WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/16/DOM/1 
8 April 2010 
 
 (10-1833) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION RELATING TO THE TRANSITIONAL PRODUCT-SPECIFIC 
SAFEGUARD MEASURE PURSUANT TO SECTION 16 OF PART I 
OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF 
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
 
(Lavatories and washbasins
) 
  
 The following communication, dated 6 April 2010, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Dominican Republic.  
_______________ 
 
 
 The Dominican Republic hereby notifies Resolution No. CDC-RD-SG-063-2010, of 
16 March 2010, published in the newspaper Hoy of the Dominican Republic on 5 April 2010, 
whereby the Regulatory Commission on Unfair Tr ade Practices and Safeguard Measures of the 
Dominican Republic decided, upon application and purs uant to Article 59 of Law No. 1-02, to initiate 
an investigation with a view to the imposition of  special safeguard measures on imports of porcelain 
lavatories and porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or pe destal washbasins of Chinese origin, classified 
under tariff headings 6910.10.30 and 6910.10 .10 of the Dominican Republic's Tariff. 
  This notification, together with its anne xes, is made under Article 12.1(a) of the 
WTO Agreement on Safeguards.  To this end, the Dominican Republic submits the following 
documents: 
 
• Notice of the initiation of an investigation pr ocedure with a view to the application of 
a safeguard measure, based on the format set out in Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards; 
• Resolution No. CDC-RD-SG-063-2010 of 16 March 2010.
1 
                                                      
1 A copy of Resolution No. CDC-RD-SG-063-2010 (in Spanish only) has been submitted 
electronically.  Anyone wishing to consult this document should contact Ms Budd (hilary.budd@wto.org) or 
Ms Naville (delphine.naville@wto.org) from the Rules Division. G/SG/N/16/DOM/1 
Page 2  
 
  Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agre ement on Safeguards and taking into account the 
format adopted by the Committee on Safeguards for notifications under that Agreement, the 
Dominican Republic hereby notifies that its comp etent authority has initiated a special safeguards 
procedure in respect of imports of porcelain lavatories and porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or pedestal washbasins originating from th e People's Republic of China, as follows: 
 
Date of initiation of the investigation 
 
 5 April 2010, by means of a notice published in the newspaper Hoy and on the Regulatory 
Commission website.  A copy of the Resolution in itiating the investigation is attached hereto. 
 
Product subject to the investigation 
 
 Porcelain lavatories and porcelain built-in, wa ll-mounted or pedestal washbasins originating 
from the People's Republic of China.  The products are currently classified under tariff 
headings 6910.10.10 and 6910.10.30 of the Sp anish version of the Harmonized Commodity 
Description and Coding System, which incorpor ates the fourth amendment thereto (HS 2007). 
 
Reasons for the initiation of the investigation 
 
(a) The investigation was initiated at the requ est of the company Sanitarios Dominicanos, 
S.A. in its capacity as the domestic industry and on the basis of the information and 
evidence which it submitted. 
(b) An analysis of trends in imports of Chinese origin in relation to the production of 
porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or pedestal washbasins by the Dominican Republic shows that imports represented 18.34 per cen t of domestic production in 2009, while 
imports in the porcelain lavatories market represented 21.6 per cent.  According to the 
evidence which has been submitted to date and which the Commission itself has been 
able to gather, imports of porcelain lava tories and porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or 
pedestal washbasins of Chinese origin ha ve accounted for a sizeable share of the 
Dominican market. 
(c) Using the information and evidence supplied by the applicant, the Regulatory 
Commission, in its capacity as the investiga ting authority of the Dominican Republic, 
found that, in principle, the cumulative 84 per cent increase in the volume of imports of porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or pedest al washbasins and 50 per cent increase in 
imports of lavatories during the period of i nvestigation would appear to be the cause 
of the disruption of the Dominican market  and therefore of the injury facing the 
domestic industry that translates into a fall of 21 per cent in production of porcelain 
lavatories and a fall of 26 per cent in the production of porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or pedestal washbasins in 2009 compared with 2006, as well as a decline of 33 per cent in their overall sal es and a significant loss of share in the 
domestic market for porcelain lavatories and porcelain built-in, wall-mounted or 
pedestal washbasins in the same period. 
Means for corresponding 
 
 Any communication made in accordance with th e relevant provisions shall indicate the name, 
domicile, address, e-mail address and telephone and fa x numbers of the sender, and be sent to the 
following address: 
  G/SG/N/16/DOM/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Comisión Reguladora de Prácticas Desleales en el Comercio y Medidas de Salvaguardias 
Calle Jesús de Manuel Troncoso Nº 18 Esq. Francisco Carias Lavandier Ensanche Paraiso Santo Domingo (República Dominicana) 
Tel.: +1 (809) 476-0111 
 
Tentative schedule of the investigation 
 
(a) The date of initiation of the investigation (as of the publication of the notice in a 
national newspaper); 
(b) the deadline for other interested parties to notify the Commission of their interest in 
participating in the investigation ( 15 days after the date of initiation); 
(c) the deadline for filing arguments concerning the possible application of a safeguard 
measure (30 days as from the date of initiation); 
(d) the deadline for holding the hearing (60 days before the final determination). 
 
__________