. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/GEN/91 
17 November 2005 
 (05-5435) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
 
 
NEW SHIPPER REVIEWS (ADA Article 9.5)  
 
Paper from the United States  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 16 November 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of the United Sates. 
  The submitting delegation has requested that th is paper, which was submitted to the Rules 
Negotiating Group as an informal document (JOB(05)/ 294), also be circulated as a formal document. 
 
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 The United States and other Members have prev iously suggested that  the Rules Negotiating 
Group discuss clarifications and improvements to Article 9.5 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) 
to ensure correct use and application of the "n ew shipper" procedure in anti-dumping proceedings.
1  In 
our view, Article 9.5 was designed to strike a bala nce between the needs of legitimate new shippers 
and the needs of injured domestic industries seeki ng to ensure that anti-dumping orders remain 
effective, also taking into account the need for effect ive administration of this procedure.  However, it 
has been our experience that the provision is increasingly being exploited by exporters who have no 
legitimate claim to be new shippers. 
    As we previously noted in TN/RL/W/72 and TN/RL/GEN/11, the United States has experienced a number of cases in which parties re quested reviews under Article 9.5 without revealing 
their relationship to firms already subject to a measur e.  In this way, parties have managed to delay 
levying of anti-dumping duties to which they should be subject.   
  It is not in the interest of any Member to allow such practices to continue.  They not only 
undermine the effectiveness of the ADA, they also prejudice the interests of legitimate new shippers 
by diverting the authority’s resources.  In the view  of the United States, the best way to avoid such 
abuses is to require parties to establish that they ar e not related to any of the parties currently subject 
to duties and that they have engaged in bona fi de sales to the importing Member.  Legitimate new 
shippers with little legal or ope rational connection to their comp etitors should have little trouble 
meeting this requirement based on publicly available information.   As suggested in TN/RL/GEN/11, the United States is also proposing to eliminate the 
requirement that new shipper reviews be initiated a nd carried out on an accelerated basis compared to 
normal duty assessment and review proceedings.  First,  the meaning of this requirement is unclear as 
applied to Members that conduct reviews only on an in termittent basis.  Further, for the United States, 
this requirement has produced a series of "off cy cle" reviews that impose significant administrative 
burdens.  The purpose of this change is not to de lay reviews, but to allow more orderly conduct of 
reviews.  In this regard, the United States is r eady to discuss proposals to require conduct of new 
shipper reviews on the same cycle as other reviews, as well as proposals to establish appropriate 
deadlines for completion of reviews.  
                                                     
 
1 TN/RL/W/72, 19 March 2003; TN/RL/W/110, 22 May 2003; see also  TN/RL/W/81, 23 April 2003.  TN/RL/GEN/91 
Page 2  
 
 Proposed amendments: 
 
9.5 If a product is subject to anti-dumping duties in an importing Member, the 
authorities shall promptly carry out a review for the purpose of determining individual margins of dumping for any exporters or pr oducers in the exporting country in question 
who have not exported the product to the importing Member during the period of 
investigation, provided that these exporters or producers can show that they are not 
related to any of the exporters or producers in the exporting country who are subject to 
the anti-dumping duties on the product.  Suc h a review shall be initiated and carried out 
on an accelerated basis, compared to normal  duty assessment and review proceedings in 
the importing Member.   Within [ X ] months after the initiation of such a review, the 
authority shall make a threshold determina tion whether the exporter or producer has 
shown that it is not related to any of the exporters or producers in the exporting country 
who are subject to the anti- dumping duties on the product, and has shown that it has 
engaged in bona fide commercial sales to th e importing Member (examining such factors 
as normal commercial quantities, channels and methods of distribution, and the timing, 
pricing, terms and process of sales).  If the authority determines that the exporters or 
producers have so shown,  no anti-dumping duties shall be levied on imports from such 
exporters or producers for the remainder of the review.  while the review is being carried 
out.  The authorities may, however, withhold appraisement and/or request guarantees to 
ensure that, should such a review result in a determination of dumping in respect of such 
producers or exporters, anti-dumping duties can be levied retroactively to the date of the 
initiation of the review. 
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