WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
31 August 2009 
 (09-4059) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(b) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING 
A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF  
CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS 
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 12.1(C) 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
 
PHILIPPINES 
 
(Steel Angle Bars) 
   The following notification, dated 24 August 2009,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
 Further to the Philippine notification G/SG/N/7/PHL/7, G/SG/N/8/PHL/7, and 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7 circulated on 27 February 2009, and pursuant to Article 12.1(b) and 12.1(c) and 
Article 9, Footnote 2, of the Agreement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the WTO hereby notifies that a decision to apply a safeguard measure on steel angle bars from various 
countries has been made. 
 
1. Serious injury or threat th ereof caused by increased imports 
 
 The domestic steel angle bar industry suffered and is suffering significant impairment in its 
position particularly in terms of shrinking market sh are;  declining production and sales;  diminishing 
employment and productivity;  under-utilization of rated capacity and deterioration of operating 
income. 
 
2. Absolute increase in imports or an increase in imports relative to domestic production 
 
 The product under consideration was imported in significantly increased quantities, both in 
absolute terms and relative to dom estic production, in 2006 and 2007. 
 
3. Description of the product involved 
 
 Equal and unequal leg steel angle bars, of a height of less than 80mm imported from various 
countries which are classified under 2004 HS H eading Nos. 7216.21.00 (2007 AHTN Subheading G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
Page 2 
  
  No. 7216.21.00); 7216.50.11 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.5010); and 7216.50.91 (2007 
AHTN Subheading No. 7216.50.10).    
 Unequal leg angle bars are included since they  have the same application and are directly 
competitive to domestically produced products.  Howe ver, marine grade steel angle bars are excluded 
from the imposition of the defin itive general safeguard measure. 
 
4. Description of the prescribed definitive safeguard duty 
 
 For the first year of its implementation, th e definitive general safeguard measure in the 
amount of P
7,700.00/MT shall be imposed on equal and une qual leg steel angle bars, of a height of 
less than 80mm imported from various countries.  Th e measure shall continue to be liberalized 
annually for the second and third year of the thre e-year implementation period to the extent of 
redressing or preventing the injury and to facilita te adjustment by the domestic industry from the 
adverse effects directly attributed to increased imports.  
5. Date of introduction of the definitive safeguard duty 
 
 The imposition of the definitive general safeguard  measure is scheduled to enter into force 
upon issuance of the relevant Customs Memorandum Order by the Philippine Bureau of Customs or 
15 days after the publication of the Order in two (2 ) newspapers of general circulation, whichever 
comes earlier.  
6. Duration of the definitive safeguards duty 
 
 The measure shall be effective for three (3) year s.  The decision shall be reviewed at regular 
intervals.  The measure shall be terminated when the local steel angle bar industry fails to show any 
improvement.   A copy of the Order implementing the measure is enclosed. G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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List of Developing Countries and Separate Customs Territories Excluded from  
the Imposition of Definitive Safeguard Measure on Steel Angle Bars 
 
 
East & Southern 
Africa West Africa North Africa South Asia 
Angola Bostwana 
Burundi 
Comoros Congo. Dem. Rep. Djibouti Eritrea 
Ethiopia 
Kenya Lesotho Madagascar Malawi 
Mauritius 
Mozambique Namibia Reunion Rwanda Seychelles 
Somalia 
South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania 
Uganda 
Zambia Zimbabwe Benin 
Burkina Faso 
Cameroon 
Cape Verde Central African Rep. Chad Congo, Rep. 
Côte d'Ivoire 
Equatorial Guinea Gabon Gambia, The Ghana 
Guinea 
Guinea, Bissau Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger 
Nigeria 
Sao Tome & Principe Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Algeria 
Egypt, Arab Rep. 
Libya 
Morocco Tunisia Afghanistan 
Bangladesh 
Bhutan 
British Indian Ocean Territory East Timor India Maldives 
Nepal 
Pakistan Sri Lanka 
 
 
     
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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Europe & Central  
Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Albania 
Armenia 
Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic Estonia Georgia Greenland 
Hungary 
Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lithuania 
Macedonia, FYR 
Malta Moldova Poland Romania Russian Federation 
Slovakia 
Slovenia Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan 
Ukraine 
Uzbekistan Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep. Bahrain 
Iran, Islamic Rep. 
Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon 
Oman 
Qatar Saudi Arabia Syrian Arab Rep. United Arab 
  Emirates 
West Bank & Gaza Yemen, Rep. Anguilla  
Antigua & Barbuda 
Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize 
Bermuda 
Bolivia Brazil British Virgin Is. Cayman Is. 
Chile 
Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica 
Dominican Rep. 
Ecuador El Salvador Falkland Is. (Malvinas) French Guiana Grenada 
Guadaloupe 
Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras 
Jamaica 
Martinique Mexico Montserrat Netherland Antilles 
Nicaragua 
Norfolk Is. Panama Paraguay Peru 
Puerto Rico 
St. Helena St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre & Miquelon St. Vincent & the  
  Grenadines 
Suriname Trinidad & Tobago American Samoa 
Brunei Darussalam 
Cambodia Christmas Is. Cocos (Keeling) Is. Cook Is. Fiji 
French Polynesia 
Guam Hong Kong, China Indonesia Johnston Is. 
Kiribati 
Korea, Dem. Rep. Korea, Rep. Lao PDR Macao, China 
Malaysia 
Marshall Islands Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Midway Is. Mongolia Myanmar 
Nauru 
New Caledonia Niue Northern Marianas Is. Palau 
Pitcairn Is. 
Papua New Guinea Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands 
Thailand 
Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu 
Viet Nam 
Wake Is. Wallis & Futuna Is. G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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  Europe & Central  
Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Turks & Caicos Is. 
Uruguay 
US Virgin Is. 
Venezuela 
  G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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  IN THE MATTER OF THE FINAL APPLIC ATION FOR THE DEFINITIVE GENERAL 
SAFEGUARD MEASURE AGAINST THE IMPORTATION OF STEEL ANGLE BARS 
FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES 
 
