RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/Q2/SVN/2
5 May 1999
(99-1835)
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 SLOVENIA2
The following communication, dated 27 April 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Slovenia.
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Questions 1, 2 and 3
1. Did Slovenia notify the Committee of its safeguards laws and regulations, as required by
Article 12.6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards?  If yes, please provide the official citation
and date of this notification.
2. If the notification has not yet been made, when do you intend to do so?  Article 12.6 of
the Agreement on Safeguards provides that this notification shall be notified promptly to the
Committee.
3. When did Slovenia enact its safeguard legislation and regulations?  Please provide an
official legal citation for these laws and regul ations, along with a translated copy, to the
Committee for review.
Reply
The Agreement on Safeguards which is an integral part of the Marrakesh Agreement
Establishing the World Trade Organization has become a part of legislation of Slovenia by the
ratification of the Marrakesh Agreement.  In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of
Slovenia the ratified and published international agreements are applied directly.  A specialimplementation regulation has not been enacted yet.  As soon as Slovenia adopts its safeguard
implementation regulation which is under preparation it will notify the Committee of it as required by
Article 12.6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
Q.4 Did Slovenia establish and make public, in consonance with Article X of GATT 1994,
procedures for the investigation prior to its in itiation, as required by Article 3 of the WTO
Agreement on Safeguards?  On what date were safeguard investigation procedures published?
Was information about the procedures published in  the Official Gazette?  Please provide the
official citation for these procedures.
                                                     
1 G/SG/Q2/SVN/1
2 G/SG/N/6/SVN/1, G/SG/N/7/SVN/1 and G/SG/N/7/SVN/Suppl.1.G/SG/Q2/SVN/2
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Reply
Slovenia has not published safeguard investigation procedures yet.
Q.5 Was a petition filed on behalf of the swine meat industry, or did the Ministry of
Agriculture self-initiate this process?  Did any such petition request the imposition of
provisional safeguard measures?  If the process was initiated by petition, please provide to the
Secretariat a translated copy for rev iew by interested exporting countries.
Reply
The petition for an immediate introduction of safeguard measures was filed on behalf of the
domestic swine meat industry to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food which preceded the
initiative to the Government.
Q.6 Which countries are the principal suppliers of swine meat to Slovenia?
Reply
The principle suppliers of swine meat to Slovenia are Austria, the Netherlands and Hungary.
The overviews of imports of swine meat by the main countries in the years 1996-1998 (by volume)
and by the main EC and CEFTA countries in 1998 are enclosed.
Q.7 The information provided in G/SG/N/6/SVN/1 and G/SG/N/7/SVN/1 included import
data covering only the months of August, September and October for the years 1997 and 1998.
Please provide monthly swine meat im port data for the past three years.
Reply
Monthly swine meat import data for the past three years are enclosed.
Q.8 We note in G/SG/N/7/SVN/1 that 8,371 tons of  swine meat were imported into Slovenia
during the period August-October 1998.  What was the total apparent consumption of swine
meat during that same period in Slovenia?  What was the annual total apparent consumption ofswine meat for the past three years?
Reply
The statistical data on the total consumption of swine meat during the period August-
October 1998 are not available yet (they can be provided in May 1999).  The total apparent
consumption of swine meat (balance of swine m eat) for the past two years (1996, 1997) can be seen
from the enclosed data.
Q.9 Please explain why the notification refers to threat of serious injury to the “Slovenian
meat market,” as opposed to “domestic industry,” as required by Article 2 of the Agreement on
Safeguards.  Please explain how the definition of “Slovenian meat market,” for the purposes of
this investigation, comports with the definition of “domestic industry,” as provided in
Article 4.1(c) of the Agreement on Safeguards.
Reply
We are sorry for the error that has crept into the notification.  Instead of "Slovenian swine
meat market" we should have referred to the "Slovenian swine meat industry".  Nevertheless, we
believe that it is evident from the further explanation that the Slovenian swine breeders have beensuffering damage and have been threatened by ev en greater injury if such increased imports had
continued.
Q.10 Is the safeguard investigation concerned ex clusively with whether increased imports areG/SG/Q2/SVN/2
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threatening serious injury to the domestic in dustry?  Please explain the apparent discrepancy
between N/6 and N/7 noted above.
Reply
When the investigation process was initiated (15 October 1998) there was an imminent threat
of serious injuries to the domestic swine breeders.  It was obvious that the import of swine meat kept
increasing from week to week and that there was a heavy decrease of purchase of domestic swine
meat.  The measure was introduced on 21 November 1998 when the damage to the domestic swine
producers had already been caused.  The threat of further, even greater injury remained.  The measure
was introduced because the circumstances showed a constant threat of further serious injuries to the
domestic swine breeders which might have even led to the domestic swine meat industry breakdown.The preliminary determination made at that time showed clearly that the increased imports had
already caused and were threatening to cause further injury.  The situation was so critical that the
introduction of a provisional safeguard measure was necessary.  It was estimated that any further
damage would have been difficult to repair.
