WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/ADP/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 
G/SCM/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 13 May 2008 
 
(08-2220) 
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 ALBANIA2 
 
Supplement  
 
  The following communication, dated 8 May 2008, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Albania.   
 
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Question 10  
 
 a. Article 19(2)(b) of the Law, concerning examination of price effects, states that 
the authority examines "whether there has been hindered, at an evident rate, the increase of prices, which normally hand
 to happen".  Articles 22(1) and 22(3)(b) 
of the Law also have unclear translations or  meanings.  Could Albania please 
provide clearer translations and explain the intended purpose of these three provisions?   
 
Reply
 
 
 After the translation regulations, the Articles 19, 22 (also all over the law) are as follows:   
 
Article 19 
Examination of volume of dumped or subsidised 
imports and their effect on the prices  
 
1. The ministry requests from the customs author ities monthly reports with regard to the volume 
of dumped or subsidised imports, if there is evident increase of subsidised or dumped imports, 
whether in absolute terms or compared to the produc tion or consumption in the Republic of Albania.   
 
2. With regard to the effects of dumped or subsidised imports in the prices in the domestic 
market, the ministry examines:     a) whether there has been an y evident reduction in price leading to the interruption of 
the production of the like product;   
                                                     
 
1 G/ADP/Q1/ALB/5 - G/SCM/Q1/ALB/5.   
2 G/ADP/N/1/ALB/2.   G/ADP/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 
G/SCM/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 Page 2 
 
 
   b) whether there has been delayed, at an evident rate, the increase of prices, which 
normally would have had occurred.   
 
Article 22 
Threat of material injury  
 
1. The threat for material injury shall be dete rmined in a situation during, which a substantial 
injury can happen.    
2. The commission determines the existence of the th reat for material injury based on the facts.   
 3. The commission shall, in determining the exis tence of the threat for material injury, in 
addition to the factors mentioned in Article 21 of this law, examine also the following factors:   
 
 a) type of subsidy/ies and eventual effects on the market;   
 b) significant rate of increase of dumped or  subsidised imports, indicating the likelihood 
of substantially increased imports;   
c) prices of imports, to prevent a discriminating effect of prices of Albanian products, 
which would probably increase de mand for further imports;   
ç) capacity growth of exporters, which woul d increase considerably the entry into the 
domestic market of the dumped or subsid ised imports, taking into account other 
export markets, which could absorb additional exports;   
 d) the supply or inventory of the product being investigated.    4. Where it is established that a threat of inju ry caused by dumped or subsidised import exists, 
the commission takes decisions on the implementation of the antidumping or countervailing measures.   
 
 b. Article 20(a) of the Law states that imports from multiple countries under 
investigation are eligible for cumula tion pursuant to Article 3.3 of the 
Antidumping Agreement and Article 15.3 of the Subsidies Agreement only if 
"the volume of imports from each country  is considerable".  Please explain the 
intended meaning of "considerable" in this context, i.e., is "considerable" meant 
to mirror the negligibility threshold described in Article 27(3) of the Law?   
 
Reply
 
 
 After the translation regulations, the Articles 20 a nd 27 (also all over the law) are as follows:   
 
Article 20 
Accumulation 
 
 Where imports of like products from more th an one country are simultaneously subject to 
investigation for antidumping or countervailing m easures, the commission evaluates in a summary 
their effect, only if the ministry determines that:    
a) margin of dumping or amount of subsid ies, put on the imports by each country, is 
higher than the de minimis, as it has been determined in Article 27 of this law and 
that the volume of imports from each country is notably;   
b) the cumulative assessment of the effects of  imports, with regard to the competition, 
through the imported products and like domestic products, is  appropriate.    G/ADP/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 
 G/SCM/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1  Page 3 
 
 
  Article 27 
Decision on initiation of investigation 
 
1. The ministry shall, after examining the accu racy and sufficiency of data contained in the 
application, submit them to the commission for eval uation.  The applicant may be asked for further 
data, prior to making the decision for the initiation of investigation.    2. Where the commission starts to initiate an investigation without having received any written 
request from/or on behalf of the domestic industry,  the decision shall be based on sufficient data for 
the dumping or subsidy, injury and casual link, in  accordance with Chapter IV of this law.   
 3. In making a decision for the initiation of the investigation there shall be taken into account 
also the data on the dumping or subsidy and the incurr ed damage.  The application for the initiation of 
investigation shall be rejected, if there are no suffici ent data to justify the continuation of proceedings.  
There shall not be undertaken actions with rega rd to countries, the imports of which represent a 
market share of less than 1 percent, only if these countries, jointly, are calculated to be more than 
3 per cent of the domestic consumption.    4. The investigation shall not be initiated in acco rdance with points 1 and 2 of Article 26 of this 
law, as long as it is not established based on a control that:   
 
a) written request has been done by/or on  behalf of the domestic industry;   
b) extent of support or opposition to the re quest for application has been expressed by 
the domestic industry of the domestic product.   
 
