WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/494
31 October 2001
(01-5335)
REPORT (2001) OF THE COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
I. GENERAL
1. The Committee on Safeguards was established in 1995 to perform the functions set out in
Article 13 of the Agreement on Safeguards.  This report is submitted in accordance withArticle 13.1(a) of the Agreement, which requires the Committee to report annually to the Council for
Trade in Goods on the general implementation of the Agreement.  The report covers the period since
the Committee's last annual report (G/L/409), i.e., 10 November 2000 – 29 October 2001.
2. During the period under review, the Committee held two regular meetings, on 30 April 2001
(G/SG/M/17) and 29 October 2001 (G/SG/M/18).  Th e Committee also held an informal meeting on
1 February 2001, concerning the desirability of the Committee commencing discussions on issues
regarding the application of the Safeguards Agreement.
3. Observer governments in the General Council of the WTO have observer status in the
Committee.  Pursuant to their Agreements with the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank have observer
status in the Committee as well.  UNCTAD has observer status in the Committee through aCommittee decision.
4. Both the OECD and the ACP Group have requested regular observer status in the Committee.
At its regular meetings in 1998, the Committee decided to invite the OECD to attend Committee
meetings on an ad hoc  basis, subject to objection by a Member in particular cases.  At the same time,
the Committee also decided to invite the ACP Group to attend its meetings on an ad hoc  basis,
pending the outcome of horizontal consultation s with respect to the ACP Group's request for
observership in various WTO bodies.  The Committee continued this practice during the reportingperiod.
5. At its regular meeting of 30 April 2001, the Committee elected Mr. Martin Pospíšil (Czech
Republic) as Chairperson.  The Committee also agreed that Mr. István Pokorádi (Hungary) should
continue to serve as Vice Chairperson.
II. NOTIFICATION AND EXAMINATION OF SAFEGUARDS LAWS AND/OR
REGULATIONS OF MEMBERS
6. During the period under review, the Committee continued its review of notifications under
Article 12.6 of the Agreement concerning national legislation and/or regulations in the area of
safeguards.  For Members with such legislation and/or regulations, these notifications consist of the
full and integrated text thereof.  For Members without such legislation and/or regulations, thesenotifications inform the Committee of this fact.G/L/494
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7. As of 29 October 2001, 92 Members1 had notified the Committee of their domestic
safeguards legislation and/or regulations or made communications in this regard to the Committee
(G/SG/N/1 and addenda).  35 Members had not as of th at date made such a notification.  Annex 1 lists
the status of notifications under Article 12.6 of the Agreement.  The extent of the non-compliance
with this notification obligation, and the implications  of this situation, were discussed at the regular
meetings of the Committee held during the review period (G/SG/M/17 and G/SG/M/18).
8. Of the 92 Members submitting notifications, 46 notified that they had no specific legislation
relating to safeguards.
9. During the period under review, the Committee reviewed the notified new or amended
legislative texts of the following Members: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Jordan,
Korea, the Philippines, Slovenia and Tunisia.
10. The Committee also reviewed during this period the notifications without legislative text of
the following Members: Burundi, Lesotho, Madagascar, Namibia, and Oman.
11. The substance of the review of legislative notifications is reflected in the written questions put
to Members and the written answers to those questions.  References to the questions and answers
pertaining to each notification can be found in the minutes of the meetings at which the notifications
were reviewed (G/SG/M/17 and G/SG/M/18).
III. NOTIFICATIONS OF ACTIONS RELATED TO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
12. During the period under review, the Committee received and reviewed a variety of
notifications of actions related to safeguard measures.  The notifications of initiations, the application
of safeguard measures, and the termination of investigations, received by the Committee from
10 November 2000 to 29 October 2001 are summarized in Annex 2.
13. During the period under review, the Committee reviewed 30 notifications under
Article 12.1(a) regarding the initiation of an investigation.  These were from Argentina on peaches,
Brazil on coconuts, Bulgaria on ammonium nitrate, Chile on lighters, mixed oils, synthetic socks,
wheat, wheat flour, sugar and edible vegetable oils , the Czech Republic on footwear and isoglucose,
Egypt on fluorescent lamps, Japan on tatami-omote, welsh onions and shiitake mushrooms, Jordan onchocolates and biscuits, Morocco on rubber, the Philippines on cement and ceramic tiles, Poland on
nitrates of potassium, El Salvador on pig-meat, rice and fertilizers, the Slovak Republic on sugar, and
the United States on steel and wire rod.
