RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1*
G/SCM/W/283/Rev.1*
ORGANIZATION 18July1996
(96-2836)
Original: Spanish Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES1CONCERNING
THE NOTIFICATION OFCOLOMBIAN LAWS AND REGULATIONS2
Revision
Thefollowing communication, dated 19January 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofColombia.
_______________
1. Does yourcountry haveanorganization toadminister theanti-dumping orcountervailing
dutylaws? Ifso,doestheorganization haveanyadministrative guidelines foradministering these
laws?
Thebodies responsible foradministering theA-DandSCM rules arethefollowing:
-INCOMEX: Conduct oftheinvestigation andprovisional decision.
-Trade Practices Committee: Gives anopinion ontheoutcome ofinvestigations and
submits arecommendation totheMinister.
-Ministry ofTrade: Termination ofinvestigation andimposition of
definitive duties.
-National Customs andExcise
Directorate -(DIAN): Collection andrefund ofduties.
Other thanLaw170of1994 andDecree 299of1995, there arenoadministrative guidelines
fortheimplementation ofrules. Anongoing process ofinstitutional consolidation could leadtothe
adoption ofguidelines fortheimplementation oftherules.
2. Does your country have anyoutstanding anti-dumping orcountervailing dutyorders?
A-D: Themeasures inforce at1December 1995 provide forsix(6)definitive duties.
SCM: None.
*English andSpanish only.
1G/ADP/W/200-G/SCM/W/207 +Suppl. andG/ADP/W/248-G/SCM/W/258.
2G/ADP/N/1/COL/1-G/SCM/N/1/COL/1.G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1
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3. What provisions have been made forjudicial review ofanti-dumping orcountervailing
dutyactions?
Judicial Review ofDecisions
Decision Type of
Administrative ActRemedy Authority
Initiation ofthe
investigationINCOMEX
ResolutionAction for
annulment1Administrative Court, firstor
soleinstance depending onthe
amount involved. Council of
State, second orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Preliminary
decision/provisional
dutiesINCOMEX
ResolutionAction for
annulment1Administrative Court, firstor
soleinstance depending onthe
amount. Council ofState,
second orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Close of
investigation and
definitive dutiesResolution
Ministry of
Foreign TradeAction for
annulment1Administrative Court, firstor
soleinstance depending onthe
amount. Council ofState,
second orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Review of
definitive dutiesResolution
Ministry of
Foreign TradeAction for
annulment1Administrative Court, firstor
soleinstance depending onthe
amount. Council ofState,
second orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
1Bymeans ofanorder issued on14May 1994, theCouncil ofState indicated that,exceptionally, in
cases involving infringement ofspecific rights, anaction forannulment would beadmissible andtherightwould
berestored. Insuch cases, iftheamount involved wasdeminimis ,theAdministrative Court would have
jurisdiction; otherwise, thecasewould beheard bytheCourt atfirstinstance andbytheCouncil ofState at
second instance.
4. Please explain how Colombia will implement therequirements ofArticle 9.5,
A-DAgreement?
Noregulations havebeenadopted inrespect ofArticle 9.5.Intheevent ofsubmission ofan
application byaproducer orexporter, theprovisions oftheA-DAgreement willbecomplied with.
5. Thedefinition ofsubsidy intheColombian Decree doesnotappear tobeconsistent with
theCVD Agreement definition. How doesColombia account forthese discrepancies?
Thedefinition contained inDecree 299of1995 reflects thedefinition given inArticle VI.3
oftheGATT andtheexplanatory notes contained inAnnex 1thereto. Thespecificity requirements
ofArticles 1.2and2oftheSCM Agreement arecontained inLaw170of1994. Incaseofconflict
between Decree 299andLaw170,Law170takes precedence, onaccount ofitshigher rankaswell
asitsstatus asalawapproving aninternational treaty.G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1
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6. How doesColombia intend toimplement thespecificity requirements ofArticles 1.2and
2oftheCVD Agreement?
Thespecificity criteria contained inArticle 2oftheAgreement areapplicable inColombia
pursuant toLaw170of1994. They havenottodatebeenthesubject ofrules more detailed than
Article 2,norhavetheybeenapplied, sincenoinvestigations havehitherto beeninitiated inconnection
withtheimposition ofcountervailing measures.
