WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
28 November 2007 
 (07-5236) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND 
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES RELATING 
TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES 
 
ALBANIA 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 27 November 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Albania.    
_______________ 
 
  In accordance with Article 12.6 of the Agreem ent on Safeguards, the Government of Albania 
is notifying to the Committee on Safeguards, that the Law No. 9790, dated 19 July 2007 "On Protective Measures on Imports" is approved by the Parliament of the Republic of Albania.   
 
 The full text of the above mentioned law is attached to this communication.   
 G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA 
PARLIAMENT 
 
 
 
L A W 
 
No. 9790, dated 19.7.2007 
 
ON PROTECTIVE MEASURES ON IMPORTS 
 
  Pursuant on Articles 78 and 83, point 1 of th e Constitution, upon the proposal of Council of 
Ministers,   
PARLIAMENT 
 
OF REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA 
 
DECIDED 
 
CHAPTER I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1 
Aim 
 
 This law provides for the principles and procedures for taking the protecting measures, if a 
product is imported in big quantities, causing injury or  threatening to cause seri ous injury to the local 
manufacturer of the similar products or competitive products, directly, as well as the principles for the 
regulation of this injury or thr eat to injury, provided that these measures be temporary and limited, 
proportional to the extent of injury or threat to inju ry and to the international obligations and interests 
of our country.   
 
Article 2 
Definitions 
 
 In this law, the following terms have these meanings:   
 a) "Injury" is the property related injury or th e threat to injury, whic h is caused to the local 
industry, or hindering the establishment of the local industry.    b) "Ministry" is the ministry covering the field of commerce.   
 
c) "Investigation" is the examination to establis h the existence, extent, effect of imports of 
products in big quantities and, under these circumstan ces, causing injury or threatening for serious 
injury the local manufacturers of similar pr oducts or competitive products directly.   
 
ç) "Albanian industry" are the Albanian manufactur ers of the similar products or only that part 
of those, the joint products of which consist a cons iderable share in the total local production of these 
products.    G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  d) Commission for evaluating the measures on impor ts", which hereunder shall be referred to as 
the commission, is the state colle gial authority, examining the antidumping measures, countervailing 
measures, as well as the protective measures fo r imports, in line with this law.   
 dh) "Protective measure" is the measure to app lied on the increased imports, in value or quantity, 
for a certain period.   
 e) "Interested party" means:    
i)  foreign exporters or manufacturers of the product under investigation;   
ii)  importers of product under investigation;   
iii)  business or commercial associations, the majority of the members of which are manufacturers, exporters or importers of  the product under investigation;   
iv)  governments of exporting countries;   v)  local manufacturers of similar product;   
vi)  business or commerce associations, the majority of the members of which produce 
the local similar product.   
 
ë) "Product under investigation" is the product s ubject to investigation for protective measure.   
 f) "Similar product" is the entirely similar produc t with the product in question or, at absence of 
which a product, another product, which, alt hough not entirely the same, has very similar 
characteristics to those of the product in question.    g) "Country" is every state or customs territory, being member or not of World Trade Organisation.   
 
 
CHAPTER II 
INVESTIGATION AUTHORITIES 
 
Article 3 
 
 The ministry covering the commerce is the in stitution responsible for the implementation of 
the provisions of this law, for the regulatory instruments in the international commerce.   
 
Article 4 
Commission for evaluating the measures  
on imports 
 
1.  For the examination of antidumping and countervailing measures, as well as protective 
measures for imports in accordance with this law, ther e shall be set up the state collegial authority, the 
commission for evaluating the measures on imports.   
 
2.  This commission shall be presided over by the Minister covering the issues of commerce and shall be composed of seven members, experts of institutions, bearing connection to the field being 
regulated by this law. The commission members are representatives from:    
a)  Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy;   
b)  Ministry of Finances;   c)  Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer's Protection;   ç)  Ministry of Foreign Affairs;   d)  Commerce and Industry Chamber;   G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  dh)  Customs General Directorate;   
e)  Structure covering the field regulated by th is law, responsible ministry, at director's 
level.   
 3.  Commission members shall be appointed and di smissed by Council of Ministers for a 5 year 
period, without the right of re-appointment. Council of Ministers is entitled to replace the commission 
member/members at any time.    4.  The mandate of the representative/representa tives of the ministry is unlimited in time.   
 
