WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/GEN/77 
17 October 2005 
 
 (05-4751) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   Spanish 
  
 
EXPORTERS' RIGHT OF DEFENCE 
(RIGHT TO THE CALCULATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL DUMPING MARGIN) 
 
Communication from Mexico
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 13 October 2005, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Mexico.   The Mexican delegation has requested that this document, which was submitted to the 
Negotiating Group on Rules as an informal document (JOB(05)/251), should also be circulated as a 
formal document.  
_______________ 
 
 
 The proposal contained in this document does not represent a final position and may be 
subject to further additions and/or amendments in the course of the negotiations.  We also urge other 
Members to put forward comments.  
Object 
 
 To establish more precise rules that guarantee the ri ght of exporters wishing to take part in an 
anti-dumping investigation or administrative review so that an individual dumping margin can be calculated for them because in some instances invest igating authorities, by means of a discretionary 
decision, choose those exporters who will receive a questionnaire and will be the only exporters with 
the right to calculation of such a margin, thereby preventing all other exporters and those wishing to 
do so from replying voluntarily. 
 
Problem with the current Anti-Dumping Agreement 
 
 Article 6.1 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement requi res investigating authorities to give notice to 
"All interested parties" of the information whic h they require and to give exporters "ample 
opportunity" to present in writing "all evidence" which they consider relevant.   In this connection, we consider that, in or der to comply with the aforementioned provision, 
the authorities should take into account "all eviden ce" presented by exporters.  It is, therefore, 
important to bear in mind that, by preventin g one or more exporters from completing the 
questionnaire for the purpose of calculating an indi vidual dumping margin, the authorities are denying 
them the opportunity to defend their interests.  Imposing an anti-dumping duty upon an exporter who has not been allowed to reply to the questionnaire also violates his rights because he has not been 
given an opportunity to demonstrate that his exports are not being dumped.  
 Article 6.10 provides in this respect that, as a rule, the authorities shall determine a margin of 
dumping for each exporter or producer, but provides for an exception when the number of exporters, TN/RL/GEN/77 
Page 2  
 
 producers, importers or types of products is so large
 as to make such a determination impracticable , 
allowing the authorities to limit their examination to a sample.   We consider that the words " … so large as to  make such a determination impracticable … " 
need to be clarified and the obligation to calculate  an individual margin for those exporters who wish 
to be given their dumping margin should be met as  some authorities arbitrarily select exporters to 
reply to the questionnaires, thus violating the ge neral rule and frequently preventing exporters not 
selected from replying on a voluntary basis.   We also consider it important to clarify the obligation on investigati ng authorities laid down 
in Article 6.10.1 in relation to consultati on with exporters and obtaining their consent. 
 
Proposed amendments 
 
 This document takes into account proposals and comments by other Members.
1 
 
Proposed Amendments to the Anti-Dumping Agreement 
 
(The new text is underlined and the text to be deleted is crossed out) 
 
Article 6 – Evidence 
 
6.1 All interested parties in an anti-dumping inves tigation shall be given notice of the information 
which the authorities require and ample opportunity to present in writing all evidence which they consider relevant in respect of  the investigation in question. 
 
 6.1.1 The authorities shall send to all
 exporters or foreign producers receiving  
questionnaires used in an anti-dumping investigation and they  shall be given at least 
30 days for reply.2  Due consideration should be give n to any request for an extension 
of the 30-day period and, upon cause shown, such an extension should be granted 
whenever practicable. 
 
 6.1.2 Subject to the requirement to protect confidential information, evidence presented in 
writing by one interested party shall be made available promptly to other interested parties participating in the investigation. 
  6.1.3 As soon as an investigation has been initiated, the authorities shall provide the full 
text of the written application received unde r paragraph 1 of Article 5 to the known 
exporters
3 and to the authorities of the exporting Member and shall make it available, 
upon request, to other interested parties invol ved.  Due regard shall be paid to the 
requirement for the protection of confidential information, as provided for in paragraph 5. 
 
                                                     
 
1 TN/RL/W/29, TN/RL/W/143, TN /RL/W/181 and TN/RL/GEN/46. 
2 As a general rule, the time-limit for exporters sh all be counted from the date of receipt of the 
questionnaire, which for this purpose sh all be deemed to have been receive d one week from the date on which it 
was sent to the respondent or received by  transmitted to  the appropriate diplomatic representative of the 
exporting Member or, in the case of a separate customs te rritory Member of the WTO, an official representative 
of the exporting territory. 
3 It being understood that, where the number of exporte rs involved is particularly high, the full text of 
the written application should instead be provided only to the authorities of the exporting Member or to the 
relevant trade association.  TN/RL/GEN/77 
 Page 3 
 
 
 6.10 The authorities shall, as a rule, determine an individual margin of dumping for each known 
exporter or producer concerned of the product unde r investigation.  In cases where the number of 
exporters, producers and  importers who reply to the questionnaire  or types of products involved is so 
large4 as to make such a determination impracticable5, the authorities may, on an exceptional basis,  
limit their examination either to a reasonable number of interested parties6 or products by using 
samples which are statistically valid on the basis of  information available to the authorities at the time 
of the selection, or to the largest percentage of th e volume of the exports from the country in question 
which can reasonably be investigated.   6.10.1 Any selection of exporters, producers, impor ters or types of products made under this 
paragraph shall be made known
 preferably be chosen in consultation with  to 
interested parties  and with the consent of the exporters, producers or importers 
concerned,  giving them a time-limit in which to express their opinion on the said 
selection.  
 
 6.10.2 In cases where the authorities have limited  their examination, as provided for in this 
paragraph, they shall nevertheless determin e an individual margin of dumping for any 
exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information in time for that information to be considered  during the course of the investigation, 
except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome to the authorities and prevent the timely 
completion of the investigation.  The authorities shall consider voluntary responses 
shall not be discouraged
 submitted by exporters and sh all calculate an individual 
margin for them, unless the number of exporters is so large that it is impracticable to 
do so.  
 
__________ 
 
 
                                                      
4 It shall be understood that the nu mber of exporters is "so large" when more than 15 exporters or 
producers in an investigation involving a single country reply to the questionnaire.  In the case of investigations 
involving products of several origins, the authorities shall consider an individual dumping margin for at least 
five exporters for each country.  
5 The authorities shall give a reasoned explanation why it is "impracticable" to calculate an individual 
margin for all the exporters involved interested in taking  part in the investigation.  If the number of exporters 
replying to the questionnaire is so la rge, the authorities shall select exporte rs representing at least 60 per cent of 
total exports, when this percentage is composed of several exporters, otherwise the percentage should be higher, 
in order to guarantee the right of defence to exporters wh o do not account for a substantial share of total exports.  
6 Under no circumstances may "a reasonable number of interested parties" be less than five exporters, 
although in the case of investigations into imports originating in several countries, the examination should 
include at least 15 exporters from all the origins.