RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/Q1/SGP/5
G/SCM/Q1/SGP/5
ORGANIZATION 14April 1997
(97-1600)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5AND 32.6OFTHE AGREEMENTS
Questions from HONG KONG
toSINGAPORE1
Thefollowing communication, dated 9April 1997, hasbeenreceived from theHong Kong
Economic andTrade Office.
_______________
Domestic Legal Status oftheA-DAgreement
1. Singapore ’snotification contains theCountervailing andAnti-Dumping Duties Act1996enacted
on1November 1996.
Question
What isthelegalstatus oftheWTO A-DAgreement (theAgreement) intheSingaporean legal
system? Does ithavetheforce oflaw? Areofficials required, legally orotherwise, toabide bythe
provisions oftheAgreement intheconduct ofA-Dproceedings? Ifthedomestic legislation isinconflict
withtheAgreement, which willtakeprecedence?
Implementation ofPanel Reports
2. What isSingapore ’spolicy andlawfortheimplementation ofWTO Panel Reports?
Determination tobemade inthepublic interest
3. TheActprovides theMinister withtheauthority tomake adetermination ofpublic interest
atvarious stages ofA-Dproceedings. Some examples areasfollows:
- initiation ofinvestigation (Art. 19(3)(b))
- termination ofinvestigation (Art. 24(1)(b))
- suspension ofinvestigation (Art. 25(2)(c))
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- review byMinister (Art. 26(1))
Question
Howwould theSingaporean authorities make adetermination ofpublic interest? What could
betherelevant considerations?
Other practices discovered during investigation orreview
4. Article 38(1) oftheActprovides thattheMinister may, ifthere issufficient time, investigate
practices which appear tobedumping butwhich were notincluded inthepetition iftheMinister
discovers those practices inthecourse ofanA-Dinvestigation orreview.
Questions
Would thepractices referred toinArticle 38(1) involve thesameproduct fromthesamecountry
inrespect oftheanti-dumping investigation orreview under way? Ifnot,would thenewinvestigation
beconsidered asself-initiated bytheauthorities within themeaning ofArticle 5.6oftheA-DAgreement?
Power tomake Regulations
5. Article 46enables theMinister tomake regulations fortheAct.
Question
Have anyRegulations beenmade under Article 46?Ifyes,would theybenotified inaccordance
withArticle 18.5oftheAgreement?
KeyIssues intheWTO ADAgreement found silent intheSingaporean ADlegislation
6. TheWTO A-DAgreement contains many improvements overtheTokyo Round A-DCode.
WeexpectWTOmemberswouldunequivocallyreflecttheseimprovementsintheirlegislation.Although
mostofthem arereflected inSingaporean A-Dlegislation, specific statutory provisions forsome of
themappears nottobefound ortheprovisions maynotbeadequate. Some examples areasfollows:
- cumulative assessment ofinjury (Article 3.3)
- factors fordetermination ofathreat ofmaterial injury (Article 3.7)
- on-site verification (Article 6.6,6.7andAnnex I)
- sampling techniques (Article 6.10)
- industrial users andconsumer organisations toprovide information (Article 6.12)
- refund procedures (Article 9.3.2)
- dutyforexporters andproducers notselected insampling (Article 9.4)
- duration ofreview investigations (Article 11.4)G/ADP/Q1/SGP/5
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- procedures regarding useofbestinformation available (Annex II)
Questions
(a) Arethereanyspecific domestic provisions reflecting theabove Agreement provisions?
Ifnot,howwillSingapore ensure compliance withthese Agreement provisions?
(b) WillSingapore contemplate further legislative steps toensure theconformity ofits
legislation andadministrative procedures withtheprovisions oftheAgreement, in
accordance withArticle 18.4?