WORLD TRADE G/L/200
28October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4708)
REPORT (1997) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
SAFEGUARDS
I. GENERAL
1. Thisreport issubmitted inaccordance withArticle 13.1(a) oftheAgreement onSafeguards,
which requires theCommittee onSafeguards toreport annually totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
onthegeneral implementation oftheAgreement. Thereport covers theperiod since theCommittee ’s
lastannual report (G/L/129), thatis,November 1996-October 1997.
2. During theperiod under review, theCommittee heldtworegular meetings, on5May1997
(G/SG/M/9), and22October 1997 (G/SG/M/10). TheCommittee alsoheldonespecial meeting, at
therequest oftheEuropean Communities, on21February 1997 (G/SG/M/8).
3. ObservergovernmentsintheGeneralCounciloftheWTOhaveobserverstatusintheCommittee.
Atitsregular meeting of5May1997, theCommittee tooknoteofthefactthat,pursuant totheir
Agreements withtheWTO, theIMFandtheWorld Bank hadobserver status intheCommittee. At
thesame meeting, theCommittee alsodecided togrant regular observer status toUNCTAD onthe
basis ofreciprocity withrespect todocuments, proceedings andother aspects ofobservership. Atits
tworegular meetings, theCommittee considered therequest oftheOECD forregular observer status.
Atbothofthose meetings, theCommittee decided todeferaction onthatrequest duetoissues regarding
reciprocity, butinvited theOECD intheinterim tocontinue toattend meetings oftheCommittee on
anadhocbasis. Atitsregular meeting of22October 1997, theCommittee agreed toinvite theACP
Group toattend itsmeetings onanadhocbasis, pending theoutcome ofhorizontal consultations with
respects totheACP Group ’srequest forobservership invarious WTO bodies.
4. Atitsregular meeting of5May1997, theCommittee elected Mr.S.Nagatsuka (Japan) as
Chairman, andMr.Dmitrij Grcar (Slovenia) asitsViceChairman.
II. NOTIFICATIONANDEXAMINATIONOFSAFEGUARDSLAWSAND/ORREGULATIONS
OFMEMBERS
5. During theperiod under review, theCommittee continued itsreview ofnotifications concerning
national legislation intheareaofsafeguards. ForMembers withsuchlegislation and/or regulations,
thesenotifications consist ofthefullandintegrated textthereof. ForMembers without suchlegislation
and/or regulations, these notifications inform theCommittee ofthisfact.
6. Asof22October 1997, 72Members1hadnotified theCommittee oftheirdomestic safeguards
legislationormadecommunicationsinthisrespecttotheCommittee(G/SG/N/1andaddenda).Forty-five
Members hadnot,asofthatdate, made notifications under Article 12.6oftheAgreement, although
thedeadline forsuchnotifications was15March 1995. TheAnnex liststhestatus ofnotifications
under Article 12.6oftheAgreement. Theissueoftheextent ofthenon-compliance withthisnotification
1Counting theECasasingle Member forpurposes ofthelegislative notification.G/L/200
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obligation, andtheimplications ofthissituation, werediscussed atmeetings oftheCommittee during
thereview period (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
7. Ofthe72Members submitting notifications, 41notified thattheyhadnospecific legislation
relating tosafeguards, 12notified newlegislation, and19notified pre-WTO legislation stillinforce.
Ofthe60Members notifying either nosafeguards legislation orpre-WTO legislation stillinforce,
19indicated thatnewlegislation wasbeing considered ordrafted. Inaddition, oftheMembers notifying
thattheyhadnospecific legislation, 13indicated thattheWTO Agreement hasforce oflawintheir
territory.
8. Duringtheperiodunderreview,theCommitteereviewedthenotifiedneworamendedlegislative
textsofthefollowing Members: Argentina andBrazil. Review ofthenotification ofHonduras, which
wasontheagenda ofthe22October 1997 regular meeting, wasdeferred totheSpring 1998 regular
meeting oftheCommittee.