5.  Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the commission for the evaluation of the measures 
in imports, approves the regulation of functioning of this commission.   
 
Article 5 
Functions of the Commission 
 1.  The commission functions as a collegial and decision making body, in reliance on the law 
no 8480, dated 27.5.1999 "On functioning of colle gial bodies of state administration and public 
entities".    2.  The commission shall convene as often as th e ministry requires decision on the requests 
submitted by it, provided for in this law.   
 3.  The commission shall be presided over by the chairman and, at his absence, by the member 
having the highest hierarchical position.    
4.  Council of Ministers determines the reward s for the members for participating in the 
commission for evaluating the measures on imports.  The financial effects for the commission members shall be covered by the institut ions represented in this institution.   
 
Article 6 
Powers of commission 
 
 The commission has the following powers:    
a)  approves or refuses the request submitted by the interested en tities for the institution 
of investigation, extension of the investiga tion period or its suspension, in the event 
of withdrawal of application during investigation;   
b)  conducts hearings with interested par ties, prior to taking the final investigation 
decision;   
c)  decides, at the end of investigation, on taking or not the final measures;   ç)  decides on taking or not temporary measures;   d)  decides on the extension of the period of implementing the temporary measures and 
of final measures;   
dh)  takes other decisions, in accordance wi th the provisions of this law;   
e)  issues instructions in accordance with this law;   
ë)  drafts rules of application and procedures of protective measures;   f)  resolves the conflicts between the different entities and the ministry.   
  G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  CHAPTER III 
 
EVALUATION OF INJURY, THREAT TO INJURY  
AND CASUAL CONNECTION 
 
Article 7 
Determination and evaluation of injury 
 
 In the course of examination of the developm ent of imports and conditions under which they 
are carried out, as well as of the injury or the threat to serious injury of the local products due to these 
imports, there shall be evaluated the following factors:   
 
a)  volume of imports, specifically whether it has undergone considerable increases in 
absolute or relative terms to the local production or consumption;   
b)  price of imports, whether there has been  or not any considerable price reduction, in 
absolute or relative terms, compared to th e price of a similar product in the Republic 
of Albania;   
c)  impact on imports on the local manufacturers producing similar or competitive 
products, directly, as it is indicated through some economic factors, as:  production, productiveness, utilisation of capacity, situ ations, sales, market share, prices, 
profits/losses, return of own capital, cash influx and level of employment.   
ç)  other factors, which are causing or have  caused injury to the local industry.   
 
Article 8 
Determination and evaluation of the threat to injury 
  Where a threat to injury is being claimed, the ministry considers even the possibility of 
transfer from the threat to injury to real injury.  In  such cases, in addition to the factors determined in 
Article 7 of this law, there are evaluated the following factors:    
a)  export increase rates for Republic of Albania;   b)  export capacity in the export country and/or country of origin, as it is or as it can be 
foreseen to happen in a near future and the possibility for this capacity to be used for 
export in the Republic of Albania.   
 
Article 9 
Casual connection 
 
1.  The commission shall, following the examinati on of the pertinent data for the factors foreseen 
in Articles 7 and 8 of this law, establish that there is a casual connection between the increased 
imports and the conditions under which they are carried out and the injury or threat to serious injury 
of the local manufacturers.    
2.  The commission shall, in addition to the increased imports, examine even other factors, 
which, simultaneously, harm the Albanian industr y and the injuries caused by them should not be 
attributed to the increased imports.     Among other factors, which can bring about injury or threat to injury are:   
 
a)  volume and prices of export in normal quantities of a specific product;   b)  reduction of the demand for the produc t or changes of consumption models;   
c)  practices, restricting commerce and competition between the local and foreign 
manufacturers;   G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  ç)  technological developments;   
d)  exports carried out and the productivity of the local industry.   
  
CHAPTER IV 
INVESTIGATION PROCESS 
 
Article 10 
Application conditions and filling in of forms 
 1.  The application procedure for institution of the investigation for establishing protective 
measures starts after the submission in writing of th e application by/or on behalf of the Albanian 
producers consisting the dominant part of the local industry, where it is claimed that a product has 
been imported in considerable quantities and under such  conditions causing injury or threat to serious 
injury to the local manufacturers, manufacturing similar or competitive products directly.   
 
