. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/6/DOM/4 
21 January 2010 
 (10-0298) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A) OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION 
PROCEDURE AND THE REASONS FOR IT 
 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
 
(Toilet paper
) 
   The following communication, dated 19 January 2 010, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Dominican Republic.
1 
 
_______________ 
 
  Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreem ent on Safeguards, and in light of the format 
for notifications under the Agreement on Safeguard s adopted by the Committee on Safeguards, the 
Dominican Republic hereby notifies that its competen t authority has initiated a safeguard procedure, 
as follows:  
1. Date of initiation of the investigation  
 
 14 January 2010, by means of a notice published in the newspaper El Caribe  and on the 
Regulatory Commission website.  Attached hereto  is a copy of the Resolution initiating the 
investigation.  
2. Product subject to the investigation 
 
 Toilet paper.  The product is currently cl assified under tariff heading 4818.10.00 of the 
Spanish version of the Harmonized Commodity Descr iption and Coding System, which incorporates 
the fourth amendment thereto (HS 2007).  3. Reasons for the initiation of the investigation 
 
(a) The investigation was initiated at the requ est of Industrias Nigua, in its capacity as the 
domestic industry, and on the basis of the information and evidence which it submitted. 
 
                                                     
 
1 A copy of the Resolution (CDC-RD-SG-047-2009 - in Spanish only) has been submitted 
electronically.  To consult this document, please c ontact Mrs Budd (hilary.budd@wto.org) or Mrs Naville 
(delphine.naville@wto.org) of the Rules Division. G/SG/N/6/DOM/4 
Page 2  
 
  (b) The Regulatory Commission, as the investig ating authority of the Dominican Republic, 
determined from the information and evidence supplied by the applicant that there were 
sufficient grounds for presuming that toilet paper was being imported in such increased quantities, in absolute terms, relative to dom estic production and domes tic consumption, and 
under such conditions as to cause serious injury to the domestic industry that produces like or 
directly competitive products.  For further deta ils, please refer to the attached Resolution.  
The evidence justifying initiation of the said investigation includes the following: 
  - The increase of forty-two per cent (42 per cent) in the volume of toilet paper imports 
during the period under investigation would appear to be the cause of the injury 
facing the domestic industry that translates in to a fall of twenty-seven per cent (27 per 
cent) in the production and the use of installe d capacity of the applicant enterprise, as 
well as a decline of twenty-five per cent (25 per cent) in the number of jobs and a significant loss of share in the domestic toilet paper market; 
 
 - a comparative analysis of the imports and the production of Industrias Nigua revealed 
that the imports represented three hundred a nd twenty-eight per cent (328 per cent) of 
the production of the latter in 2008, up from one hundred and sixty-nine per cent (169 per cent) in 2006.  Consequently, acco rding to the evidence which has been 
submitted to date and which the Commission it self has been able to gather, imports of 
toilet paper into the Dominican Republic can  be considered to have experienced a 
significant increase. 
 
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