9. TheCommittee alsoreviewed thenotifications without legislative textofthefollowing Members
during theperiod: Bahrain, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji,Ghana, Liechtenstein, Senegal, Uganda,
andUnited Arab Emirates.
10. Thesubstance ofthereview oflegislative notifications isreflected inthewritten questions put
toMembers andthewritten answers tothose questions. References tothequestions andanswers
pertaining toeachnotification canbefound intheminutes ofthemeetings atwhich thenotifications
were reviewed (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
11. Inaccordance with theprocedures thatithadadopted forfollow-up reviews of
previously-reviewedlegislativenotifications(G/SG/W/116),theCommitteeconductedafollow-upreview
ofKorea ’snotified legislation (G/SG/N/1/KOR/1 andG/SG/N/1/KOR/2). References tothewritten
questions andanswers exchanged canbefound intheminutes ofthemeetings atwhich thisfollow-up
review wasdiscussed (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
12. Notallwritten questions puttoMembers during thecourse ofthelegislative review meetings
hadbeenanswered attheendoftheperiod under review. Inparticular, written answers toquestions
concerning legislation werenotreceived bytheapplicable deadlines fromCoted’Ivoire, Nigeria and
Zimbabwe.
III. NOTIFICATIONS OFACTIONS RELATED TOSAFEGUARD MEASURES
13. During theperiod ofreview, theCommittee received andreviewed onenotification ofinitiation
ofinvestigations. Atits5May1997regular meeting, theCommittee reviewed Argentina ’snotification
ofinitiation ofaninvestigation onfootwear. Thecomments ofMembers regarding thisnotification
canbefound intheminutes ofthatmeeting (G/SG/M/9). Inaddition, anotification wasreceived from
theUnited States, concerning initiation ofaninvestigation onwheat gluten (G/SG/N/6/USA/4). Because
thisnotification wasreceived aftertheclosing datefortheagenda forthe22October 1997 meeting,
itwasnotreviewed during theperiod covered bythisreport.
14. During thereview period, theCommittee received andreviewed onenotification ofapplication
ofaprovisional measure under Article 12.1(c), fromArgentina onfootwear (G/SG/N/7/ARG/1). The
comments ofMembers regarding thisnotification canbefound intheminutes ofthe5May1997meeting
(G/SG/M/9).
15. During thereview period, theCommittee received andreviewed fournotifications under
Article 12.1(b) offindings ofserious injury orthreat thereof caused byincreased imports. These wereG/L/200
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from Brazil withrespect totoys(G/SG/N/8/BRA/1), from Korea withrespect todairy products
(G/SG/N/8/KOR/1), from Korea withrespect tobicycles (G/SG/N/8/KOR/2), andfrom Argentina
withrespect tofootwear (G/SG/N/8/ARG/1). Thefirstthree ofthese notifications werereviewed at
theCommittee 's5May 1997 regular meeting, andthefourth wasreviewed attheCommittee ’s
22October 1997 regular meeting. Thecomments ofMembers withrespect tothese notifications are
reflected intheminutes ofthese meetings (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10).
16. TheCommittee received andreviewed notifications ofdecisions toapply safeguard measures
withrespect tofourinvestigations during therelevant period. These notifications werefrom Brazil
regardingtoys(G/SG/N/10/BRA/1),fromKorearegardingdairyproducts(G/SG/N/10/KOR/1+Corr.1
+Suppl.1 +Suppl.1/Corr.1), from theUnited States regarding broom corn brooms
(G/SG/N/10/USA/1),andfromArgentinaregardingfootwear(G/SG/N/10/ARG/1+Corr.1+Suppl.1
+Suppl.2). Thenotifications from Brazil andtheUnited States werereviewed attheCommittee ’s
5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9); thatfrom Korea wasreviewed attheCommittee 's5May
and22October 1997 regular meetings (G/SG/M/9 andG/SG/M/10); andthatfrom Argentina was
reviewed attheCommittee ’s22October 1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/10).
