WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2 13 February 2008 
 
(08-0659) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2, 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(C) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
(EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING MEASURE)  
 
PHILIPPINES 
 
(Ceramic Floor and Wall Tiles) 
 
Supplement
 
  
 The following communication, dated 8 February 20 08, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines.   
 
_______________ 
 
  
 Further to G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.1 da ted 26 January 2007, and as provided under 
Article 12(c) of the Agreement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the WTO 
notifies that the safeguard measure on ceramic wall a nd floor tiles has been extended for four years.  
The safeguard duty applicable from 21 January 2008 shall be Pesos 2.00 per kilogram, and the duty 
will be subject to an annual review for the purpose of  reducing it as part of the adjustment process for 
the domestic industry.  The Order itself is ava ilable in the WTO Secret ariat for inspection by 
interested WTO Members.   
  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2 Page 2 
 
 
  IN THE MATTER OF THE FINAL EXTENSI ON OF THE DEFINITIVE GENERAL 
SAFEGUARD MEASURE AGAINST THE IMPORTATION OF CERAMIC FLOOR AND 
WALL TILES FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES 
 
(AHTN Code Nos. 6907.9010, 6907.9090, 6908.9011,  
6908.9019, 6908.9021, 6908.9029, 6908.9090) 
(Safeguard Investigation No. 01-2007) 
 
Ceramic Tile Manufacturers' Association 
Petitioner 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 
ORDER 
 
  On 16 August 2007, the DTI received a le tter from the Ceramic Tile Manufacturers' 
Association (CTMA) requesting for the extension of the definitive general safeguard measure on 
ceramic floor and wall tiles from various countries for another four (4) years.  CTMA claimed that the 
domestic industry needed additiona l time to implement its adjustme nt plan and make it globally 
competitive.  They cited the Tariff Commission's Monitoring Report to attest that the domestic 
industry has been serious and invested time and resour ces in its adjustment plan.  They stated that the 
final extension would ensure that they would be able to commercially implement their project to 
reduce cost of energy using alternative sources.  Petitioner claimed that they were not able to 
complete their adjustment plan for reasons beyond their control.   
 
 Section 19 (2) of RA 8800 (Safeguard Measures Act) provides that "the petitioner may 
appeal to the Secretary at least ninety (90) da ys before the expiration of the measure for an 
extension of the period by stating concrete reaso ns for the need thereof and a description of the 
industry's adjustment performance and future plan.  The Secretary shall immediately refer the request to the Commission.  Following the pr ocedures required under Sect ion 9, the Commission 
shall then submit a report to the Secretary not lat er than sixty (60) days from its receipt of the 
request.  Within seven (7) days from receipt of the report, the Secretary shall issue an order granting or denying the petition.  In case an exte nsion is granted, the same shall be more liberal 
than the initial application".    
 Pursuant to the above-cited provisions of RA 8800, on 03 September 2007, DTI referred to 
the Tariff Commission the request of CTMA for fina l extension of the defini tive general safeguard 
measures on imported ceramic floor and wall tiles.     On 10 December 2007, DTI received a copy of the Commission's Report of Findings on the petition for the final extension of the definitive ge neral safeguard measure on ceramic floor and wall 
tiles from various countries.  The Commission concluded that:  "the collective output of the two (2) 
applicant companies constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of ceramic 
tiles.  The volume of imports in 2006 returned to  surge level.  With excess production capacity of 
tile manufacturers (especially China) , imports are expected to continue to enter the country.  
Serious injury caused by increased imports is still being suffered by the domestic industry and will 
likely continue if the safeguard measure is re moved.  Despite the price advantage with the 
safeguard measure, market share continues to  erode resulting to increasing financial losses.  
Without the measure, the domestic industry will no t be able to finance its adjustment plan.  The 
domestic industry is making positive adjustment to import competition.  It was able to enhance its 
efficiency through energy conservation measures, re duced glazing material cost and expansion of  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
 G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2  Page 3 
 
 
  distribution network.  Unless safeguard action is extended, the industry will find difficulty to 
complete its adjustment plan to effectively face import competition". 
 