2.  The application is considered to have been ma de by/or on behalf of the local industry, only if:   
 
a)  It is supported by Albanian manufacturer s, the joint product of which consists more 
than 50 per cent of the total production of the similar product, regardless whether they express themselves in favour or against the application;   
b)  Albanian manufacturers, expressing themselves in favour of the application, consist 
not less than 25 per cent of the total product of the similar product of Albanian industry.   
 3.  In separate cases, the ministry starts with  the investigation process, upon its own initiative and 
upon the approval of the commission, even if it does not receive an application in writing from/or on 
behalf of the local industry.    4.  For applications there are used forms, which are approved by the commission and ensured 
with the ministry containing the following data:    
a)  name, residing place, address of applicant or his authorised representative;   
b)  main activity;   c)  volume and value of local production for the similar or competitive product, directly 
to the imported product;   
ç)  description in terms of volume and value of import, share of production market of 
applicant to the Albanian total production;   
d)  description of imported product, specifications about his quality compared to the 
product of Albanian origin and details on other distinguishing characteristics, 
imported volume and value, according to the adjusted unit and fee classification;   
dh)  country of origin of product and data on the exporter and/or importer;   
e)  competitive position of the similar product,  produced by the Albanian manufacturers 
in the local market;   
ë)  facts on the existence of the injury or thr eat to injury for the 3 last years, submitting 
data on the local production, productiveness,  exploitation of capacity, situations, 
sales, market share, its prices for this period;   
f)  facts indicating that the only and main cause of the injury or threat to injury to the 
Albanian production, similar or competitive product, directly, is the considerable 
increase of imports;   
g)  reasons why the application of a protective measure, in the concrete case, is in the 
interest of Republic of Albania;    G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  gj)  program for adjusting the local industry to  the competition f the imports, in the events 
of applying a protective measure.   
 
 The ministry shall, it if deems necessary, request additional documen ts and data in every 
phase of procedure for instituting the investigation.   
 
5.  Every application may, in accordance with the pr ovisions of this article, be withdrawn prior to 
the institution of investigation and, in this case, it shall be deemed as not having been filed.  
 
Article 11 
Surveillance 
 
1.  An imported product shall be subject to the preliminary examination, in accordance with the 
provisions of this Article, if:    
a)  development of imports of a product originating from a third country threatens to 
cause injury to the Albanian manufacturers of a similar product;   
b)  there has been filed a written request  for application, in accordance with the 
conditions contained in Article 10 of this law;   
c)  this does not run counter to the interests of the Republic of Albania.   
 
2.  The commission shall, upon the request of the ministry, decide on taking the surveillance 
measure, for a certain time period, not more than 9 months.    3.  The products, subject to preliminary examina tion, shall be released to free circulation only 
accompanied with an import document.  This document shall be signed by the commission, free of 
charge, for every required quantity, within a time period of 5 working days from taking the statement 
of an importer, regardless of the country where it carries out its activity.    4.  The import document and the statement of impor ter shall be done in accordance with the form 
displayed in the model.  The import document for th e surveillance shall contain the following data:   
 
a)  name and full address of applicant;   
b)  registration number;   c)  name and address of declarer;   ç)  address of commission;   d)  latest validity date;   
dh)  country of origin of goods;   
e)  import date;   ë)  description of product, labels and num bers, number and type of packaging;   
f)  code of product;   g)  gross weight and net weight of th e product and other additional units;   
gj)  additional data;   
h)  statement of importer about preciseness of application data;   
i)  seal of commission.    The original copy of import document shall be provided to the applicant and a copy shall be 
retained by the commission.   
 
5.  The products shall continue to be released to free circulation for as long as the unit price of 
the product, with which there has been made th e transaction, exceeds that indicated in the import 
document for less than 5 per cent, or the total value of the quantity of products submitted for import exceeds the value or the quantity in the import documen t with less than 5 per cent.  The commission, G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  taking into account the nature of th e products and other characteristi cs of the transactions in question, 
upon the request of the interested party, decid es another different percentage, which should not 
exceed 10 per cent.    6.  The import document is used for as long as th e measures for the supervision of the imported 
products are in place.  This import document shall in no case be used after the expiry of the time 
period, determined in the point 2 of Article 11 of this law.    7.  After taking the decision in accordance with points 1 and 2 of this Article, the origin of the product, subject to supervision, is established by a certificate of origin.   
 
