WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/738 
G/SG/N/12/NOR/1 7 April 2005 
 
(05-1450) 
Council for Trade in Goods 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.5 OF THE 
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS TO THE COUNCIL FOR 
TRADE IN GOODS OF PROPOSED SUSPENSION OF CONCESSIONS 
AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS REFERRED TO IN PARAGRAPH 2 OF 
ARTICLE 8 OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
 
NORWAY 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 6 April 2005, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Norway.    
_______________ 
 
 
 Pursuant to Article 12.5 of the Agreement on Safeguards, and in accordance with the agreed 
format for notifications, as contained in G/SG/1 dated 1 July 1996, Norway provides the immediate 
notification to the Council for Trade in Goods of proposed suspension of concessions and other 
obligations referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Agreement on Safeguards. 
 1. Which Member is proposing suspension of co ncessions and other obligations referred to 
in Article 8.2? 
 
 Norway.  
2. Specify the measure, the product subject to the measure, the WTO document that 
notified the safeguard measure, and the Me mber imposing the measure in relation to 
which the Member is proposing suspension of concessions and other obligations referred to in Article 8.2 
 
 The measure is imposed by the European Co mmunities on imports of farmed (other than 
wild) salmon, whether or not filleted, fresh, chilled or frozen.  The measure is imposed for the period 
6 February 2005 to 13 August 2008.   
The European Communities’ measure consists of: 
 
(i) a system of tariff quotas beyond which an additional duty will be applied;  Norway 
has been allocated a country share of the tariff quota; 
(ii) a system of minimum import price, which a pplies to all imports, whether within or 
in excess of the tariff quota;  and 
(iii) a security to be provided on impor tation payable by all importers. 
 
 G/L/738 
G/SG/N/12/NOR/1 Page 2 
 
 
  The European Communities’ measure h as been notified in G/SG/N/8/EEC/3 - 
G/SG/N/10/EEC/3 - G/SG/N/11/EEC/3/Suppl.1 (dated 10 January 2005) and G/SG/N/8/EEC/3/Suppl.1 - G/SG/N/10/EEC/3/Suppl.1 - G/SG/N/11/EEC/3/Suppl.2 (dated 14 February 2005). 
 
3. Describe the proposed suspension of con cessions and other obligations referred to in 
Article 8.2, and the proposed date from which it will come into effect 
 
 The proposed suspension of substantially equi valent concessions and ot her obligations under 
GATT 1994 to the trade of the European Commun ities takes the form of an additional duty of 
100 per cent or 30 per cent respectively on imports into Norway of selected products originating in the 
European Communities, as indicated in Annex I.   The substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations under GATT 1994 were 
calculated as indicated in Annex II.  
  Without prejudice of the effective exercise of its rights to suspend substantially equivalent 
concessions or other obligations referred to in Ar ticle 8.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards, Norway 
hereby reserves its rights to apply the proposed suspension from 6 February 2008 or from the fifth day following the date of a decision by the WTO Dis pute Settlement Body that the safeguard measure 
imposed by the European Communitie s is incompatible with the WTO Agreements, if that is the 
earlier date, and until the European Comm unities’ safeguard measure is lifted. 
   G/L/738 
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 ANNEX I 
 
 The products covered are determined by th e Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding 
System (HS) codes1 only. 
 
I. List of products subject to an additional rate of duty of 100 per cent 
 
01019011  Live horses (other than pure-bred breeding animals) of more than six months 03019100   Trout, live  
03019901   Salmon, live  
030211    Trout, fresh  030212    Salmon, fresh   030311    Salmon, sockeye, frozen   030319    Salmon, Pacific, excluding sockeye, frozen  
030321    Trout, frozen  
030322    Salmon, Atlantic, frozen  03041011-29  Salmon a nd trout, frozen or chilled fillets and other fish meat  
03042010-20 & 99 Salmon and trout, frozen  fillets and other fish meat 
03042039   Cod, frozen fillets  030541    Frozen, smoked including fillets  
03054900   Other fish, smoked including fillets  
05119191-99  Industrial fish, fish waste, not fit for consumption 07019018 Potatoes from 15 May to 15 July (other than new potatoes) not peeled or 
shelled 
07019029  Potatoes from 16 July to 14 May not peeled or shelled 
15041091   Medicinal oil  
15042099   Fish, other fats and oils, not for feed purpose, not fish-liver oils  15161020   Fish/mammals, fats/oils, not for feed purpose  160411    Salmon, brince-cured or prepared  16041301  Sardin, sardinella and br isling, in oil/tomato, smoked  
23091011 Dog food put up for retail sale. Containing meat or meat offal of land 
animals, in airtight containers 
23091012 Cat food put up for retail sale. Containing meat or meat offal of land animals, 
in airtight containers 
23091091 Dog food put up for retail sale.  Other than containing meat or meat offal of 
land animals, in airtight containers 
23091092 Cat food put up for retail sale.  Other than containing meat or meat offal of 
land animals, in airtight containers 
 
                                                     
 
1 As defined in the Norwegian Commodity List for External Trade Statistics 2004 by 
Statistics Norway. G/L/738 
G/SG/N/12/NOR/1 Page 4 
 