 The Commission found that an extension of th e measure is necessary to  prevent and remedy 
the serious injury as the domestic industry is ma king positive adjustment to import competition.  
Since the anticipated distribution pipelines (Malampa ya-Batangas) for natural gas, which could have 
reduced production cost by about 40 per cent, is not likely in the near future, the industry has to find 
alternative sources of energy in the short term if  it is to reduce its costs and make the industry 
competitive against imports.  Thus, the Commissi on recommended that the action be extended for 
another three (3) years – the timeframe given to th e industry to fully implement its adjustment plan 
and be competitive against imports.     The DTI reviewed the Commission's findings and recommendations and has established that 
the final extension of the definitive general safegua rd measure shall be in the public interest.  The 
proposed measure is only temporary and will progressi vely be liberalized.  Competition will return to 
its normal level.  The consumers retain the optio n to choose between local and imported tiles as there 
are no quantitative restrictions on imports.  The domestic industry has made adequate efforts to 
comply with its adjustment plans by reducing its energy consumption, intensifying its marketing 
programs, expanding its distribution network an d introducing new designs and loan reduction 
programs.  Investments in waste-heat recovery sy stems and modification of various equipment were 
made to soften the impact of escalating fuel costs.  The continuation of the imposition of the definitive 
general safeguard measure will give additional time to the domestic industry to fully implement its 
adjustment plan.     IN VIEW THEREOF , and in accordance with Section 19(2) of RA 8800, the following is 
hereby issued:   
 1. Considering that Section 15, paragraph 2 of RA 8800 and Rule 15.2 of its IRR provide that 
the effective period of the measure, including any extension thereof may not in the aggregate exceed 
ten (10) years, the imposition of the definitive general safeguard measure shall be extended for 
another four (4) years.  Therefore, this is the fi nal extension of this measure.  Moreover, as provided 
under Section 15 (4) of RA 8800 and Rule 15.8 of its  IRR, any further petition for safeguard measure 
for the same articles shall not be accepted within two (2) years after the expiration of this measure.  
The amount of P
2.00/kg shall be imposed on the first year of the final extension of the definitive 
general safeguard measure on ceram ic floor and wall tiles from various  countries.  The measure shall 
continue to be liberalized annually for the remaini ng years of the extension period to the extent of 
redressing or preventing the injury and to facilita te adjustment by the domestic industry from the 
adverse effects directly attributed to increased imports.    2. The imported ceramic tiles, however, from Japan and the member states of the European Union, which cannot be considered "like product or directly competitive product" as defined in 
Section 4 of RA 8800, are excluded from the imposi tion of the extended defi nitive general safeguard 
measure.   
 3. 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 product originat ing from a developing country if its share to 
total Philippine imports of the said product is le ss than three percent (3%):  Provided, however, 
that developing countries with less than three percent (3%) share collectively account for not 
more than nine percent (9%) of the total Ph ilippine imports of the product concerned".  The 
following countries and separate customs territories are therefore excluded from the imposition of the 
extended definitive general safeguard measu re on ceramic floor and wall tiles:   G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2 Page 4 
 
 
   
 
East & Southern Africa West Africa 
Angola 
Botswana 
Burundi 
Comoros Congo. Dem. Rep. Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia 
Kenya 
Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mauritius Mozambique 
Namibia 
Réunion 
Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Africa Sudan 
Swaziland 
Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Benin 
Burkina Faso 
Cameroon 
Cape Verde Central African Rep. Chad Congo, Rep. Cote d'Ivoire 
Equatorial Guinea 
Gabon Gambia, The Ghana Guinea 
Guinea-Bissau 
Liberia 
Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Sao Tome & Principe 
Senegal  
Sierra Leone Togo 
North Africa South Asia 
Algeria Egypt, Arab Rep. Libya 
Morocco 
Tunisia Afghanistan 
Bangladesh Bhutan 
British Indian Ocean Territory 
East Timor Maldives Nepal Pakistan 
Sri Lanka 
 
 
Americas 
Anguilla 
Antigua and Barbuda 
Argentina 
Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize 
Bermuda 
Bolivia British Virgin Is. Cayman Islands Chile Colombia 
Costa Rica 
Cuba Dominica Dominican Rep. 
Ecuador 
El Salvador 
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) French Guiana Granada Guadeloupe 
Guatemala 
Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Martinique 
Mexico 
Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Norfolk Is. 
Panama 
Paraguay 
Peru Puerto Rico St. Helena St. Kitts & Nevis 
St. Lucia 
St. Pierre & Miquelon St. Vincent & the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad & Tobago Turks and Caicos Is. 
Uruguay 
US Virgin Island Venezuela 
  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
 G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2  Page 5 
 
 
   
Europe & Central Asia Middle East East Asia & Pacific 
Albania 
Armenia Azerbaijan 
Belarus 
Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic 
Estonia 
Georgia Greenland Hungary Kazakhstan 
Kyrgyz Republic 
Latvia Lithuania Macedonia, FYR Malta 
Moldova 
Poland Romania Russian Federation Slovakia Slovenia 
Tajikistan 
Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan 
Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep. Bahrain 
Iran, Islamic Rep. Iraq 
Israel 
Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar 
Saudi Arabia 
Syrian Arab Rep. West Bank & Gaza Yemen, Rep. American Samoa 
Brunei Darussalam Cambodia 
Christmas Is. 
Cocos (Keeling) Is. Cook Is. Fiji French Polynesia Guam 
Johnston Is. 
Kiribati Korea, Dem. Rep. Lao PDR Macao, China 
Marshall Islands 
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Midway Is. Mongolia Myanmar 
Nauru 
New Caledonia Niue Northern Marianas Island Palau Papua New Guinea 
Pitcairn Is. 
Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands Tokelau 
Tonga 
Tuvalu Vanuatu Wake Is. Wallis and Futuna Is. 
  The composition of the developing countries on the de minimis  list may change depending on 
the most recent data available during the annual review which will be conducted by DTI within the 
extension period.    
 The application of the extended definitive ge neral safeguard measure shall be monitored and 
reviewed in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of RA 8800.     All importers of ceramic floor and wall tiles, regardless of port of exportation are required to 
secure a Certificate of Country of Origin (CO) issu ed by the authorized ag ency/office in the source 
country of manufacture as authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/Consulate thereat.   
 G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.2 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.2 Page 6 
 
 
   This Order shall take effect upon the issu ance of the relevant Memorandum Order by the 
Bureau of Customs or 15 days after the publication of this Order in two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation, whichever comes earlier.    
 Let this Order be published in two (2) newspa pers of general circul ation and let individual 
notices be sent to all interested parties including the country members concerned.    SO ORDERED.    
 
21 January 2008     PETER B. FAVILA Secretary 
 
  
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