WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/8/PHL/6 21 July 2006 
 
(06-3521) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
SAFEGUARDS BEFORE TAKING A PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARDS 
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(b) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING 
A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF  
CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS 
 
PHILIPPINES 
 
(Sodium Tripolyphosphates
) 
  
 The following notification, dated 19 July 2006, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the Philippines. 
 
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  Pursuant to Articles 12.4 and 12.1(b) of th e WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the Delegation 
of the Philippines to the WTO hereby notifies th e Committee on Safeguards of the results of its 
preliminary determination on the investigation on  the importations of Sodium Tripolyphosphates. G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/8/PHL/6 Page 2 
 
 
   Pursuant to Article 12 of the WTO Agreemen t on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the 
Philippines to the WTO, hereby notifies the Committee on Safeguards of the results of its preliminary 
determination on the investigation on the importati ons of Sodium Tripolyphosphates and before 
taking a provisional safeguard measure under Article 6 of the Agreement on Safeguards. 
 
1. Product subject to the proposed safeguard measure 
Sodium Tripolyphosphates – Technical Grade (STPP-TG) under HS Code 2835.3100. 
 
2. Proposed provisional safeguard measure 
 The provisional safeguard measure will take the form of a cash bond on all importations of 
Sodium Tripolyphosphates – Technical Grade (STPP-TG), classified under HS Code 2835.3100 
amounting to 14.15/kg. for a period of 200 days from the date of the issuance by the Bureau of 
Customs (BOC) of the relevant Customs Memorandum  Order (CMO) or 15 days after the publication 
of the Order issued by the Secr etary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation whichever comes earlier.  The Order was signed by the Secretary of 
the DTI 6 July 2006.   However, imports originating from developing countries covered by the "developing country" 
rule under Article 9 of the WTO Safeguards Agre ement shall not be subject to the provisional 
safeguard measure.  Attached as Annex A
 is the list of said developing countries. 
 
3. Proposed date of introduction of the provisional safeguard measure 
 The provisional safeguard measure is schedul ed to enter into force upon issuance of the 
relevant Customs Memorandum Order by the Philipp ine Bureau of Customs or 15 days after the 
publication of the DTI Order in two (2) newspapers of  general circulation, wh ichever comes earlier.  
The Order signed by the Secretary of the DTI was pu blished in two newspapers  of general circulation 
on 13 July 2006.  
4. Expected duration of the provisional safeguard measure 
The provisional safeguard measure will be app lied for a time-period of up to 200 days. 
 
5. Preliminary determination that increased impo rted have caused or are threatening to 
cause serious injury 
 The Department of Trade and Industry found after preliminary determination that increased 
imports, both in absolute terms and relative to prod uction, were the substantial cause of the serious 
injury to the local industry.  The industry suffered and is suffering significant overall impairment in its 
operations in terms of declining market shar e, reduced sales, domestic production and capacity 
utilization for the domestic market, profita bility, price suppression and undercutting. 
 
6. Determination of critical circumstances whe re delay would cause damage which would 
be difficult to repair 
 Volume of imports continuously increased from 2,966 MT in 2001 to 20,311 MT in 2005.  
Increases in 2003 was recorded at 88 per cent over 2002 and 208 per cent over 2001.  Imports for 2005, is approximately 585 per cent higher than the base year (2001) and is 67 per cent above 2004.  
In 2005, the share of imported STPP-TG relative to  domestic production is recorded at its highest  G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
 G/SG/N/8/PHL/6 
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  level of 196 per cent which is 139 per cent higher th an in 2004 and 9 per cent above 2001.  Industry's 
capacity utilization registered a declining trend from 67 per cent in 2001 to 21 per cent in 2005 a drop 
of 52 per cent compared to 2004 and 69 per cent over the base year (2001).  The industry temporarily 
shut down its operations in Novemb er 2005 to prevent further losses. 
 G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/8/PHL/6 Page 4 
 
 
  IN THE MATTER OF THE PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF THE SAFEGUARD 
MEASURES CASE AGAINST THE IMPORTATION OF SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATES – TECHNICAL GRADE (STPP-TG) (CLASSIF IED UNDER HS CODE NO. 2835.3100) 
FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES (SAFEGUARD CASE NO. 01-2006) 
 
 
ORDER  
 
 
 The Philippine Sodium Tripolyphosphat es - Technical Grade (STPP-TG) industry, 
represented by CAWC, Inc. filed a safeguard meas ures protest against the importation of STPP-TG 
classified under HS Code No. 2835-3100 from various countries.  The protest alleged that STPP-TG 
are being imported in increased quantities and that as a result thereof causes serious injury to the 
domestic industry. 
 