7. Article 12oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 22oftheCVD Agreement require member
countries toprovide parties withandissue determinations containing fullexplanations ofthe
decisions leading toanA-DorCVD determination. TheColombian Decree doesnotcontain these
requirements. HowdoesColombia intend toimplement thedisclosure requirements ofArticle 12
oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 22oftheCVD Agreement?
Colombian legislation doescontain provisions along these lines:
Decision Type ofadministrative
actObligation to
provide reasonsObligation tosend
copies tothe
parties (Members
andinterested
parties)
Initiation of
investigationINCOMEX Resolution Article 37 Article 38
Preliminary
decision/provisional
dutiesINCOMEX Resolution Article 39 Article 21
Termination of
investigation and
definitive dutiesResolution ofthe
Ministry ofForeign
TradeArticle 41 Articles 41and38
8. Pursuant toArticle 27oftheColombian Decree, howdoesthereview oftheduties affect
thecollection ofduties?
Article 27ofDecree 299of1995 reflects Article 11oftheWTO Agreement. Thereview
ofduties doesnotaffect thecollection ofduties. During thecourse oftherelevant procedure, which
mustbecarried outwithin amaximum period offourmonths, theexisting duties remain inforce until
thereview iscompleted.
9. Aretheresults ofthereview ofduties merely applied prospectively from thedateofthe
review results orareimporters abletorequest arefund ofduties ifthereview results demonstrate
adecrease inthesubsidy ordumping rates?
Theresults ofthereview areapplied from thedateofissue ofthenewAdministrative Act;
however, pursuant totheterms ofArticle 9oftheA-DAgreement, arefund maybemade ofduties
thathavebeencollected between thedateofthedecision toimpose definitive duties andthedateof
issue oftheAdministrative Actcontaining adecision based onthereview.G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1
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Supplementary questions
1. Article 1ofChapter IofDecree 299(theDecree) appears toallow theanti-dumping
authorities (INCOMEX) toprovide dataobtained inanA-Dinvestigation totheNational Customs
andExcise Directorate (DIAN) toinvestigate potential under-invoicing. Isthisaccurate? Ifso,
istheparty submitting thedatainformed thatdatamaybeshared withtheDIAN? Finally, how
isthisprovision consistent withArticle 6.5oftheA-DAgreement which requires that"information
shall notbedisclosed without specific permission oftheparty submitting it"?
Article 1ofDecree 299of1995requires INCOMEX tosendcopies oftherelevant documents
totheDIAN, when ithasinformation thatleads ittobelieve thatunder-invoicing mayexist, thisbeing
aform ofconduct punishable under ourlegalsystem, which hastobeinvestigated bythecompetent
authority.
INCOMEX sends thisinformation onitsowninitiative, andtheauthorization oftheparty
supplying theinformation isnotneeded forittobeshared withtheDIAN. However, thereisnobreach
ofArticle 6.5oftheAgreement inasmuch astheDIAN, which isalsoaState institution, isobliged
toexercise reserve withrespect totheconfidential documents sentbyINCOMEX, inorder toexpedite
theunder-invoicing investigation. Thisensures observance oftheprinciple thatconfidential information
maynotbedisclosed without theexpress authorization oftheparty bywhich itwassupplied.
2. How doesanexamination ofthefactor found inDecree Article 13.1.2 (e.g., "effects of
imports ontrends inthedomestic industry") differ with thefactor found inArticle 13.2.
"[i]information onthedomestic producers affected" andhowarethese twoprovisions, read
together, consistent withArticles 3.1-3.5 oftheA-DAgreement andArticles 15.1-15.5 oftheSCM
Agreement?
These twoArticles provide foranassessment oftheeffect oftheimports under investigation
interms ofeachoftheeconomic indicators ofproduction; Article 13.1.2 refers totheeffect onthe
industry oftheproduct affected, considered asawhole, andArticle 13.2totheeffect oneachofthe
producers affected. However, withaviewtobringing theterminology usedinDecree 299intoline
withthatoftheAgreements, withregard tothedetermination ofinjury, theterms found inthe
Agreements willbeused, namely "domestic industry" and"domestic producers ofsuchproducts",
andtheeffects oftheimports willbeassessed inaccordance withthose provisions.
3. There isnorequirement inArticle 13oftheDecree forconsideration ofthemagnitude
ofthedumping margin inassessing material injury inanti-dumping investigations. How isthis
consistent withArticle 3.4oftheA-DAgreement?
