RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/W/275
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19February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0611)
Original: Spanish Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYMEXICO1CONCERNING THE
NOTIFICATION OFCOLOMBIAN LAWS AND REGULATIONS2
Thefollowing communication, dated 19January 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofColombia.
_______________
1.(a) What isthehierarchical structure ofthelawsandlegal precedents inColombia 'slegal
system?
Thelegalsystem issubordinate totheprovisions oftheConstitution which consequently takes
precedence overallenacted legislation. Indescending order ofimportance, itisfollowed bylaws,
including lawsapproving international treaties, which takeprecedence overordinary lawsinaccordance
withthecaselawoftheConstitutional Court, andfinally bydecree laws.
Judicialprecedentsarenotbindinginourlegalsystem,buttheyprovideguidelinesforsubsequent
judicial decisions.
(b) What legal status does Decree No.299have inColombian legislation (Constitution,
international agreements, laws, regulations, legal jurisprudence)?
Decree 299of1994 hastobeconsistent withthePolitical Constitution andtheexisting
international treaties which regulate dumping andsubsidies.
2. What laworlegal provision isthebasis fortheDecree?
ThePresident oftheRepublic ofColombia issued Decree 299of1995, pursuant toArticle 10
ofLaw7of1991,whichrequirestheNationalGovernmenttoregulateprotectionofthedomesticindustry
against unfair international trade practices.
1G/ADP/W/253-G/SCM/W/263.
2G/ADP/N/1/COL/1-G/SCM/N/1/COL/1.G/ADP/W/275
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3. Inaddition totheDecree, doesColombia have anyother legal provision(s) toregulate
unfair international trade practices? Ifthisisthecase, please indicate themeasures andprovide
copies thereof.
TheA-DandSCM Agreements wereincorporated intheColombian legalsystem byLaw170
of1994; consequently, unfair international trade practices ofthiskindareregulated bythesaid
Agreements andbyDecree 299of1995. Inaddition, Decision 283oftheCartagena Agreement
Commission isapplied vis-à-vis countries oftheAndean Group andLaw172of1994 isapplicable
inrelation toMexico, asasignatory oftheG3Agreement.
4. With regard totheprocedure fordealing withunfair trade practices, isthere anyother
law(s) applicable inaddition totheDecree? Ifthisisthecase, please indicate which law(s) and
provide copies thereof.
Depending onthetopic, Decree 299of1995 issupplemented byadditional implementing
legislation incases when itcontains nospecific provisions. Forexample, inmatters ofevidence and
intheabsence ofspecific rules ofevidence fortheprocedure under Decree 299of1995, recourse is
hadtothegeneral rules contained intheAdministrative Litigation Code, which inturnisbased on
therules oftheCode ofCivil Procedure.
5. Ifarulelaiddown intheWTO Anti-Dumping orSubsidies Agreements orintheFree
Trade Agreement oftheGroup ofThree isnotcovered orcontained intheDecree, howisthis
omission made good?
Theomission ismade goodthrough theapplication ofLaw170of1994andLaw172of1994,
under which theWTO andG3Agreements, respectively, areincorporated innational legislation.
6. Ifarulelaiddown intheWTO Anti-Dumping orSubsidies Agreement orintheFree
Trade Agreement oftheGroup ofThree isinconsistent orincompatible withanyprovision of
theDecree, howisthisdifference resolved? What ruleapplies, thatoftheAgreements orofthe
Decree?
Intheevent ofinconsistency orincompatibility between theDecree andtheWTO orG3
Agreement, therulescontained inthelatter areapplied onaccount oftheirstatus ashigher enactments.
7. Article 1oftheDecree refers to"interés general" ["public interest" inEnglish translation].
Does thismean thesame as"interés público" [also"public interest" inEnglish translation]? Can
anexofficio investigation bebased solely onpublic interest? Ifthisisthecase, howcanthis
provision bereconciled withArticle 6.8oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement?
