WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/6/MAR/6 
24 August 2010 
 
 (10-4410) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   French 
  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A) OF THE AGREEMENT 
ON SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION 
AND THE REASONS FOR IT 
 
MOROCCO 
 
(Machine-Made Carpets
) 
   The following communication, dated 13 August 2010,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Morocco. 
 
_______________ 
 
  Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the Agreemen t on Safeguards and the new notification format 
adopted by the Committee on Safeguards at its meeting of 19 October 2009 
(G/SG/1/Rev.1-G/SG/N/6/Rev.1-G/SG/89 of 5 November 2009), Morocco hereby submits its 
notification of initiation of an investig ation relating to safeguard measures. 
  Having examined the petition from the machine- made carpet industry for the application of 
safeguard measures, the Ministry of Foreign Trade has decided to initiate a safeguard investigation 
regarding imports of machine-made carpets in acco rdance with the provisions of the WTO Agreement 
on Safeguards, as follows:  
1. Date of initiation of the investigation 
• The Ministry of Foreign Trade decided to initiate the investigation on 19 July 2010. 
 
• An announcement by the Ministry of Forei gn Trade was made available to the public 
on the Ministry's website (http://www.mce.gov.ma/) and published in the widely circulated daily newspapers in Morocco. 
 
2. Precise description of the product involved 
 The product subject to the investigation is woven carpets, machine-made from man-made or 
other textile materials, whether or not of pile cons truction and whether or not made up.  It is intended 
for household (furnishing, decoration) or professiona l (catering industry, hotel industry, mosques, 
exhibitions, etc.) use.  Hand-made rugs ar e not concerned by this investigation. 
  The product is entering under the following HS tariff subheadings: 
 
 5702320000;  5702390090;  5702420000;  5702490090;  5702520000;  5702590090;  
5702920000;  5702990090;  5705000051;  5705000059;  5705000090. 
 G/SG/N/6/MAR/6 
Page 2  
 
  3. Reasons for initiation of the investigation 
 The investigation was initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade following a petition filed by 
the machine-made carpet industry and on the basis of  the information and evidence contained in the 
petition.  
 According to the petition from the industry, th e product in question has been imported into 
the Moroccan market in such increased quantities, bot h in absolute terms and in relation to domestic 
production, and under such conditions as to cause seri ous injury to the domestic machine-made carpet 
industry.  
In absolute terms, the volume of imports of machine-made carpets increased six-fold over the 
period 2006-2009.  The annual rate of increase rose fro m 47 per cent in 2006/2007 to 133 per cent in 
2008/2009.  In relative terms, i.e. imports in relation to domestic production, the ratio rose from 14.3 per cent in 2006 to 26.5 per cent in 2007 and to 84.6 per cent in 2009.  
This sudden and massive increase of impor ts recorded in 2009 is due to unforeseen 
circumstances in the form of a rapid expansion of production capacity in the exporting countries, 
which has led to an abundant exportable supply in  a context marked by declining global demand in 
the wake of the international economic crisis.   According to the machine-made carpet industry' s petition, the massive increase in imports has 
caused the following serious injury to the domestic industry: 
 
• 27 per cent decline in output between 2008 and 2009; 
 
• decline in domestic production market share from 87.5 per cent in 2007 to 54.2 per 
cent in 2009; 
 
• 27 per cent decline in the rate of production capacity utilization between 2008 
and 2009; 
 
• 27.18 per cent decline in turnover between 2008 and 2009 as a result of the 24 per 
cent drop in sales volume between 2008 a nd 2009 and the 3.7 per cent drop in the 
unit price per m
2. 
 4. Contact point for correspondence concerning the investigation 
 For information concerning the investigati on procedure, the address for correspondence is: 
 
Ministère du Commerce Extérieur Direction de la Politique des Échanges Comme rciaux/Division de la Défense Commerciale 
63, Avenue Moulay Youssef, Rabat 
Fax:  (212) 5 37 71 72 50 / (212) 5 37 75 16 22 
E-mail:  dpce@mce.gov.ma
 
 
5. Procedures and deadlines for interested  parties to make themselves known 
Interested parties have a period of 30 days from the date of initiation of the investigation to 
make themselves known as such, submit comments  or present their views concerning the 
investigation and request the questionnaire for the provision of information deemed relevant to the 
investigation.  G/SG/N/6/MAR/6 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
The Ministry may hold a public hearing in which interested parties may participate provided 
that they so request and show that they are act ually likely to be affected by the result of the 
investigation.  The request must be made in writi ng within 30 days from the date of initiation of the 
investigation. 
 
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