WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.4 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.4 9 February 2010 
 
(10-0721) 
Committee on Safeguards Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2, 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(C) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
(EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING MEASURE)  
 
PHILIPPINES 
 
(Ceramic Floor and Wall Tiles
) 
 
Supplement  
   The following communication, dated 5 February 20 10, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Philippines.   
 
_______________ 
 
  Further to G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.3 date d 3 March 2009, the Permanent Mission of the 
Philippines to the WTO notifies that, on 3 December 2009 the safeguard duty on ceramic floor and 
wall tiles was reduced from Philippine Pesos 1.86 pe r kilogram for the second year of the final 
extension of the measure, to Philippine Pesos 1.80 pe r kilogram for the third year.  The Philippines 
requests that the Secretariat make available the full text of the order to those Members that wish to 
consult it.    
 G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.4 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.4 Page 2 
 
 
  IN THE MATTER OF THE SAFEGUARD DUT Y FOR THE THIRD YEAR OF THE FINAL 
EXTENSION OF THE DEFINITIVE GENERAL SAFEGUARD MEASURE  
AGAINST THE IMPORTATION OF CERAMIC FLOOR  
AND WALL TILES FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES 
 
(AHTN Code Nos. 6907.9010, 6907.9090, 6908.9011,  
6908.9019, 6908.9021, 6908.9029, 6908.9090) 
 
(Safeguard Investigation No. 01-2007) 
 
Ceramic Tile Manufacturers' Association 
Petitioner 
x-------------------------------------------------------------------x 
 
ORDER 
 
 On 10 February 2009, the Secretary of DTI issued an Order reducing the amount of the definitive general safeguard measure on importa tion of ceramic floor and wall tiles from various 
countries to P
1.86/kg for the second year of the final ex tension period.  It was implemented on 
14 March 2009, fifteen (15) days after the publica tion of the Order on 27 February 2009 in two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation.   
  As provided under Rule 15.6 of the IRR of RA 8800, the safeguard duty for the third (3rd) year of the final extension period will be subject to a review.    
 On 20 July 2009, DTI requested the domestic industry to submit statistical data/information 
on the ceramic floor and wall tiles operations for the period covered by the review i.e. January 2008 
to June 2009.  On 11 August 2009 importers, expor ters and other concerned parties were notified and 
requested to submit their position papers.  Respon ses were received from the Federation of Philippine 
Industries, Inc (FPI), Ceramic Tile Manufacturers'  Association, Euroasia Marble and Granite, Inc., 
Citrinum Corporation, Foshan United Co. Ltd., Foshan Newpearl Trade Co., Ltd., Dynasty Ceramic 
Public Company Ltd., Taicera Enterprise Company,  Thai Ceramic Co., Ltd., RC International Corp., 
Ltd., Philippine Ceramic Products Importers Asso ciation, Inc., Korea Trade Center, Manila, 
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippi nes, Ministry of International Trade Industry, 
Malaysia.    
 The DTI reviewed the movement in prices for both locally produced and imported ceramic 
floor and wall tiles as well as the import trends from January 2008 to June 2009.  Selling price of 
domestic product in 2008 was higher by 9 per cent than  weighted average landed cost of imports with 
safeguard duty.  However, in the first semester of 2009, selling price of domestic product is already 
lower by 8 per cent than the weighted average la nded cost of imports with safeguard duty.   
 
 For the period under review, PROC contributed the biggest share to total Philippine imports at 
77 per cent to 79 per cent.  Indonesia registered the second highest share at 6 per cent to 8 per cent.  
Imports from these countries accounted for more than  80 per cent of total Philippine imports for the 
said period.    
 IN VIEW THEREOF , and in accordance with Section 19(2) of RA 8800, the following is 
hereby issued:    1. The amount of the measure to be imposed on the th ird year of the final extension period of the 
definitive general safeguard measure on ceramic fl oor and wall tiles from various countries shall  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.4 
 G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.4  Page 3 
 
 
  be reduced to P
1.80/kg.  The measure shall continue to be liberalized for th e remaining period of 
the final extension to the extent of redressing or preventing the injury and to facilitate adjustment 
by the domestic industry from the adverse effect s directly attributed to increased imports.   
 
2. The imported ceramic tiles, however, from Japan an d the member states of the European Union, 
which cannot be considered "like product or dir ectly competitive product" as defined in Section 4 
of RA 8800, are excluded from the imposition of  the extended definitive general safeguard 
measure. 
 
3. 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 originating fr om 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 countries with less than three per cent (3%) share co llectively account for 
not more than nine per cent (9%) of the total Philippine imports of the product concerned".  
The following countries and separate customs territories are therefore excluded from the 
imposition of the extended definitive general safegua rd measure on ceramic floor and wall tiles:   
 
East & Southern Af rica West Africa 
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. 
Cote d'Ivoire 
Equatorial Guinea Gabon 
Gambia, The 
Ghana Guinea 
Guinea-Bissau 
Liberia 
Mali Mauritania 
Niger 
Nigeria 
Sao Tome & Principe 
Senegal  Sierra Leone 
Togo 
North Africa South Asia 
Algeria Egypt, Arab Rep. 
Libya Morocco 
Tunisia Afghanistan 
Bangladesh 
Bhutan British Indian Ocean Territory 
East Timor 
Maldives Nepal 
Pakistan 
Sri Lanka 
 
 
  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.4 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.4 Page 4 
 
 
   
Americas 
Anguilla 
Antigua and Barbuda 
Argentina 
Aruba 
Bahamas 
Barbados Belize 
Bermuda 
Bolivia British Virgin Is. 
Cayman Islands 
Chile Colombia 
Costa Rica 
Cuba Dominica Dominican Rep. 
Ecuador 
El Salvador 
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 
French Guiana 
Granada 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 and Caicos Is. 
Uruguay 
US Virgin Island Venezuela 
Europe & Central Asia Middle East 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. 
West Bank & Gaza 
Yemen, Rep. American Samoa 
Brunei Darussalam Cambodia 
Christmas Is. 
Cocos (Keeling) Is. Cook Is. 
Fiji 
French Polynesia 
Guam 
Johnston Is. Kiribati 
Korea, Dem. Rep. 
Lao PDR Macao, China 
Marshall Islands 
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Midway Is. 
Mongolia 
Myanmar Nauru 
New Caledonia 
Niue Northern Marianas Island 
Palau 
Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Is. 
Samoa 
Singapore 
Soloman Islands 
Tokelau Tonga 
Tuvalu 
Vanuatu Wake Is. 
Wallis and Futuna Is. 
  G/SG/N/11/PHL/1/Suppl.4 
 G/SG/N/14/PHL/1/Suppl.4  Page 5 
 
 
   The composition of the developing countries on the de minimis  list may change depending on 
the most recent data available during the period of annual review which will be conducted by DTI 
during the extension period.    
 The notification and consultation requirem ents of 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 extended definitive ge neral safeguard measure shall be monitored and 
reviewed in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of RA 8800.     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. 
 
  3 December 2009   
 
PETER B. FAVILA 
Secretary 
 
  
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