17. TheCommittee received onenotification oftermination ofaninvestigation withnosafeguard
measure applied. Thisnotification, fromKorea regarding bicycles (G/SG/N/9/KOR/1), wasreviewed
bytheCommittee atits5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).
18. TheCommittee received notifications, inthecontext offourinvestigations, astonon-application
ofsafeguard measures todeveloping countries whose imports werebelow therelevant threshold levels
setforth intheAgreement (Article 9.1). Three ofthese notifications, from Brazil ontoys
(G/SG/N/11/BRA/1), fromKorea ondairy products (G/SG/N/11/KOR/1), andfromtheUnited States
onbroom cornbrooms (G/SG/N/11/USA/1) werereviewed attheCommittee ’s5May1997 regular
meeting(G/SG/M/9).Thefourth,fromArgentinaonfootwear(G/SG/N/11/ARG/1+Corr.1+Suppl.1
+Suppl.2) wasreviewed attheCommittee ’s22October 1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/10).
19. TheCommittee received andreviewed aseries ofnotifications regarding consultations under
Article 12oftheAgreement. TheUnited States notified theresults ofitsconsultations onbroom corn
brooms (G/L/136-G/SG/6). TheEuropean Communities, Australia andNewZealand notified their
requests forconsultations withKorea ondairy products (G/SG/7, G/SG/8, G/SG/9, andG/SG/10),
andKorea notified theresults ofthose consultations (G/L/156-G/SG/11). TheEuropean Communities
notified arequest forconsultations withArgentina concerning footwear, andArgentina notified its
response tothatrequest (G/SG/12 andG/SG/13). These notifications werereviewed attheCommittee 's
5May1997regular meeting (G/SG/M/9). Inaddition, notifications werereceived regarding theresults
ofArgentina'sconsultationswiththeEuropeanCommunitiesandtheUnitedStatesonfootwear(G/SG/14-
G/L/195andG/SG/14/Suppl.1-G/L/195/Suppl.1).ThesenotificationswerereviewedattheCommittee's
22October 1997regular meeting (G/SG/M/10). Alsoatthatmeeting, Korea 'ssafeguard investigation
ondairy products wasdiscussed inthiscontext (G/SG/M/10).
IV. SPECIAL MEETINGS
20. TheCommittee heldonespecial meeting during thereview period, on21February 1997.
Themeeting washeldattherequest oftheEuropean Communities, todiscuss Korea 'ssafeguard
investigation ondairy products. Theminutes ofthismeeting canbefound inG/SG/M/8.
V. PROGRESS INPHASING OUT PRE-EXISTING MEASURES
21. Atthe22October 1997regular meeting, fourofthefiveMembers thathadnotified pre-existing
Article XIXmeasures andmeasures subject toprohibition andelimination under Article 11.1oftheG/L/200
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Agreement (theEuropean Communities, Korea, Slovenia andSouth Africa) reported ontheirprogress
inphasing outthose measures. Thecomments ofMembers onthissubject arereflected intheminutes
ofthatmeeting (G/SG/M/10). ThefifthMember, Cyprus, wasasked bytheCommittee toprovide
awritten statement onthissubject.
VI. OTHER ISSUES DISCUSSED
22. Follow-up toSingapore Ministerial Conference: TheCommittee recalled thestatements of
MinistersatSingaporeconcerningimplementationoftheWTOAgreements,notificationsandlegislation,
andtheparticular situation ofdeveloping country Members. These statements recognized that
implementation andcompliance withnotification andlegislation obligations would require further effort
onthepartofMembers, suggested thattherelevant bodies takestepstopromote fullcompliance while
considering practical proposals forsimplifying thenotification process, andnoted theagreement of
Ministers toimprove theavailability oftechnical assistance todeveloping countries. TheCommittee
expressed itssupport fortheprogramme ofworkshops andother training efforts conducted bythe
Secretariat intheareaofcontingent trade remedies, anditsencouragement forthesupport provided
byMembers fortheSecretariat 'sefforts inthisregard. Thisdiscussion isreflected intheminutes of
the5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).
