RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/Q2/EGY/2
5 November 1998
(98-4318)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A) OF THE AGREEMENT ON
SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION
AND THE REASONS FOR IT
AND
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON
SAFEGUARDS BEFORE TAKING A PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARDS
MEASURE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6
Replies to Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES1
Regarding the Notification of EGYPT2
The following communication, dated 3 November 1998, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Egypt.
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Q1. Has the Government of Egypt notified the Committee of its safeguards legislation and
regulations, as required by Article 12.6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards?  If so, please
provide the official citation and date of this notification.
Reply
The Egyptian Government has notified the WTO that the WTO Agreement on Safeguards has
been adopted in total as national legislation in Egyp t.  It forms a part of Egypt's law on international
trade.  This was enacted as law on 30 June 1995.
Q2. If no such notification has yet been made, please advise when the Committee on
Safeguards can expect to receive it, bearing in mind that Article 12.6 of the Agreement on
Safeguards provides that a notification of this kind shall be promptly made available to theCommittee.
Reply
Not applicable.
Q3. When did Egypt enact its safeguard legisl ation and regulations?  Please provide an
official legal citation for these laws and regul ations and a translated copy of them to the
Committee for review.
                                                     
1 G/SG/Q2/EGY/1
2 G/SG/N/6/EGY/1 and
  G/SG/N/7/EGY/1.G/SG/Q2/EGY/2
Page 2
Reply
A further law was enacted on 11 June 1998.  A copy of this law will be available to the
United States and to all Members, as soon as it is translated.
Q4. Please describe the process that led to the preliminary determination that there is clear
evidence that increased imports have caused se rious injury to the Egyptian safety match
industry.
Reply
The preliminary determination was based upon import data available to the Authority and the
Advisory Committee.  The serious injury to the local industry was established on the basis of the
information on the performance of the industry taken from the accounts and records of the companies.
This information was reviewed by the Advisory  Committee, which makes recommendations to the
Minister of Trade & Supply.
Q5. Was a petition filed on behalf of the safety match industry or did the Egyptian
Government self-initiate this process?  If the process was initiated by a petition, please provide
to the Secretariat a translated copy for review by interested exporting countries.
Reply
The inquiry was self-initiated by the Egyptian Government.
Q6. Was the preliminary determination made by  an Egyptian authority deemed competent
for conducting safeguards investigations?  If so, please identify that competent authority.  Whatprocedures did the authority follow in making its preliminary determination?  What evidence of
serious injury and import causation did the authority consider?
Reply
The competent Authority is the International Trade Policy Department – Foreign Trade
Sector, which is part of the Ministry of Trade and Supply.  The decision to impose provisionalmeasures was decided by the process set out in question 4 above.  All determinations follow the same
procedure in Egypt.
Q7. According to the information provided in  G/SG/N/7/EGY/1, there has been a decline in
profit of the largest and dominant local producer of safety matches.  Did Egypt make anassessment based on the condition of the industry as a whole producing the like or directly
competitive product, and if so, how?
Reply
The assessment is taken from the records and accounts of the Egyptian producers.  These
producers account for 97 per cent of the total production in Egypt.
Q8. We note, in G/SG/N/7/EGY/ 1, that only 187,712 cartons of imported safety matches
were imported into Egypt in 1997.  What was th e total apparent consumption of safety matches
in Egypt in 1997?G/SG/Q2/EGY/2
Page 3
Reply
The total production figure for Egypt is confiden tial information.  Please note that only two
companies are involved in the inquiry so release of  this information would give valuable commercial
information to a competitor.
Q9. Did the Government of Egypt establish and make public, in consonance with Article X
of GATT 1994, procedures for the investigation prior to its initiation, as required by Article 3 of
the WTO Agreement on Safeguards?  On what da te did the Government of Egypt publish its
safeguards investigation procedures?  Were the procedures published in the Official Gazette?
Please provide the official citation for these procedures.
Reply
Please refer to the response to question 1 above.  The adoption of law in Egypt requires that
this be done by public notice and, as advised to the WTO, the public notices were published on
30 June 1995.
Q10. Does Egypt intend to initiate consultations immediately, as required by Article 12.4 of
the Agreement on Safeguards?  If so, when and with which Members?  Which countries are the
principal suppliers of imported safety matches to Egypt?
Reply
Immediately upon initiation, the principal suppliers were advised and invited to consult with
the Egyptian Authorities.  The principal suppliers are from Turkey, Sweden (EC), Pakistan, India and
Malaysia.  At the same time all these Members were advised and invited to consult.  Consultationshave been held with some of these Member States, and Egypt hopes these will continue.
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