14. During the period under review, the Committee reviewed 14 notifications of application of a
provisional measure under Article 12.4.  These were from Argentina on peaches, Bulgaria on
ammonium nitrate, Chile on synthetic socks, mixed oils, wheat, wheat flour, sugar and edible
vegetable oils, the Czech Republic on isoglucose, Ecuador on matches, Japan on tatami-omote, welshonions and shiitake mushrooms, and Morocco on bananas.
15. During the period under review, the Committee also reviewed 17 notifications concerning
findings of serious injury or threat thereof caused by increased imports.  These notifications were
from  Argentina on motorcycles and peaches, Chile on liquid / powdered milk, wheat, wheat flour,
sugar and edible vegetable oils, the Czech Republic on isoglucose, Egypt on fluorescent lamps andpowdered milk, India on gamma ferric oxide / magnetic iron oxide, methylene chloride and phenol,
Jordan on biscuits, Morocco on bananas, the Slovak Republic on sugar, and Venezuela on tyres.
                                                     
1 Counting the EC as a single Member for purposes of the legislative notification.  There are currently
142 WTO Members.  This figure is reduced to 127 if the EC is counted as a single Member.G/L/494
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16. During the period under review the Committee reviewed seven notifications of termination of
a safeguard investigation with no safeguard measure imposed.  These notifications were from Chile
on mixed oils and synthetic socks, Colombia on taxis, the Czech Republic on footwear, El Salvador
on pig-meat and rice, Jordan on chocolate, a nd the United States on extruded rubber thread.
17. Furthermore, the Committee reviewed 20 notifications concerning decisions to apply
safeguard measures.  These notifications were from Argentina on motorcycles and peaches, Chile on
liquid/powdered milk, synthetic socks, wheat, wheat flour, sugar and edible vegetable oils, the Czech
Republic on isoglucose, Egypt on fluorescent lamps and powdered milk, Jordan on biscuits, Morocco
on bananas, the Slovak Republic on sugar, and the United States on wheat gluten.
18.  During the period under review, the Committee received 13 notifications concerning the non-
application of a safeguard measure to developing country Members.  These were from Argentina on
motorcycles and peaches, Chile on liquid / powdered milk, synthetic socks, wheat, wheat flour, sugar
and edible vegetable oils, the Czech Republic on isoglucose, Japan on tatami-omote, welsh onions and
shiitake mushrooms, the Slovak Republic on sugar, and the United States on wheat gluten.
19. The Committee reviewed two notifications concerning the results of the mid-term reviews of
safeguard measures.  These were from Korea on garlic, and the United States on line pipe.
20. The Committee discussed two notifications regarding the proposed suspension of concessions
and other obligations during the period under review.  These were from Egypt and the European
Communities regarding the Egyptian measure on powdered milk, and from Poland regarding the
Slovak measure on sugar.  The Committee agreed to revert to issues regarding Poland's notification at
its next regular meeting.
21. Members' oral comments concerning these notifications can be found in the minutes of the
meetings at which they were reviewed (G/SG/M/17 and G/SG/M/18).  Members' written questions
and answers concerning these notifications  can be found in the G/SG/Q2/… series.
IV. PRE-EXISTING MEASURES
22. The Committee noted that Nigeria notified certain measures as pre-existing in document
G/SG/N/2/NGA, dated 16 March 1998.  At the Co mmittee's 29 October 2001 meeting, the Committee
repeated its request that Nigeria update the Committee on the status of these measures as soon as
possible.
V. INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS
23. At the Committee's informal meeting on 1 February 2001, the then Chairman
(Mr. Joshua Setipa) consulted Members on the desirability of the Committee commencing discussions
on issues regarding the application of the Safeguards Agreement.  Members expressed a view that
there was a need for the Committee to discuss issues concerning the application of the SafeguardsAgreement, and that any such discussions should be held in informal mode, and cover procedural – as
opposed to substantive – issues.  Members also expressed that the objective of any such discussions
should not, for the time being at least, be to "make recommendations towards … [the] improvement"
of the Safeguards Agreement, in a manner envisaged by Article 13.1 of the Agreement, and that any
such discussions should take place within the Committee per se , rather than any subsidiary body
thereof.  However, there was no agreement among Members that there should be a standing agenda
item for such discussions, or that such discussions should take place on the basis of a predetermined
list of topics.   Rather, certain Members suggested that delegations should place concrete proposals for
discussion on the agenda of the Committee, as and when the need arose.  To date, no such concrete
proposals have been received.G/L/494
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ANNEX 1
SAFEGUARDS LEGISLATIVE NOTIFICATIONS
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Albania None
Angola None
Antigua and Barbuda None
Argentina G/SG/N/1/ARG/3 + Suppl.1
Australia G/SG/N/1/AUS/2
Bahrain G/SG/N/1/BHR/1
Bangladesh None
Barbados None
Belize None
Benin G/SG/N/1/BEN/1 + Co rr.1 (Corr.1-French only)
Bolivia G/SG/N/1/BOL/1 + Suppl.1
Botswana G/SG/N/1/BWA/1
Brazil G/SG/N/1/B RA/3 + Suppl.1
Brunei Darussalam G/SG/N/1/BRN/1
Bulgaria G/SG/N/1/BGR/1
Burkina Faso None
Burundi G/SG/N/1/BUR/1
Cameroon None
Canada G/SG/N/1/CAN/2
Central African Republic None
Chad G/SG/N/1/TCD/1
Chile G/SG/N/1/CHL/2
Colombia G/SG/N/1/COL/2
Congo None
Congo, Dem. Rep. None
Costa Rica G/SG/N/1/CRI/2
Côte d'Ivoire G/SG/N/1/CIV/1
Croatia G/SG/N/1/HRV/1
Cuba G/SG/N/1/CUB/1
Cyprus G/SG/N/1/CYP/1
Czech Republic G/SG/N/1/CZE/3
Djibouti None
Dominica G/SG/N/1/DMA/1
Dominican Republic G/SG/N/1/DOM/1
Ecuador G/SG/N/1/ECU/3
Egypt G/SG/N/1/EGY/2
El Salvador G/SG/N/1/SLV/2
Estonia G/SG/N/1/EST/2
European Communities G/SG/N/1/EEC/1
Fiji G/SG/N/1/FJI/1
Gabon None
Gambia, The None
Georgia None
Ghana G/SG/N/1/GHA/1
Grenada None
Guatemala G/SG/N/1/GTM/2G/L/494
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MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Guinea Bissau None
Guinea, Rep. of G/SG/N/1/GIN/1
Guyana None
Haiti G/SG/N/1/HTI/1
Honduras G/SG/N/1/HND/2
Hong Kong, China G/SG/N/1/HKG/1
Hungary G/SG/N/1/HUN/2 + Add.1 + Suppl.1 & 2
Iceland G/SG/N/1/ISL/1
India G/SG/N/1/ IND/2+Suppl.1
Indonesia G/SG/N/1/IDN/1
Israel G/SG/N/1/ISR/2
Jamaica G/SG/N/1/JAM/1
Japan G/SG/N/1/JPN/3
Jordan G/SG/N/1/JOR/1 + Corr.1
Kenya G/SG/N/1/KEN/1
Korea G/SG/N/1/KOR/4
Kuwait None
Kyrgyz Rep G/SG/N/1/KGZ/1
Latvia G/SG/N/1/LVA/1/Suppl.1 & 2 + Corr.1
Lesotho G/SG/N/1/LSO/1
Liechtenstein G/SG/N/1/LIE/1
Lithuania None
Macao, China G/SG/N/1/MAC/2
Madagascar G/SG/N/1/MDG/1
Malawi None
Malaysia G/SG/N/1/MYS/1
Maldives G/SG/N/1/MDV/1
Mali None
Malta G/SG/N/1/MLT/1
Mauritania None
Mauritius G/SG/N/1/MUS/1
Mexico G/SG/N/1/MEX/1
Moldova None
Mongolia G/SG/N/1/MNG/1
Morocco G/SG/N/1/MAR/1
Mozambique None
Myanmar G/SG/N/1/MYM/1
Namibia G/SG/N/1/NAM/2
New Zealand G/SG/N/1/NZL/1
Nicaragua G/SG/N/1/NIC/1
Niger None
Nigeria G/SG/N/1/NGA/1
Norway G/SG/N/1/NOR/3
Oman G/SG/N/1/OMN/1
Pakistan G/SG/N/1/PAK/1
Panama G/SG/N/1/PAN/1
