WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/Q1/UKR/1 
10 October 2008 
 (08-4838) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER  
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES Regarding
 
the Notification of UKRAINE1 
 
  The following communication, dated 8 October 2008, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United States.    
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  The United States thanks Ukraine for its Notification of Laws and Regulations under 
Article 12.6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the law "On Application of Safeguard Measures 
Against Imports to Ukraine", 22 December 1990,  No.332-XIV (with Changes and Amendments) 
(hereinafter Law) and poses the following questions. 
 
Question 1 
 
 Is the WTO Agreement on Safeguards self-imple menting under Ukrainian law?  In potential 
cases of conflict between the Safeguards Agreement and Ukraine's recently notified Law which legal 
authority takes precedence?    
Question 2  
 
 Please identify the official journal and/or  national newspapers which would publish 
notifications related to safeguard proceedings.  Would these notifications also be made available 
online and if so, please identify the relevant website address(es)?   
 
Question 3  
 
 Chapter 1, Article 1 (Definitions of Terms), paragraph (4) of the Law notes that an "interested 
party shall be any person notifying the central body of executive power in the field of economic policy (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) of his interest to be involved in a special anti-dumping 
investigation… and who is taking an activ e part in special investigation…".   
 
(a) Given that the WTO Agreement on Safegua rds is silent on the definition of an 
interested party, could Ukraine please explain how its definition is intended to comport with 
the WTO Agreement on Safeguards?   
 
                                                     
 
1 G/SG/N/1/UKR/1.   G/SG/Q1/UKR/1 
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  (b) Will only those parties registered as inter ested parties be able to participate in a 
safeguard investigation, including having access to non-confidential case files?   
 
Question 4 
  According to Chapter II, Article 7 (Authorities of the Commission with Regard to Protection 
of National Producer Against Increased Imports) of the Law, the Commission may hold various 
hearings during the course of a safeguard investigation.     (a) Please clarify if these hearings are open to the public per Article 3.1 of the WTO 
Agreement on Safeguards and if so, how parties would register to participate in such a 
hearing.  
 
(b) Please also explain what opinions of the Commission, or summaries thereof, as 
mentioned in Chapter II, Article 7 will be ma de available consistent with Article 3 of 
the WTO Agreement on Safeguards?   
 
Question 5 
 
 Chapter III, Article 8 (General Provisions for Execution of Special Investigation) 
paragraph (2) of the Law states that the period of investigation will normally be 1 to 3 years.  
Presumably this would be the period for which the in vestigative agency would gather data on imports 
and the domestic industry for purposes of determ ining whether imports ar e in such increased 
quantities as to cause or threaten to cause serious inju ry to a domestic industry.  If this is the case, 
please explain how the investigative agency would deci de whether to use 1, 2, or 3 years as the period 
in a given investigation.  Please also indicat e whether Ukraine would use the same period for 
determining whether imports of the subject good are increasing as it would for determining whether a 
domestic industry is seriously injured or threaten ed with serious injury.  Please explain how a 
relatively short period of 1 or 2 years would provide a basis for finding that imports are in fact increasing and that they are causing or th reatening to cause serious injury.   
 
Question 6  
 
 Chapter III, Article 11 (Application of Provisi onal Safeguard Measures), paragraph (6) of the 
Law states "The decisions of the Commission me ntioned in part five of this Article may
 [emphasis 
added] stipulate a refund to an importer of a paid special duty".  Additionally, the paragraph states 
that "If an importer fails to provide all relevant documents relating to refund of the paid amounts of a 
special duty within the time-limits specified in this  part such amounts shall be not refunded".  Please 
explain how this is consistent with Article 6 of the WTO Agreem ent on Safeguards which notes that 
provisional duties paid shall  be promptly refunded if the safegua rd investigation does not determine 
that imports cause or threaten to cause serious injury to a domestic industry.    
Question 7 
 
 Chapter IV, Article 14 (Procedure of Applica tion of Surveillance Measures Against Imports 
to Ukraine) and Article 15 (Surveillance and Re gional Surveillance Regimes of the Imports to 
Ukraine) of the Law provide for surveillance measures and regi mes, including on a regional basis.  
Please explain how such measures and regimes would work, including whether they would be applied 
in conjunction with a safeguard measure or apart fr om one.  In particular, please explain what is 
meant by the term "surveillance measures against im ports to Ukraine" in Ar ticle 15, paragraph 1, 
including the types of measures that may be applied.   Please also explain what is meant by the term 
"appropriate permission to imports issued by the Mini stry", also in that paragraph.  Please identify the 
provisions in Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the WTO Safeguards Agreement that would authorize  G/SG/Q1/UKR/1 
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  Ukraine to implement such surv eillance measures and regimes.  In addition, please explain how a 
regional  surveillance regime would work, including how a measure might apply in one part of 
Ukraine but not another, and how such a regional re gime would be consistent with Article XIX and 
the WTO Safeguards Agreement.   
 Question 8  
 
 Chapter V, Article 16 (Applicati on of Safeguard Measures) of the Law describes the types of 
safeguard measures that Ukraine may apply, including import quotas, and appears to require 
(Article 16, paragraph 4) that a ll entries under a quota be pursuant to  a special license issued by the 
Ministry.  Assuming this is the case, how does Ukra ine propose to administer a licensing system?  For 
example, will Ukraine sell quota shares to the hi ghest bidder?  Does Ukraine plan to allocate quota 
shares to specific historical suppliers and then sell or allocate licenses for those respective shares only 
to exporters in the particular country?    Question 9 
 
 Chapter V, Article 16 (Application of Sa feguard Measures), paragraph (9) of the Law states 
"The safeguard measures may be applied to the imports under special investigation throughout the 
whole territory of Ukraine or in one of several regions of Ukraine".  However, the WTO Agreement 
on Safeguards does not make provision for a regional  application of a safeguard measure, except in 
the case of a customs union per Article 2, footnot e 1.  Can Ukraine please clarify how the above 
provision is consistent with th e WTO Agreement on Safeguards?   
 
Question 10 
  Chapter V, Article 20, (Peculiarities in A pplication of Safeguard Measures) of the Law 
discusses the re-imposition of a safeguard measure on a product which was previously subject to a 
safeguard measure.  Could Ukraine please clarify if a new investigation must be undertaken following 
the termination or lapsing of a safeguard measure pr ior to the re-imposition of a safeguard measure?   
 
Question 11 
 
 Article 20, paragraph (2) of the Law, states that "Safeguard measures may be applied again to 
the import of product (products) to Ukraine for the period of up to 180 days".  It is not clear how this is consistent with Article 7 of the WTO Agreem ent on Safeguards.  Could Ukraine please clarify how 
the imposition of a safeguard for up to 180 da ys is consistent with the WTO Agreement on 
Safeguards, particularly Article 7.6?   
   
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