WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/ADP/Q1/SLV/4 
G/SCM/Q1/SLV/4 9 October 2008 
 
(08-4810) 
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 
 
Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES Regarding   
the Notification of EL SALVADOR1 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 8 October 2008, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States.    
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  The United States thanks El Salvador for its  notification and poses the following questions 
with regard to El Salvador's Notification of La ws and Regulations Under Articles 18.5 of the WTO 
Agreement on Anti-dumping and 32.6 of the WT O Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures, Resolution No. 193-2007 (COMIECO-XLIV) :  Central American Regulations on Unfair 
Business Practices (hereinafter Regulations ).   
 
Question 1 
 
 Are the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on 
Tariffs and Trade 1994 (Anti-dumping Agreem ent) and the Agreement on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (Subsidies Agreement) self im plementing under El Salvador's law?  Also, in 
potential cases of conflict between the Anti-dumping Agreement or Subsidies Agreement and the 
Regulations which legal authority takes precedence?    Question 2 
 
 Article 1 (Definitions) of the Regulations notes that interested parties shall be defined in 
accordance with Article 6.11 of the Anti-dumping Agreement and Article 12.9 of the Subsidies 
Agreement.  Will parties be required to register as an "interested party" under El Salvador's law and, if 
so, what will be the time limit for such registration?   
 
Question 3 
  Article 11 (Resolution for the initiation of an i nvestigation) of the Regulations does not make 
clear who will receive notification of the investiga tion initiation, time limits interested parties will 
have to respond to the notification nor who will receive questionnaires following the decision to 
initiate an investigation.   
 
                                                     
 
1 G/ADP/N/1/SLV/3- G/SCM/N/1/SLV/3. G/ADP/Q1/SLV/4 
G/SCM/Q1/SLV/4 Page 2 
 
 
  (a) Could El Salvador please clarify whether all interested parties will be notified or 
whether only those parties named as defendant s will be notified of the investigation 
initiation?   
 
(b) Please clarify who will receive the questionnaires and what the time limits will be for 
responding to such questionnaires as per Artic le 6.1.1 and footnote 15 of the Anti-
dumping Agreement and Article 12.1.1 and foot note 40 of the Subsidies Agreement.   
 
Question 4 
 
 Article 12 (Records and access thereto) and Artic le 13 (Confidentiality)  of the Regulations 
refer to the access that interested parties may ha ve to the confidential data submitted during the 
proceeding and information compiled by the investigating authority.  As provided  for in Article 6.4 of 
the Anti-dumping Agreement, will the investigating au thority place in a public file and make available 
to interested parties non-confidential summaries of in ternally generated reports such as verification 
reports and the calculations used by the investig ating authority in determining margins of dumping 
based on confidential information submitted by all other interested parties?   
 
Question 5 
  Articles 15 (Preliminary determinations), 22 (F inal resolution) and 44 (Publication) of the 
Regulations describe the process for reaching determin ations and resolutions about whether to impose 
preliminary or definitive anti-dumping or countervailing duties, putting those decisions into effect, and publishing the preliminary and final resolutions .  However, Articles 15, 22 and 44 do not explain 
whether the published preliminary and final resoluti ons will contain all the information required by 
Article 12.2 of the Anti-dumping Agreement and Ar ticles 22.3 and 22.5 of the Subsidies Agreement, 
including "all relevant information on the matters of  fact and law which have led to arguments being 
accepted or rejected", "all relevant information on th e matters of fact and law and reasons which have 
led to the imposition of final measur es", and "the reasons for the accep tance or rejection of relevant 
arguments or claims made by the exporters and im porters".  Please confirm that El Salvador will 
include all such information in its pub lished preliminary and final decisions.   
 Question 6 
 
 Article 40 (Duration of definitive measures) of  the Regulations states that "Once a measure 
has been adopted, it may be reviewed at any time during its implementation".  In accordance with 
Article 11 of the Anti-dumping Agreement and Article 21 of the Subsidies Agreement:   
 (a) Please explain whether interested parties will be able to request a review of the 
measure and what specific steps an interested  party would have to take to request a 
review.   
 
(b) Please provide a description of the nature a nd extent of such reviews.  Is there a 
possibility for dumping margins or duties or countervailing duties to be adjusted following completion of a review, or w ill reviews only determine whether the 
measure should be revoked?   
 
(c) At the end of a five-year period, will the investigating authority automatically 
conduct an expiry review or must an expiry review be requested?   
  (i) If the expiry review must be requested, who can request it and what 
procedures will be followed to co nduct the expiry review?    G/ADP/Q1/SLV/4 
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    (ii) If no expiry review is requested, will the measure automatically 
terminate?   
 
Question 7 
 
 Article 46 (Remedies) of the Regulations stat es:  "The remedies provi ded for in the domestic 
legislation of each State Party shall lie against resolutions adopted by na tional authorities.  The 
remedies provided for in the legal instruments of  Central American integration shall lie against 
decisions adopted by regional bodies".  Please clarify whether this means that the laws and regulations 
issued by El Salvador with regard to the provi sion of remedies are now superseded by these 
Regulations.  Furthermore, please clarify that all decisions with regard to  provision of remedies 
adopted by regional bodies must be taken under the provisions of the Regulations and be consistent 
with Article 14 of the Anti-dumping Agreement.    
 
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