Although Article 13ofDecree 299of1995 doesnotconsider themagnitude ofthedumping
margin inassessing injury, thisfactor willhavetobetaken intoaccount inaccordance withArticle 3.4
oftheA-DAgreement, asratified byLaw170of1994.
4. What factors willINCOMEX take intoconsideration when determining the"causal
relationship between theimports andthealleged injury" pursuant toDecree Article 13.3? How
issuchconsideration consistent withArticle 3.5oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 15.5ofthe
SCM Agreement?
When determining the"causal relationship between theimports andthealleged injury",
INCOMEX considers whether thedumped imports arecausing material injury tothedomestic industry
ineconomic terms (prices, sales, installed capacity, employment, inventories).G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1
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Article 3.5oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 15.5oftheSCM Agreement, which were
incorporated inourlegislation byLaw170of1994, expressly stipulate thatconsideration shallalso
begiven tofactors otherthanthedumped imports, which areknown tobecausing injury tothedomestic
industry.
5. Decree Article 14identifies onlytwofactors toconsider indetermining whether there is
athreat ofmaterial injury. Does theDecree alsointend toinclude ananalysis oftheadditional
factors indicated inArticle 3.7oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 15.7oftheSCM Agreement?
Ifnot,please explain howtheDecree isconsistent withtheAgreements inthisregard.
When analysing thethreat ofinjury, INCOMEX isrequired alsotoconsider theadditional
factors indicated inArticle 3.7oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 15.7oftheSCM Agreement, given
thattheyhavebeenincorporated innational legislation bymeans ofLaw170of1994.
6. There isnorequirement inArticle 14oftheDecree that, when making threat
determinations, INCOMEX must consider thenature ofthesubsidies inquestion. How isthis
consistent withArticle 15.7oftheSCM Agreement?
Thenature ofthesubsidy willbeafactor tobeconsidered indetermining theexistence ofa
threat ofinjury, inaccordance withtheSCM Agreement ratified byLaw170of1994.
7. Theparticulars indicated inDecree Article 32forinitiation ofananti-dumping or
countervailingdutyinvestigationdonotincludeinformationontheconsequentimpactoftheimports
withrespect tomarket share, productivity, return oninvestments, actual andpotential negative
effects oncash flow, inventories, employment, wages, growth, orability toraise capital or
investments, which arespecifically mentioned inA-DAgreement Article 5.2(which incorporates
Articles 3.2and3.4)andSCM Agreement Article 11.2(which incorporates Articles 15.2and15.4).
Does theDecree contemplate these requirements initsinitiation provisions inArticle 32?
Information ontheimpact ofimports withrespect tothefactors indicated must beincluded
intheparticulars andevidence submitted bytheparty applying fortheinitiation ofaninvestigation,
inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 5.2oftheA-DAgreement andArticle 11.2ofthe
SCM Agreement, given thattheyhavebeenincorporated innational legislation byLaw170of1994.
OralQuestion bytheUnited States
Could youplease explain theColombian assessment system andwhat procedures have
been specified forrequesting refunds?
Once INCOMEX hasissued theresolution determining theimposition ofprovisional duties
ortheMinistry ofForeign Trade issues theresolution imposing definitive duties, theCustoms
Administration willundertake toassess, collect oraccept security fortheprovisional duties.
Theassessment willbecarried outbydetermining thedifference between thebaseprice
(expressed inf.o.b. terms) andtheFOBprice declared bytheimporter. Theresult willmultiplied
bythenumber ofimported units.
Incases where theprovisional duties collected exceed thedefinitive duties, theCustoms
Administrator, onthebasis ofareasoned decision, isrequired torefund theassessed excess payment
made bytheimporter intheform ofprovisional duties.G/ADP/W/273/Rev.1
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When nodecision istaken tocollect definitive duties, anorder willbeissued -based ona
reasoned decision -forthereimbursement oftheentire amount paidbywayofprovisional duties or
therefund ofthedulylodged security.
Ifareview oftheduties iscarried out,theresults ofthereview areapplied from thedateof
issueofthenewAdministrative Act;however, pursuant totheterms ofArticle 9oftheA-DAgreement,
arefund maybemade ofduties thathavebeencollected between thedateofthedecision toimpose
definitivedutiesandthedateofissueoftheAdministrativeActembodyingdecisionsbasedonthereview.