Article 12 
Decision for institution of investigation 
 
1.  The decision for the institution of inves tigation shall be made by the commission.  The 
Ministry shall, after examining the preciseness and su fficiency of the data contained in application 
and additional required information, forward them  to the commission for evaluation. During this 
evaluation, the commission shall take into account:    
a)  level and conditions of im ports, development of import of  the product in question and 
factors connected to the economic cond itions of the local manufacturers;   
b)  measures which can be taken in accordan ce with the provisions of this law.   
 2.  The Ministry requires the commission to decide on the institution or not of an investigation on 
protective measures within 30 days from the date of submission in writing of the written application.  Where the application includes complex issues or  where the ministry has required additional 
information from the applicant, this time period shall be extended up to 45 days.   
 
Article 13 
Notification on institution of investigation 
 
1.  Where the commission decides on the institution of  an investigation procedure, the Ministry:   
 
a)  notifies on the institution of investigation of the states, the products of which are 
subject to investigation and the interested parties having interests, such as exporters, 
importers and interested representative associ ations of importers and exporters, as 
well s the country of origin and/or exporter of petitioner;   
b)  makes public notification in the Offici al Journal and in a newspaper with big 
circulation in the Republic of Albania.   
 2.  The public notification and the other not ifications contain the following data:   
 
a)  declaration of institution of investigation procedure;   
b)  name of exporting country or  countries, or if there is no the country in question, name 
of country or countries of origin of the product being investigated;   
c)  description of the product being investigat ed, including its technical characteristics, 
use and present classification number;   
ç)  summary of factors on which there is based the claim of injuries;   
d)  address that the representations of interested parties have to approach;   
dh)  date of instituti on f investigation;   
e)  determination of the time period for inter ested parties, during which they can declare 
their interests for participation in the i nvestigation procedure, providing data in 
writing, which have to be taken into account in  the course of investig ation.  This time  G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  period should not be longer than 30 days, st arting from the date of publication in the 
official journal.  The investigation starts on the day the public notification is made.   
 3.  Where the commission decides not to institute the investigation, its decision shall be notified 
in writing within 1 month to the applicants through the Ministry.   
 
Article 14 
Investigation 
 
1.  The interested parties shall be heard by the ministry, as long as they have submitted a written 
request, within the period foreseen in the public notif ication, arguing that they can be harmed by the 
conclusions of the investigation and ha ve specific reasons to be heard.   
 2.  The ministry hears the interested parties, i ndividually or collectively.  The oral information 
given by the interested parties shall be taken into account by the ministry, provided that this 
information be submitted in writing.  The interest ed parties, which have been informed during the 
period determined in the public notification, ar e entitled that, by a written request, consider the 
available data for the development of investigation,  in accordance with the principle of preserving the 
confidentiality of data.    3.  Where the information has not been provide d within the time limits determined by the 
ministry or the investigation has been hindered, th e ministry draws the conc lusions based on the facts 
available.  Where the ministry discovers that the interested parties have provided false or misleading 
information, then this information shall not be taken into account.   
 4.  In case the application is withdrawn in th e course of the investigation, the commission 
examines the situation and decides on the terminat ion of investigation, except the case where the 
continuation of investigation is in the interest of the Republic of Albania.    5.  The investigation shall be conducted by th e ministry and should end within 180 days.  In 
specific cases, this period can be extended by 60 ot her days and there shall be made a notification in 
the Official Journal.   
Article 15 
Collection of Data 
 
1.  Upon the institution of investigation, th e commission shall, through the ministry, send 
questionnaires to every person believing to have va lid data on the investigation, including the known 
local manufacturers, importers, exporters, forei gn manufacturers and government of countries, the 
products of which are subject to investigation.    2.  The commission determines a 30 day time pe riod, within which the exporters, foreign 
manufacturers and the interested countries, having received the questionnaires have to send their response.  This time period shall be calculated from the day when the questionn aire has been send to 
the receiver or has been transmitted to the diplomat ic representation of the exporting country.  The 
commission takes into account the requests for extending this period by 15 days and approves this extension, based on grounded reasons.  The questionnai res shall be written in Albanian and English.   
 3.  In the course of investigation, the comm ission can, through the ministry, require from the 
interested parties additional data, in the form of  questionnaires or written requests, explanations or 
further data.  The time period for submission of the additional requests is the same as that provided for 
in point 2 of this Article.   G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  4.  The ministry conducts verification inspections  to verify the data submitted by the interested 
parties.  The parties are notified on the data wh ich are verified, but this does not hinder making 
requests for further details, for the clarification of the provided data.    5.  The commission makes its own evaluation on th e existence of the increased imports, injury or 
casual connection, based on the data for the period, for which there have been requested these data.   
 