Papua New Guinea None
Paraguay G/SG/N/1/PRY/2
Peru G/SG/N/1/PER/2G/L/494
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MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Philippines G/SG/N/1/PHL/2
Poland G/SG/N/1/POL/2
Qatar G/SG/N/1/QAT/1
Romania G/SG/N/1/ROM/1
Rwanda None
Saint Kitts & Nevis None
Saint Lucia G/SG/N/1/LCA/1
Saint Vincent & Grenadines None
Senegal G/SG/N/1/SEN/1
Sierra Leone None
Singapore G/SG/N/1/SGP/1
Slovak Republic G/SG/N/1/SVK/2
Slovenia G/SG/N/1/SVN/2
Solomon Islands None
South Africa G/SG/N/1/ZAF/1
Sri Lanka G/SG/N/1/LKA/1
Suriname G/SG/N/1/SUR/1
Swaziland None
Switzerland G/SG/N/1/CHE/1
Tanzania None
Thailand G/SG/N/1/THA/2
Togo None
Trinidad and Tobago G/SG/N/1/TTO/1
Tunisia G/SG/N/1/TUN/2
Turkey G/SG/N/1/TUR/2 + Rev.1 + Rev.1/Corr.1
(Corr.1-English only)
Uganda G/SG/N/1/UGA/1
United Arab Emirates G/SG/N/1/ARE/1
United States G/SG/N/1/USA/1
Uruguay G/SG/N/1/UR Y/1 + Supp.1 + Corr.1
(Corr.1-Spanish only)
Venezuela G/SG/N/1/VEN/2
Zambia G/SG/N/1/ZMB/1
Zimbabwe G/SG/N/1/ZWE/2G/L/494
Page 7ANNEX 2
SUMMARY OF NOTIFICATIONS OF INITIATIONS, PRELIMINARY MEASURES,
DEFINITIVE MEASURES, AND TERMINATIONS FROM
10 NOVEMBER 2000 TO 29 OCTOBER 20011
Reporting
MemberSafeguard investigations initiated Preliminary safeguard measures
imposedDefinitive safeguard measures
imposedSafeguard investigations
terminated
Argentina Peaches;  12/01/2001;
G/SG/N/6/ARG/4Peaches;  12/01/2001;
G/SG/N/7/ARG/2Peaches;  08/08/2001;
G/SG/N/10/ARG/3
Motorcycles;  22/06/2001;
G/SG/N/10/ARG/2
Brazil Coconuts;  10/08/2001;
G/SG/N/6/BRA/2
Bulgaria Non-aqueous ammonium nitrate;
10/11/2000;  G/SG/N/6/BGR/1Non-aqueous ammonium nitrate;
28/11/2000;  G/SG/N/7/BGR/1
Chile Lighters;  31/08/2001
G/SG/N/6/CHL/6
Mixed oils;  19/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/CHL/5Mixed Oils;  13/01/2001;
G/SG/N/7/CHL/5/Suppl.1Liquid/powdered milk;  10/01/2001;
G/SG/N/10/CHL/3
Mixed oils;  25/04/2001;
G/SG/N/9/CHL/3
Czech Republic Isoglucose;  20/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/CZE/3
Footwear;  01/11/2000;
G/SG/N/6/CZE/2Isoglucose;  10/01/2001;
G/SG/N/7/CZE/2Isoglucose;  26/07/2001;
G/SG/N/10/CZE/2
Footwear;  25/07/2001;
G/SG/N/9/CZE/1
Ecuador Matches;  12/2000;
G/SG/N/7/ECU/1
Egypt Powdered milk;  12/04/2001;
G/SG/N/10/EGY/4
El Salvador Fertilizers;  08/11/2000;
G/SG/N/6/SLV/3Rice;  31/05/2001;
G/SG/N/9/SLV/2
Pigmeat;  09/02/2001;
G/SG/N/9/SLV/1
                                                     
1 For a summary of notifications of safeguard actions from 01/01/95-09/11/00, please see Annex 2 to document G/L/409.G/L/494
Page 8 Reporting
MemberSafeguard investigations initiated Preliminary safeguard measures
imposedDefinitive safeguard measures
imposedSafeguard investigations
terminated
Japan Tatami-Omote;  22/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/JPN/1
Welsh onions;  22/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/JPN/1
Shiitake mushrooms;  22/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/JPN/1Tatami-Omote;  23/04/2001;
G/SG/N/7/JPN/1
Welsh onions;  23/04/2001;
G/SG/N/7/JPN/1
Shiitake mushrooms;  23/04/2001;
G/SG/N/7/JPN/1
Jordan Biscuits/chocolates;  10/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/JOR/1Biscuits;  01/09/2001;
G/SG/N/10/JOR/1Chocolate;  14/06/2001;
G/SG/N/9/JOR/1
Morocco Rubber plates & sheets;
05/12/2001;  G/SG/N/6/MAR/2Bananas;  04/2001;
G/SG/N/10/MAR/1
Philippines Ceramic tiles;  28/05/2001;
G/SG/N/6/PHL/2
Cement;  28/05/2001;
G/SG/N/6/PHL/1
Poland Potassium nitrate;  22/12/2000;
G/SG/N/6/POL/1
Slovak Republic Sugar;  20/10/2000;
G/SG/N/6/SVK/2Sugar;  01/05/2001;
G/SG/N/10/SVK/1
United States Steel;  28/06/2001;
G/SG/N/6/USA/10
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