(HS Heading No. 7216.2100 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.2100);  
7216.5011 (2007 AHTN Subheading No . 7216.5010); and 7216.5091  
(2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.5010)) 
(Safeguard Formal Investigation No. 01-2009) 
 
Philippine Steel Angle Bar Industry 
Petitioner 
 
ORDER 
 
 On 29 June 2009, the Department of Trad e and Industry (DTI) received the Tariff 
Commission's Formal Investigation Report on the a pplication for general safeguard measure against 
the importation of steel angle bars from various countries classified under HS Heading Nos. 7216.21.00 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.21.00); 7216.50.11 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.5010); and 7216.50.91 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.50.10). 
 
 The Commission, in accordance with RA 8800 and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, 
concluded that:  1. Applicant companies, Cathay Metal Corpora tion, Dragon Asia Rolling Mills and Lunar Steel 
Corporation accounted for 75% of the total domes tic production of steel angle bars during the 
period of investigation (POI). 
 2. Locally produced steel angle bar is a like product to imported steel angle bar.  3. The product under considerati on was imported in significantly increased quantities, both in 
absolute terms and relative to dom estic production, in 2006 and 2007. 
 4. The domestic steel angle bar industry suffered and is suffering significant impairment in its 
position particularly in terms of shrinking ma rket share; declining production and sales; 
diminishing employment and productivity; underu tilization of rated capacity and deterioration 
of operating income. 
 5. While there were other factors that contribut ed to the impairment of the position of the 
domestic industry, increased importation of  the product under consideration was the 
substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry. 
 
 The existence of a causal link between the increased imports of steel angle bars and serious 
injury to the domestic industry having been  established, the Commission recommended the 
appropriate definitive general safeguard measure to be imposed on imports of steel angle bars.  The 
measure shall be effective for three (3) years star ting from 10 March 2009, i.e. the date the provisional 
measure took effect. 
 
 Section 5 of RA 8800 states that:  
"The Secretary shall apply a general safeguard measure upon a positive final 
determination of the Commission that a product is being imported into the country in G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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  increased quantities, whether absolute or re lative to the domestic production, as to be 
a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry;  
however, in the case of non-agricultura l products, the Secretary shall first 
establish that the application of such safeguard measures will be in the public 
interest." 
Accordingly, the DTI has reviewed the Co mmission's findings and re commendations and has 
established that the application of general safegua rd measures shall be in the public interest. 
 
 IN VIEW THEREOF , and in accordance with Section 13 of RA 8800, the following is 
hereby issued:  1. For the first year of its implementation, the definitive general safeguard measure in the 
amount of P
7,700.00/MT shall be imposed on equal and unequal leg steel angle bars, of a 
height of less than 80mm imported from various countries which are classified under 2004 
HS Heading Nos. 7216.21.00 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.21.00); 7216.50.11 (2007 AHTN Subheading No. 7216.5010); and 7216.50.91 (2007 AHTN Subheading No.7216.50.10).   
 2. Unequal leg angle bars are included since they  have the same application and are directly 
competitive to domestically produced products. Ho wever, marine grade steel angle bars are 
excluded from the imposition of the de finitive general safeguard measure. 
 3. Section 15(3) of RA 8800 provides further that " an action described in Section 13(a), (b) or 
(c) that has an effective period of more th an one (1) year shall be phased down at 
regular intervals within the period in which the action is in effect" .  Thus, the measure 
shall continue to be liberalized annually for the second and third year of the three-year implementation period to the extent of redressi ng or preventing the injury and to facilitate 
adjustment by the domestic industry from the adve rse effects directly a ttributed to increased 
imports. 
 
4. Pursuant to Section 13 of RA  8800 and Rule 13.1.d of its IRR, "a general safeguard 
measure shall not be applied to a product or iginating from a developing country if its 
share to total Philippine imports of the said  product is less than three per cent (3%):  
Provided, however, that developing countri es with less than three per cent (3%) share 
collectively account for not more than nine p er cent (9%) of the total Philippine imports 
of the product concerned".  The countries and separate custom s territories listed in Annex A 
are therefore excluded from the imposition of the definitive general safeguard measure on 
steel angle bars.  The composition of the developing countries on the de minimis  list may 
change depending on the most recent data ava ilable during the period of annual review which 
will be conducted by the DTI dur ing the implementation period.  
 
