WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/Q1/VNM/1 
7 April 2010 
 (10-1820) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES Regarding
  
the Notification of VIET NAM1 
 
  The following communication, dated 1 April 2010, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United States.  
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  The United States thanks Viet Nam for its notif ication and poses the following questions with 
regard to Viet Nam's notification of Ordi nance No. 42/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated 25 May 2002 on 
Safeguards in the Import of Foreign Goods into Viet Nam [hereinafter Ordinance ] and Decree 
No. 150/2003/ND-CP dated 8 December 2003 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on 
Safeguards in the Import of Foreign Goods into Viet Nam [hereinafter Decree ].   
 
Question 1 
  Is the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (hereinafter Agreement on Safeguards) self 
implementing under Vietnamese law?  Assuming that the Agreement on Safeguards is self-
implementing, please clarify what legal authority ta kes precedence in the even t of a conflict between 
the Ordinance , the Decree  and the Agreement on Safeguards?  We point out that Article 31 -
 
Settlement of disputes and handling of infringements  of the Ordinance  states the "The settlement of 
disputes and handling of infringements shall comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law and the 
international treaties which Viet Nam has signed or acceded to".  However, it is not clear which legal 
authority takes precedence in the case of a conflict.    
Question 2 
  With regard to Article 3 – Safeguard Measures
 of the Ordinance , Viet Nam states that a 
measure may take the form of an import tariff, quo ta or "other measures to be stipulated by the 
Government".  Please clarify whether the "other m easures" are those outlined in Article 2 of the 
Decree .   
 Question 3 
 
 Article 4.1 – Interpretation of Terms
 - of the Ordinance  defines the term "excessive import 
of goods" to mean the importati on of goods "with a volume, quantity  or value increasing, absolutely 
or relatively, as compared to the volume, quantity or value of like products or directly competitive 
                                                      
1 G/SG/N/1/VNM/1.   G/SG/Q1/VNM/1 
Page 2  
 
  product".  Please explain what is meant by "excessive ".  Is this term intended to have the same 
meaning as the term "import surge", which is defined in Article 4.1 of the Decree?   
 
Question 4 
  Article 4.2 – Interpretation of Terms
 of the Ordinance  defines the term "serious injury to the 
domestic industry" relying upon the same wording u sed to define the term "domestic industry", but 
does not define the term "serious injury".  Article 4. 2 of the Decree defines the term 'serious injury' in 
a manner that closely follows the wording of th e definition in the WTO Safeguards Agreement.  
Which definition would the Ministry of Tr ade apply in making a determination?   
 
Question 5  
 
 Article 7 – Consultation  of the Ordinance  states that the Ministry of Trade "may consult" the 
interested parties during the investigation and with  respect to safeguard measures "in order to create 
conditions for all the interested parties to expr ess their opinions and supply necessary information".  
Article 10 of the Decree  appears to expand upon this provision wh en it states that the parties will have 
the "right to present evidence in writing, present th eir arguments, to participate in debate and to 
express their opinions on the socio-economic benefits" of remedy measures.  Please explain how this provision is consistent with Artic le 3.1 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.  In particular, please 
clarify the following:   
 
• The processes and procedures under which Viet Nam will hold hearings during the course 
of a safeguard proceeding.   
• How and where Viet Nam will provide "reasonable notice to all interested parties" and 
whether there will be a public hearing.    
• The information that will be available to inte rested parties, including whether the petition 
and other submissions by the petitioner will be  part of a public record that will be 
available to other interested parties.   
 
Question 6  
 
 Article 18 - Investigation duration a nd publication of investigation results
 of the Ordinance  
notes that the Ministry of Trade will publicize the r esults of a safeguard investigation, Article 11 -  
Notification on the temporary application of safeguard measures  of the Decree  notes that the decision 
to impose a temporary safeguard measure will be publicized and Article 14 - Notification on the 
application of safeguard measures  of the Decree  identifies the information to be published when a 
safeguard measure is to be imposed;  however, no other articles in either the Ordinance  or the Decree  
discuss when or how information pertaining to a safe guard investigation will be  publicized, notified to 
interested parties, or transmitted to  the WTO Committee on Safeguards.   
 
 1. Please clarify how and in what publication or forum Viet Nam will publicize the 
initiation of a safeguard investigation, the inform ation that will be contained in the notice of 
initiation, and the deadlin es associated with the safeguard proceeding.   
 
 2. Please confirm that Viet Nam will notify the Members of the WTO Safeguards 
Committee when it has initiated a safeguard inves tigation as required by Article 12.1(a) of the 
Agreement on Safeguards, in addition to no tifying the Committee prior to imposition of 
provisional measures.   
  3. Please explain how interested parties to th e investigation will be notified of decisions 
made, upcoming deadlines and hearings dur ing the course of the proceeding.    G/SG/Q1/VNM/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Question 7 
 
 Article 14.2 - Supply of information to the investigation process  of the Ordinance  states that 
the Ministry of Trade will be responsible "to keep information confidential according [to] the 
provisions of law".  Please identify the "provisions  of law" to which Article 14.2 refers.   
 
Question 8 
 
 Article 9 - Confidentiality  of the Decree  notes that the Ministry of Trade shall respect the 
confidentiality of information submitted by parti es during a safeguard proceeding.  Please clarify 
whether parties are required to submit for the pub lic file non-confidential summaries of the 
confidential information submitted, as required by Ar ticle 3.2 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.   
  In addition, please clarify whether public summa ries of confidential information referred to 
in Article 10 - Consultation in the investigation process
 of the Decree, including aggregation of data, 
will also be made available to interested parties during the investigation and prior to determinations 
made by the investigating authorities so that inter ested parties are able to use such information in 
making their arguments and defending their interests.   Please explain how interested parties will have 
access to this information on a timely basis.    
Question 9 
 
 Please clarify the procedures interested par ties must follow to obtain a refund under 
Article 12 - Refund of import tax differences due to the temporary application of safeguard measures
 
of the Decree .  If the Finance Ministry is charged with  implementing that process, please identify the 
document explaining the refund procedure and how a re fund may be obtained by interested parties.   
 
  
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