Theterms "interés general" and"interés público" [public interest] havethesame connotation.
They refer tothefactthattheinvestigations areundertaken forthesatisfaction oftheneeds ofthe
associated parties ingeneral, anditisforthisreason thattheimposition oftherelevant duties will
affect anyimporter oftheproduct under investigation aswellas,exceptionally, anyoftheproducers
andexporters ofthecountry concerned.
Anexofficio investigation must alsobeundertaken inthepublic interest, andinformation
concerning injury hastobesubmitted bythedomestic producers affected orconcerned. Incases where
aninterested party refuses access tonecessary information orimpedes theinvestigation, theprocedure
provided forinArticle 6.8oftheAgreement willbefollowed. Inother words, preliminary andfinal
determinations willbemade onthebasis ofthefactsavailable, i.e.thebestinformation available.G/ADP/W/275
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8. What istheconcept ofunder-invoicing mentioned inthethird andfourth paragraphs of
Article 1oftheDecree? Istheconcept ofunder-invoicing based ontheWTO Anti-Dumping or
Subsidies Agreements?
Under-invoicingisanoffenceunderColombiancustomslegislation.Thetermreferstoapractice
carried outbyimporters forthepurpose ofavoiding payment ofcustoms duties. Thisconcept does
notrefertoanyofthepractices liable toprosecution under theA-DandSCM Agreements, butfalls
within thefieldoftaxavoidance, forwhich responsibility therefore lieswiththeNational Customs
andExcise Directorate (DIAN).
9. What isthestatus ofprovisions adopted bytheHigher Council forForeign Trade orthe
Trade Practices Committee referred toinArticle 47,what istheir nature andtowhat extent are
theybinding?
Article 46ofDecree 299of1994 liststhefunctions exercised bytheauthorities responsible
forinvestigations concerning dumping orcountervailing duties. Itismade clearthattheHigher Council
forForeign Trade doesnottakepartinsuchinvestigations.
TheTrade Practices Committee isrequired togiveanopinion ontheresults oftheinvestigations
carried outbyINCOMEX, aswellasonthestatements ofintent (price undertakings), andauthorizes
extensions ofthetime-limits forinvestigation. Itreceives theopinion oftheSuperintendent ofIndustry
andTrade orhisDeputy, before making itsrecommendation totheMinister ofForeign Trade who
adopts thefinaldecision mostappropriate totheinterests ofthecountry anddecides onthestatements
ofintent.
10. With regard toArticle 1oftheDecree, what ismeant by"material retardation ofthe
establishment ofanindustry" and"shall beundertaken ...inthepublic interest" (interés general),
and"public interest" (interés público) inthesecond paragraph.
Itisstated thatinvestigations arecarried outintodumped orsubsidized imports which have
caused material retardation oftheestablishment ofanindustry inColombia, which means thatindustrial
investment projects arenotdeveloped owing totheeffect ofunfair competition towhich thispractice
gives rise,sincedomestic producers would beprevented fromparticipating inthemarket onconditions
ofequality.
Theterms "interés general" and"interés público" (public interest) havethesame connotation.
They refer tothefactthattheinvestigations areundertaken forthesatisfaction oftheneeds ofthe
associated parties ingeneral.
11. Ifthere areadjustments tothenormal value ortheexport price, what criteria dothe
Colombian authorities useindeciding whether toaccept them ornot?
TheColombian authorities willtakeintoaccount adjustments totheexport priceorthemarket
value, which enables them tomake afaircomparison between these twofactors, inaccordance with
theprovisions ofArticles 8and9ofDecree 299of1994 andArticle 2.4oftheA-DAgreement.
12. Isitnecessary firstofalltoessay theoption ofexport salestoathird country before having
recourse tothecomputed value option provided forinArticle 6.2oftheDecree orcanthe
Colombian authorities utilize oneortheother option attheir discretion?