 
 II. List of products subject to an additional rate of duty of 30 per cent 
03011000   Ornamental fish, live  
03049008 
   Other fish, frozen fishmeat  
03061302   Shrimps, boiled, with shell, frozen  
03061900 Other crustaceans, flours, meals and pellets of crustaceans, fit for human 
consumption, frozen  
03072901       Scallops, frozen  07020011  Tomatoes, fresh or chilled, from 1 November to 9 May 07096010 Sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum va r. Annuum), fresh or chilled. From 1 
June to 30 November 
07096020 Sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum va r. Annuum), fresh or chilled. From 
1 December to 31 May 
08044000  Avocados, fresh or dried 08051090  Oranges, fresh or dried. Other than for feed purpose 
08052090 Mandarins (including tangerines a nd satsumas), clementines, wilkings and 
similar citrus hybrids, fresh or dried. Other than for feed purpose 
08061011  Table grapes, fresh, from 1 August to 28/29 February 08081022  Apples, fresh, from 1 December to 30 April 08082012  Pears, fresh, from 1 December to 10 August 08105000  Kiwifruit, fresh 
16041204            Herring, ”Appetite”-herrings , ”gaffelbiter” (pieces of pickled fillets) and 
similar preserved pickled herrings  
16041205   Herring, spice cured  16041600   Anchovies, prepared/preserved  16041902   Cod, merely coated with batter or breadcrumbs, frozen  
16041903   Saithe, merely coated w ith batter or breadcrumbs, frozen  
16041905   Other fish, merely coated with batter or breadcrumbs, frozen  16041909   Other fish, prepared/preserved, not frozen  16042004   Other fish products, prepared, frozen  16042005   Fish balls, cakes and puddings, not frozen  16042009   Other fish, prepared/preserved, not frozen  
16043002   Fish, caviar substitutes, prepared/preserved  
16052004   Shrimps, peeled, frozen, in containers weighing 2 kg or less  16052005   Shrimps, peeled, prepared/preserved, in brine  16052009   Shrimps, prepared/preserved, not peeled frozen/in brine  16054000   Other crustaceans, prepared/preserved  
16059009   Other molluscs/invertebrates, prepared/preserved 
22041009  Sparkling wine of an alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 2.5 per cent 
22042109 Wine of fresh grapes, other than sp arkling wine, of an alcoholic strength by 
volume of above 2.5 per cent, in containers holding 2 litres or less 
22042909 Wine of fresh grapes, other than sp arkling wine, of an alcoholic strength by 
volume of above 2.5 per cent, in containers holding more than 2 litres 
   
   G/L/738 
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 ANNEX II 
 
A. The substantially equivalent concessions  or other obligations under GATT 1994 were 
calculated as follows: 
 
1. The effects on trade of the initial minimum import price (MIP) set at 2.70 euro/kg on whole 
fish equivalent (WFE) basis in respect of  the main product imported into the EC from 
Norway, i.e. fresh or chilled salmon:  Th e minimum price mechanism would for such 
calculations be transformed to a fixed amount of  duty equal to the difference between the MIP 
set by the EC and the corresponding average EC import price of 2.62 euro/kg from Norway 
during the last three years (2002-2004).  This duty of 0.08 euro/kg has been applied on the average imports (2002-2004) of fresh or chilled salmon from Norway during the period 06.02 – 15.04 (i.e. of 282,860,000 kgs multiplied 69/ 365).  This element results in a level of 
duty of 4,277,000 euro. 
 
2. The effects on trade of the MIP set at 2.85 euro/kg WFE in respect of the main product 
imported into the EC from Norway, i.e. fre sh or chilled salmon:  The minimum price 
mechanism would for such calcula tions be transformed to a fixed amount of duty equal to the 
difference between the MIP set by the EC and the corresponding average EC import price of 
2.62 euro/kg from Norway during the last three years (2002-2004).  This duty of 0.23 euro/kg 
has been applied on the average EC imports  (2002-2004) of fresh or chilled salmon from 
Norway during the period 16.04 – 05.02 (i .e. 282,860,000 kgs multiplied 296/365).  This 
element results in a level of duty of 52,759,000 euro. 
 3. The effects on trade of the security (guarantee)  required for the release of goods:  The security 
amounts to 0.29 euro/kg WFE.  This element of the measure would thus be 0.29 euro/kg 
calculated on the basis of average EC imports of all farmed salmon (2002-2004) from Norway on a whole year basis, i.e. of 333,522,000 kgs.  This element resu lts in a level of duty 
of 96,721,000 euro. 
 
Thus the European Communities’ measure results in  an increased level of duty equal to at least 
153,757,000 euro annually.  
  B. To maintain a substantially equivalent level of concessions and other obligations under 
GATT 1994, Norway’s proposed suspension of con cession on the products listed in Annex I would 
result in 153,073,000 euro of duty collected by affecting some 363,619,000 euro of Norwegian 
imports originating in the European Commun ities (based on the average of 2002, 2003 and 2004).
2  
Further details are provided in Table 1. 
 
 
                                                      
2 The calculation of values in euro was based on recorded annual average of daily exchange rates of 
2002, 2003 and 2004, as published by Norges Bank (the Central Bank of Norway), which results in an average 
of 7.9609 euro/NOK. G/L/738 
G/SG/N/12/NOR/1 Page 6 
 
 
 Table 1
 
 
 Norwegian imports 
originating in the EC 
(Average of 2002-2004 in 
euro) Proposed 
increase in rate 
of  
duty Theoretical duty 
collected in euro 
Products subject to 100% increase in duty  62,839,000 100% 62,839,000
Products subject to 30 % increase in duty 300,780,000 30% 90,234,000
All products subject to increased duty 363,619,000  153,073,000
 
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