5. The application shall be evaluated to have  been done "by/or on behalf of the domestic 
industry", only if it is supported:    
a) by Albanian producers, the collective pr oduction of whom consis ts more than 50 per 
cent of the total production of the like product, produced by the producers who have expressed themselves in favour or against the application;   
b) by Albanian producers, expressing themselves in favour of the application, the 
production of which constitutes not less than 25 per cent of the total production of the 
like product of the Albanian industry.   
 6. Every application, in accordan ce with the provisions of this article, can be withdrawn prior to 
the initiation of investigation.  In this case it is  considered not to have been submitted.   
 7. Where the commission decides not to initiate th e investigation, the country shall be notified in 
writing to the applicants through the responsible ministry.    8. The ministry requires from the commission to decide on the initiation or not of an 
investigation with regard to antidumping or counte rvailing measures within 45 days, since the date of 
submission of written application.  Where the minist ry requires from the applicant additional data, this 
time period may be extended up to 60 days.    9. The commission does not initiate any investig ation for that imported product, where it is 
claimed that it is:   
 
a) subject to dumping, if according to the collected data it is established that the 
dumping margin is less that 2 per cent or the current and potential volume of dumped imports is insignificant;   G/ADP/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 
G/SCM/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 Page 4 
 
 
  b) subsidised, if with regard to the data collected it is established that the amount of 
subsidies is less than 2 per cent or the current or potential volume of subsidised 
imports is insignificant.   
 Question 11  
 
 Article 34 of the Law, governing the content of decisions of the Albanian authority, 
appears to deal solely with final determinations .  The Albanian authority also has the ability to 
impose provisional measures pursuant to Articles 25 and 34(1) of the Law.  How does Albania 
implement the provisions of Article 12.2.1 of the Antidumping Agreement and Article 22.4 of 
the Subsidies Agreement concerning the content of public notices of the imposition of provisional measures?    
Reply
 
 
 After the translation regulations, the Article 34 is as follows:   
 
Article 34 
Final decisions  
 1. The complainants, exporters and their repr esentative associations and the representatives of 
the exporting country may request the disclosure of data, details and important facts, based on which 
there have been taken the measures.  The request fo r disclosure shall be made in writing, immediately 
after imposing the definitive measures.  At the same time, the above mentioned parties may request 
the final disclosure of the main facts and elements , on the basis of which there has been deemed the 
imposition of the final measures, the conclusion of an investigation or procedures, without imposing 
the measures.    2. The request for final disclosure shall be a ddressed to the ministry in writing and shall be 
accepted where a provisional duty has been app lied, not later than one month after the 
publication/disclosure of application of this tax.  In case where a provisional duty is not applied, the 
parties shall be provided the possibility to request the disclosure, within the time periods set out by the 
commission.    3. The final disclosure shall be provided in a written form, by means of a publication.  This 
disclosure shall be made as soon as possible, norma lly not later than 1 month prior to the final 
decision or acceptance by the commission of the pr oposal for taking the final measures, taking into 
account the protection of confidential measures.  Wh ere the commission can not find certain facts or 
elements at a certain point, this disclosure shall be made at a later point.    4. Where the commission, upon the completion of investigation, has taken a decision, it shall 
make this decision public.  Along with the publication of decision, the notification should include all 
the information pertaining to facts, law and reaso ns which lead to this decision, taking care of 
preserving the confidential information and specifically for:    
a) names of exporters and known producer s of the product under investigation;   
b) description of product under investigation,  making available the data to the extent 
sufficient for making customs actions (customs duties), including the current 
Albanian classification of data;   
c) explanations on dumping or subsidy, for th e period of investigation of caused injury, 
if applicable;    G/ADP/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1 
 G/SCM/Q1/ALB/7/Suppl.1  Page 5 
 
 
  ç) margin of dumping and amount of subs idy identified and the bases on which there 
has been established that this dumping or subsidy exists;   
d) factors which come to the determination of  injury and the casual link, including also 
the data for these factors, except the dumped or subsidised imports, which have been 
taken into account;   
dh) every other reason, which has come to the final decision;   
e) reasons for accepting or rejecting the arguments or respective petitions, filed by the 
exporters and importers;   
ë) amount of antidumping or countervailing me asures, decided to be imposed, taking in 
consideration the interest of Republic of Albania;   
f) cases where the antidumping or countervaili ng measures have to be collected from 
those imports, for which there have been applied the preliminary measures, being 
reason for taking this decision.   
 
5. The notification shall be publis hed in the Official Journal and in a wide circulation newspaper 
in the Republic of Albania.  The notification shall be  sent also the country, the products of which have 
been subject to this definition, as well as to ot her parties, which are known to be interested.   
 6. After the publication of the final decision, upo n the request from interested parties, within 
15 days of the publication, the ministry, organises separate and open meetings with exporters or 
producers, requesting this meeting, explaining the methodology used on the calculation of dumping or 
amount of subsidy, applied finally for the products of this exporter or producer.   
   
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