Yes. Itisnecessary firsttotrytheoption ofexport salestoathirdcountry.G/ADP/W/275
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13. How istheperiod ofinvestigation fixed bytheColombian authorities forcalculating the
margin ofdumping determined? Onwhat isitbased?
Inaccordance withArticle 31ofDecree 299of1995, imports effected during the12months
prior totheapplication, orcurrently being effected, willbethesubject ofinvestigation. Thisenables
theinvestigating authorities tomonitor thebehaviour oftheimports complained of.
14. CantheColombian authorities cumulate theeffects ofexports from several countries,
under what circumstances andwhat criteria dotheyuse?
Article 16authorizes thecumulation ofimports fromororiginating inmore thantwocountries
subject toinvestigation, forthepurpose ofassessing thevolume andtheimpact ofsuchimports on
thedomestic industry. Thisdecision maybetaken bytheinvestigating authorities provided always
thattheimports inquestion arenotsubject toprovisional ordefinitive duties, thevolume ofcumulative
imports islessthan3percentoftotalimports andthesumoftheimports fromtheaccumulated countries
ismore than7percentofsuchimports.
15. Article 14.2oftheDecree states thatoneofthefactors usedtodetermine threat ofinjury
is"increased orsurplus installed orutilized capacity intheexporting country". How would the
criterion laiddown inArticles 3.7(ii) oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement and15.7(iii) oftheSubsidies
Agreement beapplied sothatthere areclear indications thatfreely disposable capacity doesnot
onlyexistbutisbasically tobeexported tothecountry thatinitiates theinvestigation?
Thecriterion laiddown inArticles 3.7(ii) oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement and15.7(iii) of
theSubsidies Agreement willbeapplied. Inother words, adetermination willbemade regarding the
existence ofsufficient freely disposable, oranimminent, substantial increase incapacity oftheexporter
indicating thelikelihood ofsubstantially increased dumped orsubsidized exports, taking intoaccount
theavailability ofother export markets toabsorb anyadditional exports.
16. Article 20oftheDecree states that"duties shall becalculated inanamount sufficient to
eliminate material injury, thethreat ofmaterial injury ormaterial retardation oftheestablishment
ofanindustry". Isitpossible under Colombian legislation toapply lower duties thanthemargin
ofdumping orsubsidies tothedegree necessary toeliminate thealleged injury, asprovided for
inArticles 9.1oftheAnti-Dumping Agreement and19.2oftheSubsidies Agreement? Ifthis
isthecase, howistheamount ofthedutyfixed andhowoften dotheColombian authorities impose
measures based onthiscriterion?
Decree 299makes itpossible toapply ananti-dumping dutyinanamount sufficient toeliminate
material injury, thethreat ofmaterial injury ormaterial retardation oftheestablishment ofanindustry.
Theamount ofthedutymaytherefore belessthan, butmaynotexceed, themargin ofdumping or
theamount ofthesubsidy found toexist.
Twomethodshavebeendevelopedforcalculatingthemarginofdumpingwithaviewtoapplying
adutylower thanthemargin determined.
Under thefirstmethod, thepriceapplied bythedomestic producer istaken asthestarting point,
andallcostsincurred arededucted inorder toobtain thef.o.b. priceindollars fortheproduct subject
toinvestigation, intheexporting country.G/ADP/W/275
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Theresulting pricewillbethelowest atwhich theexporter mayeffect salestoColombia, and
ifthedeclared price islower thantheonecalculated, acorrection willbemade tobring itintoline,
anditmaybelower thantheabsolute margin ofdumping found toexist.
Thebasisusedforthesecond method isthepriceatwhich theforeign producer sellshisproduct
inthecountry subject toinvestigation, adding thecostshewould incur tosellthesame product inthe
Colombian market. Theprice obtained willbethelowest atwhich theimported product maybesold
intheColombian market, andmaybelower thantheabsolute margin ofdumping found inthe
investigation.
17. What arethelegal requirements forthe"reasoned resolution" mentioned inArticle 21
oftheDecree?
