./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/IG/W/48
16 April 2003
(03-2106)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
Informal Group on Anti-CircumventionOriginal:  English
TOPIC 3 - TO WHAT EXTENT CAN CIRCUMVENTION BE DEALT WITH
UNDER THE RELEVANT WTO RULES?  TO WHAT EXTENT CAN IT NOT?
WHAT OTHER OPTIONS MAY BE DEEMED NECESSARY?
Paper by Australia
The following communication, dated 14 April 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Australia.
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The undermining of anti-dumping measures by circumvention is a serious threat to the
credibility of the anti-dumping system.  While acknowledging that consensus on the behaviours which
constitute circumvention may not be possible, this pa per sets out some behaviour of particular concern
to Australia.  This paper also indicates the ways  in which in may be possible to deal with some
circumvention within the WTO rules.
The Australian Customs Service (ACS) has had limited experience with the circumvention of
measures.  However, on several occasions ACS has faced circumvention which has involved changes
in the physical characteristics of like products.
Anti-dumping investigations are costly and time consuming for the authorities as well as all
interested parties.  It is critical to the aims of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) to preserve
the integrity of the measures and ensure their effectiveness is not eroded by this kind of
circumvention.
Given this context, Australia suggests that processes for dealing with circumvention of this
kind should be expedited as far as reasonable.
For example, Australia suggests that a costly and time-consuming new application by the
domestic industry would not be necessary.  The most affected by injurious dumping in Australia are
small- and medium-sized enterprises, which find making an application highly burdensome.  Incircumstances where industries have been found to be suffering injury and entitled to the relief of
anti-dumping measures, it is therefore not appropriate to penalise these industries by requiring the
additional burden of a new application when these industries are faced with potential circumvention.
However, it remains essential that any expedited investigation of this kind follow the
principles of procedural fairness, accountability and transparency set out in the WTO ADA.
Australia considers that anti-dumping  authorities need to look at the circumstances of each
case to consider to what extent it is necessary to collect new information on like goods, dumping,
material injury and causation.G/ADP/IG/W/48
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Circumvention involving minor changes to physical characteristics may only require the
calculation of a dumping or injury margin.  This could apply, for example, to situations where:
• products are imported in concentrations different to that specified in the measures and
this new concentration is immaterial to the use of the product;
• products are imported in different quantities or dimensions than set out in the
measures, and then may or may not be aggregated or divided after importation;
• products which are new or improved model types of a product subject to measures
but represent only minor changes or variation to physical characteristics of theproduct.
Other examples of circumvention would require a mu ch broader inquiry.  For example, situations in
which:
• importations of downstream or upstream products, including situations where
products which are imported in components or conglomerates and then modified,
separated or assembled to form the product described in the measures;
• new models of products which do not share a significant number of characteristics in
common with models subject to measures;
• models which may represent ‘new/emerging technologies’.
Australia considers that the “special circumstances” mentioned in Article 5.6 allows for an
expedited anti-circumvention review of the type specified above.
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