WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/ADP/Q1/CHN/67 
G/SCM/Q1/CHN/67 17 June 2008 
 
(08-2823) 
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Original:   English 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER  
ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS 
 
Replies to Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES1 
Regarding the Notification of CHINA2 
  
 The following communication, dated 3 June 2008, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of China.   
 
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 Question 1 
 
 According to Article 4 (4) of the  Rules , "[o]thers" may be designated as "[i]nterested 
parties" which, according to Article 7 of the Rules , would have access to public information.  
Please describe how the Ministry of Commer ce (MOFCOM) will designate other interested 
parties (case by case, application, etc.) as referenced in Article 6.11 of the Agreement on 
Implementation of Article VI of the Gen eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the 
Antidumping Agreement).  For example, will foreign governments other than the exporting 
Member's government be designated interested  parties for the purposes of accessing public 
information?    
Reply
 
 
 This provision is in accordance with Article 6.11 of the ADA.  "Others" refers to parties other 
than those listed in the previous provisions whose inte rests are affected by the investigation.  They can 
make applications in specific cases.  If the Investig ating Authority accepts the applications, they can 
participate in the investigation and ga in access to the public information.   
 
Question 2  
 
 Article 8 of the Rules  describes the types of "public information" made available to 
interested parties.    
a. Which provision of Article 8 would provide that non-confidential summaries of 
all public and private meetings between MOFCOM and interested parties be made available to all interested parties as denoted in Articles 6.1.2 and 6.3 of the 
Antidumping Agreement?   
 
                                                     
 
1 G/ADP/Q1/CHN/64 - G/SCM/Q1/CHN/64.   
2 G/ADP/N/1/CHN/2/Suppl.6.   G/ADP/Q1/CHN/67 
G/SCM/Q1/CHN/67 Page 2 
 
 
  Reply
 
 
 All the meetings between the Investigating Auth ority and interested parties are held upon the 
requests of interested parties.  Interested parti es are also required to provide the information they 
present at the meeting in writing.  Minutes of su ch meetings as well as the public text or non-
confidential summary of the documents submitted are all put in the Public Reading Room for 
consultation.  Related provision can  be found in Article 8(6).   
 
b. Please also detail how public informat ion will be made available to interested 
parties in a timely manner pursuant to Article 6.4 of the Antidumping Agreement.   
 
Reply
 
 
 Article 14 of the Rules provides that the pub lic text or non-confidential summary of the 
relevant materials submitted by interested parti es shall be put into the Public Reading Room for 
consultation within 7 working days after their recepti on.  It also provides that other materials listed in 
Article 8 which are made or obtained by the Inve stigating Authority shall be sent to the Public 
Reading Room within 10 days in general.  This ar ticle ensures that the public information will be 
made available to interested parties in a timely manner.   
 
Question 3  
 
 Please explain how interested parties will be given the opportunity to rebut assertions 
made in a meeting between MOFCOM and an intere sted party, consistent with the opportunity 
to comment as described in Article 22 of the Rules  and Article 6.2 of the Antidumping 
Agreement.   
 Reply
 
  As indicated in the answer to Question 2a, in terested parties shall provide written submissions 
for the assertions made in a meeting with the Investig ating Authority so that other interested parties 
can be informed of the contents of the meeting th rough minutes of the meeting and public text or non-
confidential summary of the submissions in the P ublic Reading Room.  They can either ask for 
meetings with the Investigating Authority or ma ke written submissions to rebut such assertions.   
 Question 4  
 
 Article 15 of the Rules  appears to state that interested  parties can only access public 
information for six months after a definitive determination.   
 
a. Please confirm that this is a correct interpretation of Article 15 of the Rules .  If 
so, how would interested parties gain a ccess to public information, beyond six 
months, in the event of a judicial proceeding?  What is the purpose of this provision?   
 
Reply
 
 
 The Rules merely apply to injury inves tigation procedures of an anti-dumping case and 
information access, and disclosure in the investiga tions of industry injury for reviews shall be 
implemented with reference to the Rules accord ing to Article 24.  Article 15 has taken into  G/ADP/Q1/CHN/67 
 G/SCM/Q1/CHN/67 
 Page 3 
 
 
  consideration the need for administrative review, wh ile the information access in judicial proceedings 
should be implemented in line with the rele vant rules of judicial proceedings.   
 
b. Please explain what difference, if any,  there is between the information made 
available to interested parties under the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Rules  after publication of the definitive determination, and the information 
made available during the pendency of the investigation pursuant to the first 
paragraph of Article 15.    
 Reply
 
  The information itself does not differ and all the public information in the course of an 
investigation is disclosed within the time limit.  While the information available after the definitive 
determination is obviously more complete than that  available in the course of an investigation.   
 
Question 5  
 
 Article 20 of the Rules  states that an information disclosure is to be made 30 days before 
the definitive determination unless there are circ umstances under which "it is not appropriate 
to disclose certain facts in the said period of ti me".  What are the nature of the circumstances 
under which the Chinese authority would not discl ose information 30 days before its definitive 
determination?   
 Reply
 
  The WTO Anti-dumping Agreement does not provide a definite standard on the time of 
information disclosure.  In this regard, China belie ves that a 30-day period is  a reasonable time limit 
in light of its experiences.  At the same time, Article  22 ensures that interested parties have 10 days to 
comment on the information disclosed.  In particular  circumstances, when certain facts need further 
verification for example, it is possible that the di sclosure be postponed.  So far that has never 
happened and disclosure has been made 30 days befo re the definitive determination in each case.   
 
 
 
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