Article 16 
Hearings 
 
1.  Upon the written request of each interested party, the commission plans a hearing where all 
the interested parties submit data and arguments.  Hear ings are held not later than 30 days prior to the 
date proposed for making the final decision.     According to the request, the commission shall pr ovide the possibility to the interested parties 
the possibility to meet, where they can expres s their opposite views and arguments, but the 
participation in the meeting does not constitute an obligation for none of the parties and failure to 
participate does not bring about any prejudice for any of the parties.    2.  The interested parties willing to attend th e hearings shall send in writing to the commission 
the names of their representatives and witnesses, at least 7 days prior to the date of conducting the 
hearing.   
 3.  The interested parties have, in the course of  meetings with commission members, the right to 
submit in writing even other data.  The commission h as to determine by decision an equal time for 
each of the parties and it has to put into the public  file the decision made and the data forwarded by 
the parties, excluding the confidential information.   
 
Article 17 
Completion of investigation 
 
1.  At the end of investigation, the ministry submits to the commission a report on the turnout of 
investigation, where it provides its own proposals.   
 2.  The commission shall, at least 30 days prior to making the final decision, notify in writing the interested parties, in line with the principle of  preserving the confidential information on the essential 
facts under consideration, constituting the grounds for the decision or for imposing the temporary or 
permanent measures.   
 3.  Upon the completion of investigation there shall be made a final decision, on which the commission makes a public notification.  In the no tification, there have to be included all the 
respective data on the facts and reasons which lead to making this decision, abiding by the principle 
of preserving the confidential information and specifically:   
 
a)  names of exporters and known manufacture rs of the product under investigation;   
b)  full description of the product under i nvestigation, necessary for customs aims 
(customs taxes), including the present Albanian fee classification;   
c)  quantities of increased imports;   
ç)  factors which brought about in the determ ination of the injury and casual connection, 
including even the data on these factors, in addition to the increased imports, which 
have been taken into account;   
d)  any other reason, which has lead to the final decision;    G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  dh)  reasons for accepting or refusing the respective arguments or lawsuits, filed by the 
exporters and importers;   
e)  protective measures, determined to be established, as well as every other measure in 
the interest of Republic of Albania.   
 
4.  The notification shall be published in the O fficial Journal and in a big circulation newspaper 
in the Republic of Albania and shall be sent to the country, the products of which are subject to this 
determination, as well as other parties being interested.     
CHAPTER V 
ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION  
OF PROTECTIVE MEASURES  
 
Article 18 
Temporary protective measures 
 
1.  Temporary protective measures apply where:   
 
a)  under critical circumstances, failure to a pply them causes injury, the rectification of 
which would be very difficult;   
b)  based on clear preliminary data, it is established that the increasing imports have 
caused or threaten to cause a serious inju ry to the local manufacturers, manufacturing 
similar or competitive products, directly.   
 2.  The temporary protective measures take the form  of a fee increase.  In case of repeal of the 
temporary protective measure, due to the failure to es tablish, in the course of investigation, the injury 
or threat to injury, caused to the local industry by the increased imports, this fee increase shall be 
immediately repaid to the payer.    3.  The time period of a temporary protective measure shall not exceed 200 days.  The duration of a temporary protective measure shall be calculated as part of the total period of the implementation 
of the protective measures.   
 
Article 19 
Final protective measures 
 
1.  The final protective measures shall be impl emented upon the completion of the investigation, 
abiding by the interests of the country, where a product has been imported to such big quantities and 
under such circumstances that it cases or threatens to cause serious injury to the local producers, 
producing similar or competitive products, directly .  Where the establishment of a final protective 
measure is determined, there shall be taken into account:    
a)  short and long term, social and economic costs, as a consequence of the 
implementation of the measure;   
b)  cost for non-implementation of the measure;   c)  impact of the protective measure with  the consumers and on the competition of the 
local market.   
 