23. Recommendation oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures: The
Committee recalled therecommendations oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations and
Procedures intheareas ofnotification formats andcompliance withnotification obligations. This
discussion isreflected intheminutes ofthe5May1997 regular meeting (G/SG/M/9).G/L/200
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ANNEX
SAFEGUARDS LEGISLATIVE NOTIFICATIONS
MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Angola None
Antigua andBarbuda None
Argentina G/SG/N/1/ARG/3 +Suppl.1
Australia G/SG/N/1/AUS/1
Bahrain G/SG/N/1/BHR/1
Bangladesh None
Barbados None
Belize None
Benin None
Bolivia G/SG/N/1/BOL/1
Botswana G/SG/N/1/BWA/1
Brazil G/SG/N/1/BRA/3 +Suppl.1
Brunei Darussalam G/SG/N/1/BRN/1
Bulgaria G/SG/N/1/BGR/1
Burkina Faso None
Burundi None
Cameroon None
Canada G/SG/N/1/CAN/2
Central African Republic None
Chad None
Chile G/SG/N/1/CHL/1
Colombia G/SG/N/1/COL/1
Congo None
Congo, Dem. Rep. None
Costa Rica G/SG/N/1/CRI/1 +Corr.1
Côted'Ivoire G/SG/N/1/CIV/1
Cuba G/SG/N/1/CUB/1
Cyprus None
Czech Republic G/SG/N/1/CZE/1G/L/200
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MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Djibouti None
Dominica None
Dominican Republic G/SG/N/1/DOM/1
European Community G/SG/N/1/EEC/1
Ecuador G/SG/N/1/ECU/1
Egypt G/SG/N/1/EGY/1
ElSalvador G/SG/N/1/SLV/2
Fiji G/SG/N/1/FJI/1
Gabon None
Gambia, The None
Ghana G/SG/N/1/GHA/1
Grenada None
Guatemala G/SG/N/1/GTM/1
Guinea Bissau None
Guinea, Rep.of G/SG/N/1/GIN/1
Guyana None
Haiti None
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/1
Indonesia G/SG/N/1/IDN/1
Israel G/SG/N/1/ISR/2
Jamaica None
Japan G/SG/N/1/JPN/2 +Corr.1
Kenya G/SG/N/1/KEN/1
Korea G/SG/N/1/KOR/3
Kuwait None
Lesotho None
Liechtenstein G/SG/N/1/LIE/1G/L/200
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MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
Macau G/SG/N/1/MAC/2
Madagascar None
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
Mongolia None
Morocco G/SG/N/1/MAR/1
Mozambique None
Myanmar G/SG/N/1/MYM/1
Namibia None
NewZealand 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
Pakistan G/SG/N/1/PAK/1
Panama None
Papua NewGuinea None
Paraguay G/SG/N/1/PRY/1
Peru G/SG/N/1/PER/1
Philippines G/SG/N/1/PHL/1
Poland G/SG/N/1/POL/1
Qatar None
Romania G/SG/N/1/ROM/1
Rwanda None
Saint Kitts&Nevis NoneG/L/200
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MEMBER NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
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/1
Solomon Islands None
South Africa G/SG/N/1/ZAF/1
SriLanka G/SG/N/1/LKA/1
Suriname None
Swaziland None
Switzerland G/SG/N/1/CHE/1
Tanzania None
Thailand G/SG/N/1/THA/1 +Rev.1
Togo None
Trinidad andTobago G/SG/N/1/TTO/1
Tunisia G/SG/N/1/TUN/1
Turkey G/SG/N/1/TUR/2 1Rev.1 +Rev.1/Corr.1
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/URY/1
Venezuela G/SG/N/1/VEN/1 +Corr.1
Zambia G/SG/N/1/ZMB/1
Zimbabwe G/SG/N/1/ZWE/2