WORLD TRADE G/SG/12
21April 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1705)
Original: English Committee onSafeguards
SAFEGUARD PROCEEDINGS INITIATED BYARGENTINA
CONCERNING IMPORTS OFFOOTWEAR
Request forConsultations under Article 12.4
oftheAgreement onSafeguards
Thefollowing communication, dated 16April 1997, hasbeenreceived from thePermanent
Mission oftheEuropean Commission.
_______________
Background
On25February 1997theMinistry ofEconomy, Public Works andServices initiated safeguard
proceedings inrespect ofimports offootwear ofallkinds (except ski-boots andsnowboards), imposed
provisional measures intheform ofspecific duties andnotified thistotheCommittee onSafeguards
on25February 1997(G/SG/N/6/ARG/1-G/SG/N/7/ARG/1). On18March 1997Argentina provided
anadditional notification containing thetextofRegulation 226/97 regarding thedecision toinitiate
asafeguard investigation andtoimpose provisional measures asof25February 1997 foraperiod of
200days(G/SG/N/6/ARG/1/Suppl.1-G/SG/N/7/ARG/1/Suppl.1).
TheArgentinian Decision
TheEuropean Community hasserious concerns about theconformity ofthemeasure withthe
Agreement onSafeguards (the"Agreement").
Inparticular, therequirement ofArticle 2.1oftheAgreement thatproducts are"being imported
atincreased quantities, absolute orrelative todomestic production" isnotmetsinceimports decreased
from 1994 to1995 inbothabsolute andrelative terms. Additionally, noimport datawasprovided
for1996.
Furthermore, thenotifications donotcontain anyevidence about acausal linkbetween imports
andthecondition ofthedomestic industry. Onthecontrary, inthenotification document
G/SG/N/6/ARG/1/Suppl.1-G/SG/N/7/ARG/1/Suppl.1thereisareferencetothesituationofthedomestic
industry being only"partly" aresult ofimport trends (page 2,paragraph 5).
Finally, noproof isprovided fortheexistence of"critical circumstances" under Article 6of
theAgreement.
./.G/SG/12
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Request forconsultations
Inthese circumstances andinaccordance withArticle 12.4oftheAgreement, theEuropean
Community requests toholdconsultations withaviewtoreview theinformation sofarprovided by
theArgentinean Government andtoobtain information ontheissues stated above. TheEuropean
Community would welcome theopportunity toholdsuchconsultations inconnection withtheregular
meeting oftheCommittee onSafeguards inGeneva.