Q.11 Can you confirm this and provide further details concerning the nature of this action?
Notwithstanding the termination of any provisional measure, is the safeguards investigation still
under way?
Reply
The provisional safeguard measure was terminated on 16 January 1999, but the safeguard
investigation is still underway.  After the introduction of the measure the situation improved, and the
purchase of domestic swine meat increased.  Since Slovenia is not very much in favour of taking any
kind of safeguard measures, the decision was taken to terminate the provisional safeguard measureand to continue with the investigation process.
Q.12 Please identify any and all countries that  were excluded from the provisional tariff
increases that were described in paragraph 2 of G/SG/N/7/SVN/1.  Did Slovenia exclude
developing country imports from the tariff increases per Article 9 of the WTO Agreement on
Safeguards?
Reply
Since the Agreement on Safeguards is applied directly it was not necessary to specify in the
Government Decree that the developing countries are excluded from the provisional tariff increases.G/SG/Q2/SVN/2
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Overview of Imports of Pigmeat by the Main Country Groups for the Years 1996-1998
(By volume – tonnes)
TOTAL EC CEFTA % EC % EC % EC % CEFTA % CEFTA % CEFTA
CN code 1996 1997 1998 1996 1997 1998 1996 1997 1998 1996 1997 1998 1996 1997 1998
0203 11 8,161 8,528 12,561 81 3,064 11,372 8,003 5,353 1,140 1.0 35.9 90.5 98.1 62.8 9.1
0203 12 2,308 3,177 2,710 670 819 1,476 1,629 2,348 1,234 29.0 25.8 54.5 70.6 73.9 45.5
0203 19 2,776 5,242 1,949 849 551 1,304 1,926 4,688 643 30.6 10.5 66.9 69.4 89.4 33.0
0203 21 24 11 16 0 0 0 6 11 16 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.9 100.0 100.0
0203 22 53 69 62 1 58 53 44 11 9 1.9 84.3 84.2 84.1 15.7 15.0
0203 29 5,222 5,624 6,316 2,508 3,228 4,812 2,521 2,377 1,503 48.0 57.4 76.2 48.3 42.3 23.8
Total 18,544 22,651 23,613 4,109 7,720 19,017 14,129 14,787 4,545 22.2 34.1 80.5 76.2 65.3 19.2
YearImports (t)
TotalImports (t)
ECImports (t)
CEFTA%
EC%
CEFTA%
Other
1996 18,544   4,109 14,129 22.2 76.2 1.7
1997 22,651   7,720 14,787 34.1 65.3 0.6
1998 23,613 19,016   4,545 80.5 19.2 0.2
Source:  SORS, MAFFG/SG/Q2/SVN/2
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Overview of Imports of Pigmeat by th e Main EC and CEFTA Countries in 1998
Country Imports
(t)Imports
('000 US$)Share of imports
(by vol. %)
-  Austria 8,929 13,692 47.0
-  Netherlands 5,755 9,208 30.3
-  Belgium 1,724 2,464 9.1
-  Italy 1,042 2,085 5.5
-  Denmark 891 1,911 4.7
-  France 365 660 1.9
-  Ireland 261 630 1.4
-  United Kingdom 40 65 0.2
-  Germany 10 11 0.1
EC countries – total 19,017 30,726 100.0
-  Hungary 4,509 9,712 99.2
-  Poland 16 24 0.3
-  Czech Republic 21 45 0.5
CEFTA countries - total 4,545 9,780 100.0
Source: SORS, MAFF
Overview of the Monthly Imports of Pigmeat (Fresh, Chilled or Frozen)
in 1996-1998 (by volume - tonnes)
Month 1996
t1997
t1998
t
I. 1,379 1,602 1,943
II. 1,343 1,769 2,046
III. 1,574 1,553 1,910
IV. 1,033 1,383 1,624
V. 1,411 1,305 1,543
VI. 1,234 1,522 1,386
VII. 1,370 1,867 1,844
VIII. 1,415 1,856 1,978
IX. 1,295 2,493 2,950
X. 1,863 2,761 3,528
XI. 1,665 2,413 1,523
XII. 1,757 2,397 1,338
Total 17,339 22,921 23,613
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.G/SG/Q2/SVN/2
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Balance for Pigmeat
in 1,000 t
1996 1997
Increment 56.6 53.9
Changes in stocks (live animals) -2.9 1.2
Export (live animals) 0.0 0.0
Domestic production 59.4 52.7
Import (live animals) 1.1 1.8
Net production (total slaughtering) 60.5 54.5
Export (meat) 2.1 1.5
Import (meat) 22.6 25.4
Domestic consumption 81.1 78.3
Consumption kg/head/year 40.8 39.4
Self sufficiency % 73.3 67.3
Source: SORS, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia.
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