5. Rule 13.3.c of the IRR of RA 8800 also provides that:  "In the case a cash bond has been 
filed, the same shall be applied to the safeguard duty assessed.  In case of a negative 
finding or if the cash bond is in excess of  the definitive safeguard duty assessed, the 
remainder shall be immediately returned to th e importer within ten (10) calendar days from 
the date a final decision has been made:   Provided, that no interest shall be payable by the 
government on the amount to be returned".  A ll cash bonds that may have been imposed on 
shipments originating from countries listed in  Annex A and which entered in or are 
withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption starting 10 March 2009, i.e. G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
Page 8 
  
  the date the provisional safeguard measure took e ffect, shall be immediately returned to the 
concerned importer.   
 
 Importers of steel angle bars originating fro m a country that is exempt from the safeguard 
duty, shall submit a Certificate of Country of Origin  (CO) issued by the authorized agency/office in 
the source country of manufacture authenticated  by the Philippine Embassy/Consulate thereat. 
  The notification and consultation requirem ents under Article 12 of the WTO Safeguards 
Agreement and Section 17 of RA 8800 and its IRR sh all be complied with.  Imports originating from 
ASEAN Member states shall be governed by the provi sions of Articles 6 and 8 of the Agreement on 
the CEPT Scheme.   The application of the definitive general safe guard measure shall be monitored and reviewed 
in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of RA 8800.  A pplicant steel angle bar industry is also directed 
to comply with its adjustment plan.   This Order shall take effect upon the issu ance of the relevant Memorandum Order by the 
Bureau of Customs or 15 days after the publication of this Order in two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation, whichever comes earlier. 
 
 Let this Order be published in two (2) newspa pers of general circul ation and let individual 
notices be sent to all interested parties including the country members concerned.  SO ORDERED. 
 
 27 July 2009    
 
PETER B. FAVILA  
Secretary 
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
Page 9 
  
  ANNEX A
 
 
 
List of Developing Countries and Separate Customs Territories Excluded from  
the Imposition of Definitive Safeguard Measure on Steel Angle Bars 
 
 
East & Southern 
Africa West Africa North Africa South Asia 
Angola 
Bostwana 
Burundi Comoros Congo. Dem. Rep. Djibouti 
Eritrea 
Ethiopia Kenya Lesotho Madagascar 
Malawi 
Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Reunion Rwanda 
Seychelles 
Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland 
Tanzania 
Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Benin 
Burkina Faso 
Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Rep. Chad 
Congo, Rep. 
Côte d'Ivoire Equatorial Guinea Gabon Gambia, The 
Ghana 
Guinea Guinea, Bissau Liberia Mali Mauritania 
Niger 
Nigeria Sao Tome & Principe Senegal Sierra Leone 
Togo Algeria 
Egypt, Arab Rep. 
Libya Morocco Tunisia Afghanistan 
Bangladesh 
Bhutan British Indian Ocean Territory East Timor India 
Maldives 
Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka 
      
 
  G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
Page 10 
  
   
Europe & Central  
Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Albania 
Armenia 
Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic Estonia Georgia Greenland 
Hungary 
Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lithuania 
Macedonia, FYR 
Malta Moldova Poland Romania Russian Federation 
Slovakia 
Slovenia Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan 
Ukraine 
Uzbekistan Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep. Bahrain 
Iran, Islamic Rep. 
Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon 
Oman 
Qatar Saudi Arabia Syrian Arab Rep. United Arab 
  Emirates 
West Bank & Gaza Yemen, Rep. Anguilla  
Antigua & Barbuda 
Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize 
Bermuda 
Bolivia Brazil British Virgin Is. Cayman Is. 
Chile 
Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica 
Dominican Rep. 
Ecuador El Salvador Falkland Is. (Malvinas) French Guiana Grenada 
Guadaloupe 
Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras 
Jamaica 
Martinique Mexico Montserrat Netherland Antilles 
Nicaragua 
Norfolk Is. Panama Paraguay Peru 
Puerto Rico 
St. Helena St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre & Miquelon St. Vincent & the  
  Grenadines 
Suriname Trinidad & Tobago American Samoa 
Brunei Darussalam 
Cambodia Christmas Is. Cocos (Keeling) Is. Cook Is. Fiji 
French Polynesia 
Guam Hong Kong, China Indonesia Johnston Is. 
Kiribati 
Korea, Dem. Rep. Korea, Rep. Lao PDR Macao, China 
Malaysia 
Marshall Islands Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Midway Is. Mongolia Myanmar 
Nauru 
New Caledonia Niue Northern Marianas Is. Palau 
Pitcairn Is. 
Papua New Guinea Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands 
Thailand 
Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu 
Viet Nam 
Wake Is. Wallis & Futuna Is. G/SG/N/8/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
G/SG/N/10/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7/Suppl.1 
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  Europe & Central  
Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Turks & Caicos Is. 
Uruguay 
US Virgin Is. 
Venezuela 
  
 
__________