-dumping administration.  Nonetheless, the 
Committee considers that it would be useful to adopt  a recommendation in relation to these particular 
aspects of the verification process with a view to enhancing transparency.    
In the light of the foregoing considerations, the Committee recommends that, in applying the 
provisions of Article 6.7 and Annex I of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of 
GATT 1994, Members should comply with the following:   
 
(a) Notification of [General] Intention to Conduct a Verification
 
An investigating authority should provide  the firms concerned and the relevant 
Member governments[, where practicable,] [at least 30 days] [normally at least 30 
days and where that proves to be impracti cable, the investigating authority will need 
to provide an explanation and to give due allowance to the firms that will need to 
prepare for the visit within a shorter peri od of time] [a reasona ble period of] advance 
written notice of any intention to conduct a verification.[1] 
                                                      
[[1 Notice of the intention to conduct a verification ma de known in the Exporter Questionnaire or in the 
cover letter thereto, shall be deemed to be sufficient advance written notice.] [ Should the notice of intention to G/ADP/AHG/W/175/Rev.3 
Page 2  
 
  The firms concerned should be given a r easonable period of time to agree, and the 
Member governments to object, to the inves tigating authority's intention to conduct a 
verification.  
 
(b) Notification of Information and Documentation to Be Verified
 
In order to allow the firms concerned adequate time to prepare for the verification, the 
investigating authority should provide its intended programme for the verification  
including details on the nature of the inform ation and documents to  be verified, where 
practicable, normally no later than [15] [10] [7] days prior to the proposed date of commencement of the verification.  Where it is not practicable to provide the 
intended programme to the firms with at least [15] [10] [7] [5] days' notice, it shall be 
provided within a reasonable period of time before the commencement of the 
verification. 
(c) Disclosure to Firms Subject to Verification
 
Investigating authorities should disclose or ma ke available to the firms concerned, [a 
full and detailed report of the verificatio n] [the results of the verification 2] [in 
sufficient time to allow parties to defend th eir interests] [no later than 15 days after 
completion of the verification, but in any case no later than 20 days before the disclosure made in accordance with Article 6.9 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994.] [as soon as practicable, but in no case later than [15] [20] days, after completion of the verification.][
3] [within a reasonable period of time 
before the final determination is made.] [20 days before disclosure under Article 6.9 
of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994.] 
The firms concerned should be provided w ith an opportunity to comment [within a 
reasonable period of time] [at least 15 days ] on the [results of the verification] 
[verification report][, before it is finalized].  A copy of the [results of the verification] 
[finalized verification report] should be provi ded to the firms [verified][concerned] in 
sufficient time to defend their interests.  The firms concerned should be requested to identify any confidential information appearing in the finalized verification report.  
(d) [Disclosure to Other Interested Parties
 
A non-confidential version of the [results of the verification should] [verification 
report shall], upon request, be made avai lable to other interested parties.]  
 
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conduct a verification be made known in the Notice of Initiation of an Investigation, exporters shall be reminded 
thereof in the Exporter Questionnaire or the cover letter thereto.]] 
[2 Results of the verification means whether or no t the investigating author ity intends to accept the 
information verified, or the nature of the changes to th e data provided that are re quired as a result of the 
verification.]  
[3 Whenever a verification visit to more than one [firm][interested party] is undertaken, completion of 
the "verification" is understood to mean the completion of the last of the verification visits to the individual 
firms concerned.]