WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/ADP/AHG/W/194 
5 October 2011  
 
(11-4833) 
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
Working Group on Implementation Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
ARTICLE 3.5 - OTHER CAUSES OF INJURY 
 
Paper by Colombia 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 4 October 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Colombia.  
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  Colombia is pleased to submit to the Workin g Group on Implementation the following paper 
describing how the investigating authority, the Sub- Directorate of Trade Practices in the Directorate 
of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade, I ndustry and Tourism of Colombia, addresses other causes 
of injury under Article 3.5 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement. 
 
1. WTO rule 
 Article 3.5 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement provides as follows: 
  " It must be demonstrated that the dumped im ports are, through the effects of dumping, as 
set forth in paragraphs 2 and 4, causing injury within the meaning of this Agreement.  The 
demonstration of a causal rel ationship between the dumped imports and the injury to the 
domestic industry shall be based on an examination of all relevant evidence before the authorities.  The authorities shall also examine any known factors other than the dumped imports which at the same time are injuring th e domestic industry, and the injuries caused by 
these other factors must not be attributed to the dumped imports.  Factors which may be 
relevant in this respect include, inter alia, th e volume and prices of imports not sold at 
dumping prices, contraction in demand or changes in the patterns of consumption, 
trade restrictive practices of and competiti on between the foreign and domestic producers, 
developments in technology and the export p erformance and productivity of the domestic 
industry. " 
 
2. Colombian legal framework 
 Article 16.5 of Decree No. 2550 of 2010 re gulating the application of anti-dumping duties 
provides as follows:  
 " The investigating authority shall examine any k nown factors other than the dumped imports 
which at the same time are injuring the domestic industry in order to follow the principle of 
non-attribution of the injury caused by this other factor to the dumped imports.  Factors which may be relevant in this respect include examining the volume and the prices of imports not sold at dumping prices, contraction in de mand or changes in the patterns of consumption, 
trade restrictive practices of foreign and Colombian producers and competition between G/ADP/AHG/W/194 
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  them, developments in technology, and the export performance and productivity of the 
domestic industry. " 
 
3. Colombian practice 
 The Colombian investigating authority examines other causes of injury in order to establish 
whether the negative performance of the domestic indus try is attributable to factors other than the 
dumped imports.  The factors examined include:  
 Volume and prices of imports from countri es other than those under investigation 
 
 The investigating authority analyses the volumes and prices of imports of the products under 
investigation originating from supplier countries othe r than those under investigation, in order to 
ascertain whether these imports are directly linked to  any injury suffered by the domestic industry. 
 
 Trade-restrictive practices of foreign a nd Colombian producers and competition 
between them at the domestic level 
 
In order to determine possible diversions of in ternational trade affecting the performance of 
the domestic industry, the investigating authority verifi es, in the course of its analysis, the existence of 
any anti-dumping measures imposed by other countri es on the products under investigation that may 
have been reported to the World Trade Organization.   As regards domestic competition, the investiga ting authority analyses the trend in sales by the 
non-applicant domestic producers and their market share in order to determine the relationship 
between the possible deflection of the applican t domestic producer's market and sales by other 
non-applicant domestic producers.  
 Global technological developments compared with the technology used by the applicant 
domestic producer 
 
 The investigating authority reviews the d escription of the production process of the product 
under investigation provided by both the domestic  industry and the exporting companies for the 
purposes of establishing likeness, in order to demonstrate whether or not technological changes and/or substantial technological developm ents account for a causal link between the increased imports and 
the state of the domestic industry. 
 
 Productivity of the domestic industry 
 
 The investigating authority analyses the behaviour of the domestic industry's production costs in order to determine whether or not they have  increased during the period under investigation and 
how the applicant has worked to streamline and optimize its production process, and thus establish 
whether increased productivity means that the domestic  industry is viable and efficient and that the 
possible injury suffered by that industry is not a ttributable to inefficient production processes but to 
the dumped imports from the country under investigation.  
 Export performance 
  With the information provided by the domestic industry, the investigating authority analyses 
the trend in the volume of exports of the product un der investigation over the course of the period of 
investigation, and its share of total sales by th e domestic industry;  although exports do not constitute  G/ADP/AHG/W/194 
 Page 3 
 
 
  a cause of injury, they enable us to determine the percentage of production destined for the domestic 
market suffering injury.  
 Capacity to meet market needs 
  With the information supplied by the domes tic industry and that used to assess apparent 
domestic consumption, the investigating authority dete rmines what percentage of market needs is met 
by the domestic producer, in order to establish the possible negative impact on domestic consumption. 
 
 Contraction in demand or changes in consumption patterns 
 
 The investigating authority verifies the existen ce of contraction in demand, with a view to 
identifying unusual patterns of consumption, ev idenced by lower sales by domestic producers or 
fewer imports.  
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