Thedecisions adopted inthecourse ofanadministrative investigation musttakeintoaccount
thefactual andlegalcircumstances ofthecase. Resolutions imposing ananti-dumping orcountervailing
dutyinclude particulars concerning theidentity ofthecomplainant, thedomestic product andthelikeness
totheimported product under investigation, thedetermination ofanunfair practice, thedetermination
ofmaterial injury orthreat ofmaterial injury orretardation oftheestablishment ofanindustry in
Colombia, andthecausal relationship between theunfair practice andtheinjury referred to.
18. What isthemaximum time-limit fortherefund ofexcess amounts orthereturn ofthe
security, what aretheapplicable rules andtheprocedure tobefollowed tosubstantiate these
amounts inaccordance withArticle 25oftheDecree?
TheNationalCustomsandExciseDirectorateisthebodyresponsibleforcollectinganti-dumping
duties. Therefund ofexcess amounts, thepayment orcollection ofsecurities andother matters relating
totariff charges fallwithin theprovince ofthisbody.
Incaseswhere theprovisional duties collected areinexcess ofthedefinitive duties, theCustoms
Administrator, bymeans ofareasoned decision, mustundertake torefund theexcess amount paidby
theimporter based ontheassessed higher amount oftheprovisional duties.
Where nodefinitive duties areestablished, theentire amount paidbywayofprovisional duties
shallberefunded orthesecurity shallbereturned.
19. How dotheColombian authorities ensure thatenterprises requesting theinitiation ofan
investigation represent atleast25percentofdomestic industry?
Theinvestigating authority turns totheDomestic Production andExportable Supply Division
ofINCOMEX forinformation astowhether thecomplainant firms areregistered asdomestic producers
oftheproduct subject toinvestigation anddetails oftheirvolume ofoutput. TheNational Statistics
Department (DANE) isalsoasked toprovide dataondomestic production.
20. How dotheColombian authorities evaluate thedegree ofsupport fororopposition to
aninvestigation?
Theinvestigating authorities havenottodateevaluated thedegree ofsupport fororopposition
toapplications,sincethepartiesapplyingfortheinitiationofinvestigationshavehithertobeenconsidered
tobesufficiently representative ofthedomestic industry affected.G/ADP/W/275
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Inanyevent, Decree 299of1995 requires theconvocation ofallthose concerned bythe
investigation. They areconvened byanotice published intwonational newspapers withawide
circulation, inwhich theyareinvited tosetouttheirarguments andsubmit evidence theyconsider
relevant within thetime-limit indicated. Thus, theinterested parties mayoppose theinvestigation or
express adegree ofsupport forthesame.
21. DotheColombian authorities carry outverification visits abroad? Ifthisisthecase,please
indicate:
(a) How farinadvance theenterprise tobeverified isnotified ofthevisit?
(b) What happens ifthegovernment oftheexporting country doesnotallow thevisit?
(c) DotheColombian authorities utilize external experts during suchvisits? Ifthis
isthecase, howdotheyensure thatconfidential information towhich theexperts
have access issafeguarded?
(d) How istheenterprise abletoverify theinformation thatistobereviewed?
TheColombian authorities carry outverification visits abroad when thisisnecessary forthe
purpose oftheinvestigation.
(a) Nolegalrulehasbeenlaiddown fortheperiod ofnotification. However, dueadvance notice
ofavisitwillbegiven ifrequired.
(b) Todate, thissituation hasnotoccurred, butintheevent ofrefusal bythegovernment ofthe
exporting country toauthorize thevisit, itcould notgoahead.
(c) Fortheconduct ofsuch visits, theColombian Government mayenlist theservices of
non-governmental experts ofrecognized professional capacity inthearearequired, whowillberecruited
bymeans ofaservice contract including aclause under which theyareobliged torespect anyconfidential
information towhich theyhaveaccess.
