WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/Q1/DOM/4 
8 October 2009 
 (09-4868) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
Responses to Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES
1 Regarding  
the Notification of the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC2 
 
  The following communication, dated 5 October 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the Dominican Republic.  
_______________ 
 
 
Question 1
 
 
 Is the WTO Agreement on Safeguar ds (the Agreement on Safeguards) 
self-implementing under Dominican Republic la w?  Assuming that the Agreement is 
self-implementing, in the event of a conflict between the Agreement and the Regulations,  which 
legal authority takes precedence? 
 
Response  
 In accordance with the Constitution of th e Dominican Republic, the WTO Agreement on 
Safeguards takes precedence in the even t of a conflict with domestic law. 
 
Question 2  
 
 The Regulations  identify two organizations as having responsibility for the Dominican 
Republic's safeguard actions:  the Investigat ions Department and the Commission for the 
Regulation of Unfair Trade Practices and Safe guard Measures (hereinafter the Commission).  
Please describe the role of each agency in a safeguard investigation. 
 
Response  
 The sole entity responsible in this area in the Dominican Republic is the Regulatory 
Commission on Unfair Trade Practices and Safeguard Measures, which comprises, inter alia , the 
Investigations Department.   The Commission's duties are set forth in Article 84 of the Law, as follows: 
 
(a) To conduct, at the request of an interested party or ex officio , any investigation 
required for the purposes of this Law and its regulations in order to determine, where 
                                                     
 
1 G/SG/Q1/DOM/3. 
2 G/SG/N/1/DOM/2/Suppl.1. G/SG/Q1/DOM/4 
Page 2  
 
  appropriate, the application of anti-dumpi ng and countervailing duties and safeguard 
measures; 
(b) to issue duly reasoned decisions, in accordan ce with the rules laid down in this Law 
and its regulations; 
(c) to request the implementation of its resoluti ons by the Ministry of Finance, via the 
General Customs Directorate, and such  other government authorities as may be 
involved in procedures and remedi es specified under this Law; 
(d) to appoint the Executive Director of the Commission and technical and administrative 
staff required for the performance of its statutory functions; 
(e) to coordinate with other pub lic institutions representation of the interests of the 
Dominican State in international agencies and other countries in matters falling 
within its sphere of competence; 
(f) to adopt its own rules of procedure and to  draw up and present its budget of income 
and expenditures; 
(g) to set the fees payable for the recepti on and processing of applications for 
investigation." 
 The functions of the Investigations Department  are described in Article 4, first and second 
paragraphs, of the Regulations, as follows:  
"The structure of the Commission shall include, inter alia , an Investigations Department 
composed of professionals with recognized capaci ty, experts in international trade and of 
irreproachable moral standing. 
 
First paragraph.   The Investigations Department shall present the findings of its 
investigations and make proposals a nd recommendations to the Commission. 
 
Second paragraph.   Once empowered by the Commission,  the Investigations Department 
shall be responsible for registration, filing, no tifications, procedures at hearings, verification 
of documentation, keeping the archives and supervising the procedures followed in each 
case."  
 
Question 3
 
 
 Article 247  of the Regulations  (as translated into English) suggests that the Commission 
would be expected to make a determ ination on the merits of the case before  initiating a 
safeguard investigation, as opposed to finding th at the petition or other document requesting an 
investigation contains sufficient information to provide a basis for conducting an investigation.  
(Article 247 states that "[t]he Commission may initiate an investigation ... only when it has 
determined that there is sufficient evidence that ... the investigated product is being imported in such increased quantities and under such conditions ...")  Please explain. 
 
Response
 
 The rule is laid down in Article 247 of the Regulations. 
  G/SG/Q1/DOM/4 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Question 4  
 
 Article 248  of the Regulations  states:  "Immediately after taking a decision regarding 
initiation, the Commission shall provide public wr itten notice of that decision to the exporting 
countries, and shall notify interested parties by  publishing a notice regarding initiation of a 
safeguard investigation in a national daily news paper;  for exporters, the corresponding channel 
shall be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic …"  This article seems to 
indicate that the Commission will provide notifica tion to domestic interested parties and the 
government of the exporting country, and that  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the 
Dominican Republic will provide notification  to foreign exporters of the product under 
investigation.  
 (a) Please identify the government entity th at will notify each category of interested 
parties, including the foreign government  and foreign exporters, and how such 
notifications will be made. 
 
