WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/Q1/MYS/4 
6 May 2008 
 (08-2128) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER 
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT  
 
Replies to Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES
1  
Regarding the Notification of MALAYSIA2 
 
  The following communication, dated 30 April 2008,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Malaysia.    
_______________ 
 
Question 1 
 
Articles 16, 24 and 26 of the Act speak to notices to be published by the Government.  
Article 42 states that "[a]ll notices to be published under this Act shall be published in the 
Gazette ".  Please provide the full title of the Gazette .   
 
Reply
 
  The full title of the Gazette  which is mentioned in Section 42 of the Safeguards Act 2006 (the 
"Act") is "HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT GAZETTE" .  Under the Malaysian law (Interpretation 
Acts 1948 and 1967), the Gazette  is the official Gazette  of Malaysia.   
 
The full title of the notice under Section 16
:   
 
SAFEGUARDS ACT 2006 
SAFEGUARD REGULATIONS 2007 
Notice of Initiation of Safeguard Duty Investigation with regard to imports of [name of the product] 
 
 The full title of the notice under Section 24 :   
 
SAFEGUARDS ACT 2006 
SAFEGUARD REGULATIONS 2007 
Notice of (Affirmative/Negative) Final Determination of Safeguard Duty with regard to imports of 
[name of the product]  
 
The full title of the notice under Section 26 :   
 
SAFEGUARDS ACT 2006 
SAFEGUARD REGULATIONS 2007 
Notice of Definitive Safeguard Duty with rega rd to imports of [name of the product] 
                                                      
1 G/SG/Q1/MYS/2.   
2 G/SG/N/1/MYS/2.   G/SG/Q1/MYS/4 
Page 2  
 
  Question 2  
 
Please explain how Article 22 of the Act conforms to Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on 
Safeguards, which specifies that the imposition of provisional measures may only be taken in 
"critical circumstances, where delay would cause da mage which it would be difficult to repair".  
 
Reply
 
 
Section 22 of the Act provides that a provisiona l safeguards measure may be applied by the 
Government of Malaysia when it determines that su ch measure is necessary to prevent serious injury 
or threat thereof from occurring during the investigation period.   
 
The provisional measure is made pursuant to  the preliminary determination made under 
section 20 of the Act.    
Section 22 of the Act should be read in line with subsection 20(3) of the Act and 
subregulation 9(3) of the Safegua rds Regulations 2007 (the "Regula tions") which provide that the 
Government may apply the provisional measure pursu ant to a preliminary determination made if the 
Government considers that in view of the critical circumstances
, delay in applying a definitive 
safeguards measures would cause damage which is difficult to repair.   
 
Therefore, it is apparent that the Act and the Re gulations are in conformity with Article 6 of 
the WTO Agreement on Safeguards (the "Agreement").    
Question 3  
 
Must the Malaysian Government make a p reliminary determination under Article 22 of 
the Act in every investigation, or only when th e petitioning industry requests a provisional 
measure?   
 
Reply
 
 
 A preliminary determination is made pursuant to  section 20 of the Act.  Section 20 requires 
the Government of Malaysia to make a preliminary determination, affirmative or negative, as the case 
may be, in every investigation.  As such, maki ng a preliminary determination is mandatory but 
imposing provisional measures is  only upon making affirmative determination on critical 
circumstances.  Preliminary determination will be made in accordance with subregulation 9(3) of the 
Regulations.   
 
Question 4  
 
Please explain how Article 25 of the Act, which states that the Malaysian Government 
"shall" apply a safeguard measure whenever th e Government makes an affirmative injury 
determination, conforms with Article 5:1 of the WTO Safeguards Agreement, which states that 
a Member shall apply safeguard measures "only to  the extent necessary to prevent or remedy 
serious injury and to facilitate adjustment "?  Emphasis added.   
 
Reply  
 
Section 25 of the Act requires for the Governme nt of Malaysia to apply safeguards measure 
when it makes an affirmative final determination.  In this regard, the Govern ment of Malaysia will 
make an affirmative final determination when a ll the requirements under Article 2 of the Agreement 
are satisfied.    G/SG/Q1/MYS/4 
 Page 3 
 
 
  In addition, paragraph 3(1)( k) of the Regulations requires that an adjustment plan is to be 
provided when a petition for safeguards measure is submitted.    
The Investigating Authority will examine the adju stment plan to ensure that the measure is 
applied only to the extent necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustment 
based on the information given by the petitioner under  regulation 3 of the Re gulations and any other 
information gathered in the course of the investigation.    
Question 5  
 
Part VII of the Regulations  address the procedures for hearings held by the Government 
of Malaysia in safeguards investigations.    
a. Will public notice of the hearing be provided?   
 
Reply
 
 
 The Government of Malaysia is required to no tify the participating interested party of its 
decision to conduct a public hearing pursuant to subr egulation 21(3) of the Regulations.  Where the 
Government of Malaysia holds the hearing on its ow n initiative, it shall also notify the participating 
interested party in advance pursuant to s ubregulation 21(5) of the Regulations.   
 
b. Will other interested parties other than the requesting party be able to attend 
and present evidence?   
 
Reply  
 
 Paragraph 18 (1)( a) of the Act allows interested parti es other than the requesting party to 
attend the public hearing and presen t evidence and their views.   
 
c. Will public summaries of hearings an d arguments presented be made available 
to the affected Members, in accordance with Articles 12.2 and 12.3 of the WTO 
Agreement on Safeguards?   
 
Reply  
  Pursuant to Article 12 of the Agreement,  the Government of Malaysia will submit a 
notification/report to the Committee of Safeguards regarding any investigation carried out by the 
Investigating Authority.  This notification/report would include the public summaries of hearings that 
will be made available to the affected parties.     
__________