Permission forthedisclosure ofconfidential information totheexpert would firstbesought
from theparty supplying theinformation.
(d) Before thevisitiscarried out,theenterprise isnotified inwriting oftheinformation thatis
tobeverified during thevisit, inorder toensure asatisfactory outcome.
22. Thedefinition of"best information available" intheDecree isnotconsistent withtherules
intheWTO Agreements. HowdoesColombia intend tomake theDecree 'sprovisions compatible
withtheAgreements?
Withregard tothebestinformation available, theprovisions contained inAnnex IItotheWTO
Anti-Dumping Agreement willbecomplied with.
23. How isanenterprise taking partinaninvestigation abletoknow thattheinformation
itprovided willnotbetaken intoaccount?
Theresolution andthetechnical study onwhich itisbased indicate theevidence usedasabasis
foradoption ofthecorresponding decisions and,hence, suchevidence aswasnottaken intoaccount.G/ADP/W/275
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24. DotheColombian authorities holdtechnical information meetings withparties involved
inaninvestigation? Aresuchmeetings heldtoexplain totheparties thedecisions andmethodology
adopted bytheColombian authorities?
TheColombian authorities holdtechnical information meetings withparties involved inan
investigation andwithmembers ofthegeneral public whomaybeinterested, inorder toexplain the
decisions andmethodology adopted, either attherequest ofaparty orexofficio when thisisconsidered
necessary.
25. What arethe"inherent powers asinvestigating authority" mentioned inregard to
INCOMEX inArticle 46oftheDecree?
Theinherent powers ofINCOMEX asinvestigating authority arethosevested initfortheproper
conduct ofanadministrative investigation, suchas:thepreparation offorms, internal regulations,
decision totakeandthetaking ofevidence exofficio orattherequest ofaparty.
26. How aretherecommendations onamechanism forthesettlement ofdisputes within the
framework oftheFreeTrade Agreement oftheGroup ofThree orinthecontext ofWTO tobe
adopted? Isthere anyform oflegalappeal against orders implementing decisions byanyofthese
mechanisms?
Pursuant totheadoption oftheWTO Agreement, Colombia recognized thebinding nature
ofDSBdecisions bymeans ofLaw170of1994. There arenoadditional regulations concerning the
manner ofimplementing suchdecisions.
27. What recourse ormeans ofdefence doexporters haveagainst decisions bytheColombian
authorities?
Application maybemade totheofficial concerned orhisimmediate superior fortheimmediate
revocation ofthedecision bywhich aninvestigation isinitiated, apreliminary determination isadopted
toimpose ornottoimpose provisional duties, oranadministrative investigation isterminated; inthis
way, suchactsaremade subject toadministrative control.
Administrative decisions mayalsobesubject tojudicial review, asisshown bythefollowing
table:G/ADP/W/275
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Judicial Review ofDecisions
Decision Type of
Administrative ActRemedy Authority
Initiation ofthe
investigationINCOMEX
ResolutionAction forannulment1Administrative Court,
firstorsoleinstance
depending ontheamount
involved.
Council ofState, second
orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Preliminary
decision/provisional
dutiesINCOMEX
ResolutionAction forannulment1Administrative Court,
firstorsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Council ofState, second
orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Close of
investigation and
definitive dutiesResolution Ministry
ofForeign TradeAction forannulment1Administrative Court,
firstorsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Council ofState, second
orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Review ofdefinitive
dutiesResolution Ministry
ofForeign TradeAction forannulment1Administrative Court,
firstorsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
Council ofState, second
orsoleinstance
depending ontheamount.
1Bymeans ofanorder issued on14May 1994, theCouncil ofState indicated that, exceptionally, in
cases involving infringement ofspecific rights, anaction forannulment would beadmissible andtherightwould
berestored. Insuch cases, iftheamount involved wasdeminimis ,theAdministrative Court would have
jurisdiction; otherwise, thecasewould beheard bytheCourt atfirstinstance andbytheCouncil ofState at
second instance.