. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
TN/RL/GEN/132 
24 April 2006 
 
 (06-1898) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
  
 
CONDUCT OF ON-THE-SPOT INVESTIGATIONS 
(ADA ANNEX I AND ASCM ANNEX VI) 
 
Communication from the United States 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 20 April 2006,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States.   The submitting delegation has requested that th is paper, which was submitted to the Rules 
Negotiating Group as an informal document (JOB(06)/ 115), also be circulated as a formal document. 
 
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  The United States raised in earlier papers the need for clarifications and improvements to 
Annex I of the Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) a nd Annex VI of the Agreement on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (ASCM) with respect to on-the-spot investigations (commonly known as 
"verifications").
1  While the Agreements currently provi de some guidance as to when and how 
Members are to conduct verifications, the Unite d States believes the Agreements ought to be 
improved to provide greater clarity on this important topic. 
 
 The purpose of this proposal is to improve the guidance in ADA Annex I and ASCM Annex 
VI in order to:  1) provide firms with adequate  notice for preparation ahead of verification, and 
2) provide interested parties with a clear and ti mely understanding of the factual findings of the 
verification.  To address these issues, the Un ited States suggests the following amendments: 
 
Proposed Text 
 
[Annex I.9 – ADA] [Annex VI.9 – ASCM]  
9. To afford the firms adequate opportunity to prepare for on-the-spot investigations, the 
investigating authorities shall provide each firm at least 30 days advance notice of the dates 
on which the authorities intend to conduct any on- the spot investigation of the information 
provided by that firm.  Further, 10 days pr ior to each on-the-spot investigation, the 
investigating authorities shall provide to the firm  a document that sets forth the topics the firm 
should be prepared to address during the on-the-s pot investigation, and describes the types of 
supporting documentation that shall be made available for review. 
  
                                                      
1  See, Investigatory Procedures Under the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Agreements, (page 3, Issue 4) , 
TN/RL/W/35 (3 December 2002) and Conduct of Verifications (ADA Article 6.7 & Annex I and ASCM Article 
12.6 & Annex VI) , TN/RL/GEN/15 (15 September 2004).  The United States described its own verification 
practice to the Working Group on Implementation of the WTO Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices in 
Article 6.7 – Conduct of Verification , G/ADP/AHG/W/152 (14 October 2003).  TN/RL/GEN/132 
Page 2  
 
[Annex I.10 – ADA] [Annex VI.10 – ASCM]  
10. Subject to the requirement to protect confiden tial information, the i nvestigating authorities 
shall disclose in the form of a written report their factual findings resulting from the on-the-spot investigation.  In additi on to the factual findings, the report shall describe the methods 
and procedures followed in carrying out the on-t he-spot investigation.  The report shall be 
made available to all interested parties in sufficient time for the parties to defend their 
interests, subject to the requirement to protect confidential information. 
 
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