. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/GEN/90 
17 November 2005 
 (05-5436) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
  
 
 
ACCESS TO NON-CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION  
 
Paper from the United States
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 16 November 2005, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United Sates.  
 The submitting delegation has requested that th is paper, which was submitted to the Rules 
Negotiating Group as an informal document (JOB(05)/ 293), also be circulated as a formal document. 
_______________ 
 
 
 All Members of the WTO will benefit by ensu ring that the public can access non-confidential 
information gathered by investigating authorities in  antidumping and countervai ling duty proceedings.  
Public access to information is essential to maximizi ng transparency, consistency and predictability in 
such proceedings.  Therefore, Article 6 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) and Article 12 of the 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measur es (ASCM) should be clarified and improved to 
guarantee the public access to that information.   There are many reasons members of the public have an interest in accessing the non-confidential information gathered in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.  Most 
importantly, exporters, producers and importers ha ve a legitimate need to:  (1) research how 
proceedings are conducted so that they can better prepare for proceedings in which they may be 
involved; (2) examine how similarly situated pa rties in other cases have been treated; and (3) 
generally, be able to defend fully their interests in  the course of particular proceedings.  However, 
exporters, producers and importers are not the only par ties with a legitimate interest in accessing the 
non-confidential information.  As already recognized  by Article 6.12 of the ADA and Article 12.10 of 
the ASCM, industrial users and consumers have le gitimate interests in trade remedy proceedings; 
their ability to participate under those provisions is severely curtailed if they do not have access to non-confidential information.  Further, civil societ y, academics and other members of the public have 
important interests in being permitted to access non-confidential information in trade remedy proceedings to better understand the policies adopted by Member governments.      
 Creating a system of publicly accessible files is  also in the interest of Members and their 
authorities.  Providing access to the relevant documen ts increases public confidence in the functioning 
of the investigating authority, which strengthe ns the ability of the government to enforce its 
determinations.  Further, making such informati on available to the public, which obviously includes 
administrators from other countries, allows other Members to benefit from the national experience of 
the investigating Member in addressing similar issues  in their own cases.  Moreover, maintenance of a 
well-organized non-confidential file also ensures the availability of a complete evidentiary record to 
support final determinations that may be reviewable  in domestic judicial processes or other dispute 
settlement proceedings, and will reduce disagreemen ts about what information was before the 
authorities in a particular proceeding.   TN/RL/GEN/90 
Page 2  
 
  
 In the view of the United States, the public can be given access to non-confidential documents 
in a manner which does not harm the integrity of  the investigatory process, and does not impose 
unreasonable burdens on trade remedy authoriti es.  First, the ADA and ASCM protect any 
information which is “by nature confidential,” or  which is “provided on a confidential basis.”
1  
Second, rules can be devised to ensure orderly acces s to the information, without unduly restricting 
such access.  Third, rules can be devised to avoid imposing u nnecessary costs on authorities for 
providing access.    The United States proposes amending Article 6 of the ADA and Article 12 of the ASCM by 
adding the following: 
 
6.15 [12.13] Members shall maintain a facility, open  for a specified, reasonable period 
during normal working hours, where any person can,  without charge or appointment, review 
all non-confidential documents submitted to or obtained by the authority in an anti-dumping 
[countervailing duty] proceeding.  Such documen ts shall be organized in a manner easily 
accessible to any person visiting such facility, and a complete index of documents in the 
possession of the authority shall be available to that person to facilitate the identification and 
location of particular documents in the file.  It  is desirable that such documents and indices 
also be available over the Internet.  Members sha ll also make available in this facility a file of 
all public notices, in chronological order, i ssued pursuant to Article 12 [22], as well as 
copies of any documents submitted to the Co mmittee on Anti-Dumping Practices pursuant to 
Article 16.4 [Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures pursuant to 
Article 25.11] of this Agreement.  Members sha ll permit any non-confidential document in the 
facility to be copied at the reas onable expense of the person accessing it.
2  Members shall 
notify the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices [Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures] of the location, ope ning hours, and the name and contact 
information of a person responsible for facilitating access to the facility. 
 
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1 See Articles 6.5 of the ADA and 12.4 of the ASCM. 
2 The United States is open to discussing the definitio n of “reasonable expense, ” but suggests that the 
expense to the person accessing and copy ing the document should be no greater  than the cost incurred by the 
authority to provide the copy.