 (b) Please clarify whether the notice of initiation of an investigation will be 
published in an official government gazette, a national newspaper, and/or on an official government website.  Please iden tify the official government gazette, the 
national newspaper, and/or the website.  
 Response
 
(a) In accordance with Articles 64 of the La w and 248 of the Regulations, the Regulatory 
Commission notifies governments whose exports might be affected by the application of a safeguard measure and exporters via th e Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Other 
interested parties are notified directly by the Commission. 
Governments whose exports might be affected by the application of a safeguard 
measure and exporters are notified in wr iting.  For other interested parties, 
notification is generally through a public  notice in a national daily newspaper. 
 
(b) The notice of initiation of an investigati on must be published in a national daily 
newspaper.  The Dominican Re public's national dailies are " El Caribe ", "Hoy", 
"Listín Diario ", "El Nacional ", "El Día ", "El Nuevo Diario " and " Diario Libre ".  
Public notice is also given on the Regulatory Commission's website at:  www.cdc.gob.do
. 
 
Question 5  
 
 Article 249  of the Regulations  gives interested parties 15 days in which to notify their 
interest in participating in the investigation. 
 
 (a) Please explain whether the 15-day time period begins on the day on which the 
party receives actual notification of the investigation or the day on which the 
party receives constructive notification, such as upon publication in an official 
government gazette or national newspaper, as provided for in Article 248. 
 
 (b) Are there provisions allowing for late a cceptance of a request to participate in an 
investigation?  
 G/SG/Q1/DOM/4 
Page 4  
 
  Response
 
(a) For interested parties in the territory  of the Dominican Republic, the 15-day 
time-period begins from the day on which th e notice is published in a national daily 
newspaper.  For parties outside Domini can territory, the 15-day time-period 
commences as of the date of acknowledgment of receipt of the public notice of 
initiation. 
(b) There is no such provision in the Law or in the Regulations. 
 
Question 6  
 
 Article 254  of the Regulations  authorizes the Commission to conduct "on-the-spot" 
investigations to verify or obtain further in formation.  Please describe how these "on-the-spot" 
investigations will be conducted, including whether foreign governments will be notified and whether companies will receive advance notification  of the types of information that will be 
verified or sought during the on-the-spot investigation. 
 
Response
 
 By analogy, the Regulatory Commission would apply the procedure laid down in Articles 62 
and 195 of the Regulations.  The Dominican Republic  will address this question when the case arises. 
 
Question 7  
 
 Articles 260-263  of the Regulations  provide for the holding of a public hearing at the 
request of a participating interested party. 
 
 (a) Is there a specific time period during which a request for a public hearing must 
be filed? 
 
 (b) Are there limitations on the nature of the information that can be submitted by a 
participating interested party in the course of the public hearing, including limitations on the presentation of new information for the record? 
 
 (c) In addition to the record of the hearing that the administering authority will 
place on the public file, will non-confidential versions of individual submissions made at the hearing be placed on the pub lic file so that all parties may have 
access to those submissions?  
 Response
 
(a) The public notice of initiation of the investigation contains a timetable specifying the 
date proposed for the final determination.  This timetable informs the parties of the 
time-period during which a request for a public hearing must be filed. 
(b) There are no limitations in the Regulations on the nature of the information submitted 
at a public hearing. 
(c) The public versions of the submissions made by the parties at the hearing are 
included in the public file.  G/SG/Q1/DOM/4 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
Question 8  
 
 Article 264  of the Regulations  (provisional relief measures) suggests that when critical 
circumstances are alleged in the petition, an investigation will be conducted before a 
determination is made regarding whether critic al circumstances exist.  However, Article 264 
does not indicate the duration of that invest igation or describe the procedures that will be 
followed. 
 
 (a) Please indicate the likely duration of any such investigation of critical 
circumstances and describe the proc edures that will be followed. 
 
 (b) Please indicate whether interested parti es will be notified of the proceeding and 
given an opportunity to provide information and make their views known?  
 Response
 
 In regard to critical circumstances, Article 264( v) of the Regulations establishes "the basis for 
the determination of critical circumstances, where delay would cause damage that would be difficult to repair, and the basis for the determination of th e existence of clear eviden ce that the investigated 
product is being imported in such increased quan tities and under such conditions as to cause or 
threaten to cause serious injury to the domes tic industry producing like or directly competitive 
products". 
  The determination of whether critical circumstanc es exist forms part of the investigation up to 
the stage when the preliminary determination is made.  
(a) According to Article 74 of the Law, th e maximum duration of the preliminary 
investigation is 60 days.  The determination of whether critical circumstances exist is an integral part of the investigation process at that stage in the procedure. 
(b) The initiation of the investigation is notified to interested parties, which are granted 
the applicable time-period for presenting an y evidence or arguments they consider 
necessary in defence of their in terests in the investigation. 
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