2.  The final protective measure shall be implemen ted for the necessary time period to prevent or 
regulate the injury caused to the Albanian industry a nd to facilitate its adjustment to the market.  The 
protective measures take up the form of:    G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  a)  additional custom value.  
 The final protective measures take up the form of an additional customs value, 
difference between the customs tax, imposed by import regime, and the additional customs 
value, imposed as a final protective measure, sh all be collected as security, in accordance with 
the provisions of the Customs Code.  Even where there is no customs tax, imposed by import 
regime, the entire additional customs value, im posed as a final protective measure, shall be 
collected as security, in accordance with th e provisions of the Customs Code.   
b)  quantity limitations of imports.    In the events of imposing a quantity limitation on the imports, as a protective measure, there shall be specif ically taken into account:   
i)  traditional influx of commerce;  
ii)  volume of products exported in Republ ic of Albania, according to contracts 
entered into prior to the entry into effect of the protective measure;   
iii)  impact of negative side of imposing a quantity limitation on the imports;   iv)  regime, according to which for th e importation of a certain product to the 
Republic of Albania, there is required an import document, issued according 
to the terms and conditions determined by the commission.   
 3.  Quantity limitations, provided for in letter "b" of  point 2 of this Article, can not be lower than 
the average level of imports in the three recent years,  for which there are statistics, as long as it is not 
necessary another level, to prevent or regulate a seri ous injury, which has been  caused to the Albanian 
industry.   
 4.  Where the amount of the final protective meas ure is smaller than the amount of the temporary 
protective measure, the difference shall be repaid , while where the amount of the final protective 
measure is bigger than the amount of the tempor ary protective measure, the difference shall be 
collected.   
 5.  If the commission decides that it is not necess ary to implement the final protective measures, 
the temporary protective measure sh all be repealed and the amount collected earlier, as a consequence 
of the temporary protective measure, shall be re paid in accordance with the provisions of the 
legislation in force on the repayment of the customs fees.   
 
6.  For the implementation of a protective measure, there shall be determined:   
 
a)  kind of protective measure;   b)  product, scope of measure and its fee code;   
c)  initial period of implementing the protective measure;   
ç)  schema for the liberalization of the protective measure;   d)  conditions for the implementation of the protective measure;   dh)  grounds for the implementation of protective measure;   e)  implementation of the protective meas ure for imports from countries, which are 
parties to the free trade agreement with Re public of Albania, where there are foreseen 
specific terms and conditions for the implementation of the protective measures.   
 
Article 20 
Extension and review of protective measure 
 
1.  Duration of implementation of protective meas ures shall not be longer than 4 years, including 
the duration of any temporary measure.    2.  The period mentioned in point 2 of this Ar ticle shall be extended upon the condition that:   
  G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
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  a)  the protective measure has to continue to be necessary for preventing or regulating 
the injury;  
b)  there have to be data available that local manufacturers are being adjusted to the 
conditions of the internal market.   
 
3.  The protective measure, for which the im plementation period is being extended:   
 
a)  can not be more restrictive that it was at the end of the initial period;   b)  continues to liberalize progressively.   
 
4.  The complete period of implementation of a protective measure, including the period of the 
implementation of the temporary protective measure,  the period of implementation of the protective 
measure, as well as the period of the extension of  the implementation of the measure, shall not be 
longer than 8 years.    
5.  Where the duration of implementation of a measure exceeds one year, the measure shall 
liberalise progressively, with continuous intervals during the implementation period, while, when it 
exceeds 3 years, there shall be reviewed the s ituation not later than half the duration of 
implementation of the measure, in order to determin e whether it is still necessary to implement it or 
accelerate the pace of its liberalization.    
6.  The ministry shall, upon its own initiative or upon a request filed by a party or any interested 
person, convenes, during the period of the implemen tation of a protective measure, the commission to 
examine the effects of this measure and to evaluate  whether it is still necessary to implement it.  The 
commission makes a decision to proceed for the implementation of the measure or to withdraw it.  The decisions made by the commission, including th e summary of the grounds, shall be published in 
the Official Journal.   
 7.  No final protective measure shall apply again to the import of a product, which has been subject to such a measure for a time period equal to  half of the period, during which such a measure 
has been implemented earlier, provided that the peri od of non-implementation be at least 2 years.   
 
