WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/Q1/PER/3 
16 March 2005 
 
 (05-1096) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
Questions Posed by BOLIVIA
 
Regarding the Notification of PERU1 
 The following communication, dated 14 March 2005, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Bolivia. 
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 I have the honour to submit herewith the fo llowing questions addressed to the delegation of 
Peru regarding the notification of  its laws, regulations and admi nistrative procedures relating to 
safeguard measures, as contained in documen t G/SG/N/1/PER/2/Suppl.2 of 31 August 2004. 
                                                      
1 G/SG/N/1/PER/2/Suppl.2. G/SG/Q1/PER/3 
Page 2  
 
 Bolivia wishes to thank Peru for the notificati on of its laws, regulations and administrative 
procedures relating to safeguard measures and, at the same time, to pose the following questions: 
Question 1
 
 Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Suprem e Decree on Safeguards No. 017-2004-MINCETUR of 
the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism states that "The general safeguard provided for in the 
WTO Agreement on Safeguards may be applied to any product, including agricultural products". 
Should "agricultural products" be  understood here to mean the pr oducts listed in Annex 1 to the 
Agreement on Agriculture?  If this is the case, wh y would the Agreement on Safeguards apply to this 
kind of product when a special safeguard for such products is provided for in Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture? Is this to remain in effect until completion of the agricultural reform 
process? 
Question 2
 
 Article 29 of the above-mentioned Supreme Decree refers to the preparation of a preliminary 
technical report by the investigating authority. Would Peru please explain whether this report takes 
into consideration factors such as the rate and amount of the increase in imports of the product 
concerned in absolute and relative terms, the shar e of the domestic market taken by increased imports, 
changes in the level of sales, production, produc tivity, capacity utilization, profits and losses, and 
employment.2 
Question 3  
 Article 47 of Supreme Decree No. 017-2004-MINCETUR states that "A safeguard measure 
may be applied again to imports of a product that has previously been subj ect to such a measure, 
adopted in accordance with the Agreem ent, after a period of time equal to half that during which such 
a measure had been previously applied, provided th at the period of non-application is at least two 
years".  Why does Peru omit from its legislation the condition set out in Article 7 of the Agreement on Safeguards, namely that the period may be extende d when the measure conti nues to be necessary to 
prevent or remedy serious injury and when ther e is evidence that the industry is adjusting? 
Question 4
 
 Article 1, paragraph 2, of Supreme Decree No . 020-98-ITINCI of the Ministry of Industry, 
Tourism, Integration and International Trade Negot iations, which is referred to in the communication 
from Peru and regulates the Agreement on Safeguard s and the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, 
states that "The general safeguard provided for in  the WTO Agreement on Safeguards may be applied 
to any product, including agricultural products, with the exception of products subject to the 
provisions of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clot hing which have not yet been integrated into 
the general regime (GATT 1994), pursuant to Article 2 of that Agreement". 
 Given that the textiles and clothing sector  was fully integrated into the GATT 1994 on 
1 January 2005, what, in the opinion of Peru, is the legal status of the Article and the Supreme Decree 
in question? 
Question 5  
 Article 31 of Supreme Decree No. 020-98-INTI NCI refers to the elements which a text 
providing for adoption of a safeguard measure is required to contain.  Would Peru please indicate 
                                                      
2 Article 4.2(a) of the Agreement on Safeguards.  G/SG/Q1/PER/3 
 Page 3 
 
 
 whether the factors for consideration when adoptin g a safeguard measure include the following:  the 
rate and amount of the increase in imports of the product concerned in absolute and relative terms, the 
share of the domestic market taken by increased im ports, changes in the level of sales, production, 
productivity, capacity utilization, profits and losses, and employment, as provided for in Article 4.2(a) of the Agreement on Safeguards. 
Question 6
 
 Would Peru please explain why, pursuant to Article 40 of Supreme Decree 
No. 020-98-INTINCI, the total duration of a safeguard  measure, including the period of application of 
any provisional measure, the period of initial appli cation and any extension thereof, shall not exceed 
six (6) years, when Article 7 of the Agreement on Sa feguards states that the to tal period of application 
of a safeguard measure shall not exceed eight (8) years. 
Question 7  
 With regard to Article 41 of the same legal provision, would Peru please explain why the last 
part of Article 7.4 of the Agreem ent on Safeguards, regarding the pr ocedures to be followed when the 
duration of the measure exceeds three years, was not taken into consider ation in this Article. 
 
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