. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/W/412
18 November 1999
(99-5021)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices Original:  English
SOUTH AFRICA – ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES APPLIED ON UNCOATED,
WOODFREE, 46 TO 80 GSM A4 WHITE CUT PAPER IMPORTED
FROM BRAZIL
Response by SOUTH AFRICA to a Statement by BRAZIL made at the
meeting of the Committee on 28 October 1999
The following communication, dated 16 November 1999, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of South Africa.
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1. Determination of injury to a major proportion of the total domestic production
The delegate for the Government of Brazil quoted Article 4.1 of the Anti-Dumping
Agreement which provides as follows:
"… the term "domestic industry" shall be interpreted as referring to the domestic
producers as a whole of the like products or  to those of them whose collective output
of the products constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of
those products."
It stated that in order to comply with the Anti-Dumping Agreement, the South African
domestic industry of A4 cut paper should have been defined as including the total production of the
two South African producers in South Africa or, if not possible, the South African producer
responsible for the "major proportion" of the total domestic production of the similar product.
The Government of South Africa points out that the article preceding "major proportion" in
Article 4.1 is in fact "a" and not "the", as indicated in the paragraph subsequent to the relevant quote
of the Government of Brazil's paper.  While "a major proportion" would be considered to be a large
portion, the Government of South Africa does not regard this as necessarily referring to over 50 per
cent.
With regard to the investigation under discussion, the Board on Tariffs and Trade ("the
Board"), as indicated in paragraph 5.1 of its Report No. 3966, considered that the domestic producer
investigated (Sappi) constituted "a major proportio n" of the total production of A4 cut paper, as its
production represented 47 per cent of the total production of the subject product during the half-yearperiod directly prior to initiating the investigation.  The Government of South Africa regards 47 per
cent as "a major proportion" for the purpose of Article 4.1.  The producer concerned cannot be
considered to be "a minor producer", as stated by Brazil in its paper.
The Government of South Africa considers itself to have acted fully in accordance with the
Anti-Dumping Agreement.G/ADP/W/412
Page 2
2. Provisions of Article 6.9 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement
The delegate of the Government of Brazil quoted Article 6.9 of the Anti-Dumping
Agreement, which provides as follows:
"The authorities shall, before a final determination is made, inform all interested
parties of the essential facts under consideration which form the basis for the decision
whether to apply definitive measures.  Such disclosure should take place in sufficient
time for the parties to defend their interests."
It was argued by Brazil that the Board did not inform interested parties of the essential facts
that were taken into consideration, and therefore restricted the participation of and disregarded theright for defence entitled to interested parties.
As indicated to the Embassy of Brazil in South Africa in a letter dated 8 June 1999, the
Board's practice is to send out an "essential facts" letter to all interested parties in cases where the
facts considered by the Board in making its final determination, differ from that taken intoconsideration by the Board for purposes of its preliminary determination.  It was also indicated in that
letter that in the present case, no new facts were considered by the Board in making its final
determination, and as the interested parties were given the opportunity to comment on the preliminary
determination, the Board acted in accordance with the provisions of Article 6.9 of the Anti-Dumping
Agreement.
The Government of South Africa believes that it acted in conformity with the said provisions
of the Anti-Dumping Agreement.
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