RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/AHG/W/16
24September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3936)
Original: Spanish Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
AdHocGroup onImplementation
TOPIC 6*-ARTICLE 6.2"HEARINGS"
Paper byMexico
Thefollowing communication, dated 8September 1997, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofMexico.
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Meetings withtheparties
Under Mexican law,there arethree kinds ofmeetings which theinvestigating authority may
holdwiththeparties inthecourse ofananti-dumping investigation:
- Public hearings;
- conciliation meetings;
- technical information meetings.
Asexplained below, eachofthese types ofmeetings hasaparticular purpose andisgoverned
byspecific rules.
A. Public hearings
According toArticle 81oftheForeign Trade ActandArticles 165to170ofitsRegulations,
thepurpose ofthesemeetings istoallow theinterested parties toappear andsubmit arguments intheir
defence, andtoquestion theother parties regarding theinformation, dataandevidence submitted by
them inthecourse oftheinvestigation.
Asregards thequestioning bytheparties ofeachother, itisimportant topoint outthatinorder
toensure thattheparties donotraisequestions thatareirrelevant totheinvestigation, harass eachother
inanywayoraskinsidious questions, theinvestigating authority evaluates therelevance ofeachquestion
and,where itdeems necessary, maydemand thatitberejected.
__________________________
*See document G/ADP/W/401 fordescriptions ofthenumbered topics.G/ADP/AHG/W/16
Page2
Inthecourse ofthehearing theauthority, subject toagreement withtheparties, fixes the
maximum time-period permitted foreachparty topresent itsarguments.1Thefloor isgiven tothe
exporters, theimporters andthedomestic producers (inthatorder), eachofwhom issubsequently
given therighttoreply tothearguments oftheother parties forasecond time, inthesame order.
Forthesakeofclarity, wehavesetoutbelow thedifferent stages ofapublic hearing:
A. Opening ofthehearing;
B. Reading bytheinvestigating authority ofthesummary ofthearguments andthestatus
oftheinvestigation;
C. Oralsubmissions bytheparties:
1. exporters;
2. importers;
3. domestic producers;
D. Rebuttals bytheparties:
1. exporters;
2. importers;
3. domestic producers;
E. Questioning bytheparties ofeachother (intheorder inwhich theypresented their
oralsubmissions);
F. Questioning oftheparties bytheinvestigating authority;
G. Closure ofthehearing.
Therulesofconfidentiality laiddown intheForeign Trade ActandtheRegulations under the
Foreign Trade Actmust beobserved during thehearing. Where confidential information istobe
discussed, thehearing isconducted incamera, andaccess toconfidential information isgiven only
torepresentatives oftheparties dulyauthorized forthepurpose.2
Theinvestigating authority alsohasthepower (which italways usesinpractice) toquestion
theparties onthearguments andevidence submitted bythem during theinvestigation, andcanthus
obtain information directly from theparties.
Arecord ofthepublic hearing isdrawn upinwhich adetailed account isgiven ofthe
proceedings; itmust besigned byallparticipants.
Finally, these meetings areheldfollowing thepublication ofthepreliminary resolution.
1Without prejudice toextending thetimeallocated forparticipation bytheparties asitconsiders necessary.
2Itisimportant torecall thatunder Mexican law,representatives oftheinterested parties mayhave access
totheconfidential information ofother parties provided theymeet certain requirements andaredulyauthorized
todosobytheinvestigating authority (Article 80oftheForeign Trade Act).G/ADP/AHG/W/16
Page3
B. Conciliation meetings
Pursuant toArticle 61oftheForeign Trade Act,theparties mayrequest theinvestigating
authority, atanytimeduring theproceedings, toconvene ameeting withtheother interested parties
inorder topropose formulas forresolving thecaseandterminating theinvestigation.
Once sucharequest hasbeensubmitted, theinvestigating authority informs theother parties
sothattheymaymake anycomments theyconsider relevant. Once theviews oftheparties havebeen
heard, theMinistry may, where appropriate, invite theinterested parties toaconciliation meeting,
indicating where andwhen itistotakeplace.
Thefailure ofaparty toattend thismeeting doesnotinanywayprejudice thatparty'sinterests.
Ifinthecourse ofthehearing theparties areabletoagree onaformula forresolving thecase
andterminating theinvestigation, theproposed solution mustbeexamined bytheinvestigating authority
andwhere appropriate, i.e.provided itdoesnotviolate therights oftheparties orMexico 'sobligations
asaMember oftheWTO, theinvestigation maybeterminated byincorporating theagreement reached
intothefinalresolution.
Awritten report isdrawn upoftheproceedings andsigned fortherecord bytherepresentatives
ofalloftheparties concerned.
C. Technical information meetings
According toArticle 84oftheRegulations under theForeign Trade Act,onceapreliminary
orfinalresolution hasbeenpublished, theparties mayrequest theinvestigating authority toexplain
itsconclusions, itscalculations, andthemethod bywhich itarrived atthefindings contained inthe
preliminary orfinalresolution sothattheymayadequately defend theirinterests.
Forsuchameeting tobeheld, theinterested parties mustsubmit arequest totheinvestigating
authority within fivedaysfollowing thepublication ofthepreliminary orfinalresolution, inwhich
theyindicate thesubjects theywishtoaddress.
Once theinvestigating authority hasaccepted therequest oftheparties (theonlyconditions
foracceptance being thattheyshould besubmitted ontimeandthattheparties should bedulyaccredited
intheinvestigation), itnotifies theparties ofthetimeandplace atwhich themeeting istobeheld.
Theproceedings arerelatively simple: theparties meetwithrepresentatives oftheinvestigating
authority, inparticular withthetechnical representatives responsible forthecalculations oranalysis,
whoexplain thefindings.
Atatechnicalinformationmeetingondumping,forexample,theinvestigatingauthorityexplains
totheexporting companies thewayinwhich themargin ofdumping wascalculated onthebasis of
itsowninformation,andsuppliesthemwithcopiesofthecomputerprogrammesonwhichthecalculations
were based sothattheymaygothrough thesame calculations using theirowninformation.
Aswithpublic hearings, theproceedings ofthetechnical information meetings arerecorded
inareport which issigned, fortherecord, bytherepresentatives ofthecompany thatrequested the
meeting andbytheinvestigating authority.