8.  The protective measure, for which there has b een determined a duration of 180 days or less, 
can apply again to an imported product, if:    
a)  there has passed at least 1 year since th e date of notification of a protective measure 
on the import of this product;   
b)  such a measure has not been implem ented for more than two times on the same 
product, within a 5 year period, prior to th e date of notification of the measure.   
 9.  The protective measure shall not be implemented on a product with origin from a WTO member country, if:    
a)  the part of imports of the product from th is country to the Republic of Albania does 
not exceed 3 percent of all the imports of this product;   
b)  the part of imports with less than 3 percent from the member countries, altogether, 
make up not more than 9 percent of the total of imports of the product to the Republic 
of Albania.   G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
Page 14  
 
  Article 21 
Confidentiality 
 
1.  The received data shall be used only for the reasons for which they have been requested.   
 
2.  No data of confidential nature or ensured on confidentiality basis shall be disclosed without 
the written agreement of the entity, being the source of the data.    3.  The data shall be dealt with confidentially, if:    
a)  making them public has unfavourable eff ects on the person disclosing them, or for the 
person these data have been taken from;  
b)  parties have provided grounds that they have received them on confidentiality basis.   
 4.  The interested parties, having available conf idential data, shall provide a detailed summary on 
those data, without affecting the confidentialit y, sufficient to understand the essence of the 
information provided as confidential. For separate cases, the parties can explain that for such 
information there can not be submitted a summary , providing the reasons even in writing.  
 5.  The data shall not be dealt with confidentially, if:    
a)  a request for confidentiality is not grounded;   
b)  although the provider does not authorise the disclosure of the data, in whatever form, 
they are verified through other reliable sources.   
 6.  The above mentioned provisions do to hinde r the commission to make use of the date 
mentioned in the above points of this Article as  s reference for the general information and, 
specifically, to ground the decisions ma de in accordance with this law.   
 
Article 22 
Public file and right to share its information 
 
 The ministry shall, for every investigation or  review, set up, in accordance with the request 
for the preservation of the confidential informati on, a file, which shall, time after time, be 
complemented with:    
a)  all public reports for investigation and review;  
b)  all the material, including the questio nnaires, feedback to the questionnaires and 
written notification, which have been submitted to the commission;  
c)  all other data, worded or taken by the commission, including a report on any 
verification carried out;  
ç)  all the other documents, evaluated a ppropriate for the public notification.   
 
 The file shall be made available to the in terested parties, in very phase, during the 
investigation, review and duri ng the judicial proceedings.   
  G/SG/N/1/ALB/2 
 Page 15 
 
 
  CHAPTER VI 
 
JUDICIAL REVIEW 
 
Article 23 
Judicial Review 
 
 Every interested party, having participated in an investigation, review or repayment 
procedure, conducted by the commission, can, at any time, request the immediate review for the final 
decisions made by the commission and is  entitled to approach the court.   
 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 24 
International obligations 
 
 This law shall apply in accordance with the international obligations of the Republic of 
Albania as a member in WTO, with the "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994" 
(GATT, 1994) and with Article 19 of GATT, 1994 "Agreement on protective measures".   
 
Article 25 
Exclusive provision 
  This law does not hinder the implementation of:   
 
a)  prohibitions, restrictions or quantity controls on imports, in accordance with the 
legislation in force for protecting the orde r and public security, for the protection of 
the health and life of people, animals and plants, for the protection of the national 
property, with artistic, historic and archaeological values, or for the protection of the 
industrial or commercial property;   
b)  actions for the exchange of foreign currency;   c)  obligations stemming from the international organisations;   
ç)  legal and bylaw acts on imports, as well as of other laws on imports, which do not run 
counter to this law.   
 
Article 26 
Final and temporary provisions 
 
 Council of Ministers shall be tasked, upon entry in to force of this law, to issue the bylaw acts 
in accordance with Articles 4, poin ts 3 and 5, and 5, point 4.   
 
Article 27 
Entry into effect 
 
 This law shall enter into effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Journal.   
 
Speaker 
Jozefina Topalli (Çoba) 
 
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