 The period of investigation covered imports fro m 2001 to 2005.  For injury determination, the 
Department considered relevant information for the same period. 
  WHEREFORE, IN VIEW THEREOF, the Depart ment of Trade and Industry, acting under 
Section 7 of RA 8800, the "Safeguard Measures Ac t", found after preliminary determination that 
increased imports of the product under considerati on have caused serious injury to the domestic 
industry, particularly in terms of declining ma rket share, domestic sales, capacity utilization, 
production, price suppression and u ndercutting.  The industry has temporarily shut down its 
operations in November 2005 to prevent further losses.  
 Pursuant to Section 8 of RA 8800 which provides that "in critical circumstances where a 
delay would cause damage which would be difficult to repair, and pursuant to a preliminary 
determination that increased imports are a substa ntial cause of, serious injury to the domestic 
industry"  a provisional safeguard measure in the form of a cash bond amounting to 14.15/kg. shall 
be imposed on all importations of STPP-TG for a pe riod not exceeding 200 days from the date of the 
issuance by the Bureau of Customs of the rele vant Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) or fifteen 
(15) days after the publication of this Order in tw o (2) newspapers of gene ral circulation whichever 
comes earlier.   However, imports originating from the devel oping countries listed in Annex A covered by 
Rule 8.8 of the IRR of RA 8800 shall not be subject to the provisional safeguard measure. 
 
 All importers of STPP-TG, regardless of por t of exportation, are required to secure a 
Certificate of Country of Origin (CO) issued by the authorized agency/office in the source country of 
manufacture as authenticated by the Ph ilippine Embassy/Consulate thereat. 
 
 Considering that STPP-TG are covered by the ASEAN-CEPT Agreement, as provided under 
Articles 6 and 8 of the said Agreement, the Philip pines is required to notify and accord adequate 
opportunity for consultation with the governments of the ASEAN countries concerned, i.e. Vietnam 
which may be affected by the application of pr ovisional safeguard measures on imports sourced from 
ASEAN countries. 
 
 The notification and consultation requiremen ts of Article 123 of the WTO Safeguards 
Agreement and Section 17 of RA 8800 a nd its IRR shall be complied with. 
  G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
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   The case records will be transmitted to the Ta riff Commission for formal investigation to 
determine whether or not there is a need  to impose a definitive safeguard measure. 
  Let the Order the published in two (2) newspape rs of general circula tion and let individual 
notices be sent to all interested parties including the country members concerned. 
 SO ORDERED  6 July 2006 G/SG/N/7/PHL/6 
G/SG/N/8/PHL/6 Page 6 
 
 
  ANNEX A  
 
List of Developing Countries Excluded from the 
Imposition of Provisional Safeguard Measure on STPP-TG  
 
East and Southern 
Africa West Africa North Africa South Asia 
Angola 
Botswana 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/7/PHL/6 
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Europe & Central Asia Middle East Americas East Asia & Pacific 
Albania 
Armenia 
Azerbaijan 
Belarus 
Bosnia & Herzogovina 
Bulgaria Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic Estonia 
Georgia 
Greenland Hungary 
Kazakhstan 
Kyrgyz Republic Latvia 
Lithuania 
Macedonia, FYR Malta 
Moldova 
Poland Romania 
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 
Guadeloupe 
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 
Turks & Caicos Is. 
Uruguay US Virgin Is. 
Venezuela 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 
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 
Taiwan 
Thailand Tokelau 
Tonga 
Tuvalu Vanuatu 
Wake Is. 
Wallis & Futuna Is. 
 
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