RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/10
12July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1940)
Original: English Committee onSafeguards
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NOTIFICATIONS PROVIDED BY
CANADA OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowingcommunication,dated4July1995,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofKorea.
_______________
Pursuant tothedecision oftheCommittee onSafeguards, andinresponse toWTO/AIR/78,
paragraph 7,dated 10May1995, Ihavethehonour tosubmit totheSecretariat some written questions
andobservations addressed toCanada concerning theirsafeguard legislation.G/SG/W/10
Page2
QUESTIONNAIRE ONTHE SAFEGUARDS LAWS
OFCANADA
Werespectfully request thatCanada respond tothefollowing observations made withrespect
toitsNotifications ofLaws, Regulations andAdministrative Procedures Relating toSafeguard Measures
(G/SG/N/1/CAN/1F).
1. Theformat ofthelawsnotified
TheCanadian notifications havebeenprovided intheformoforiginal legislation andrelevant
amendments. Many other countries which maintain asimilar legislative system toCanada 'shave
presented their notifications intheform ofconcise revised legislation, inaddition tothespecific
amendments.
Does thissortoffinalized legislative textexistinthecaseofCanada, andifso,would Canada
consider presenting suchaversion ofthelegislation totheWTO anditsmembers?
2. Special Import Measures Act
Weunderstand thatCanada hasmaintained aSpecial Import Measures Actwhich would seem
tobeclosely related tosafeguard measures. Please clarify thecurrent status ofthisAct,andits
relationship tosafeguard measures.
3. Principal cause
Section 27(2) oftheCanadian International Trade Tribunal Actstipulates that"Theimportation
ofagood isaprincipal cause ofserious injury orthreat thereof onlyif...theincreased importation
ofthegoodisanimportant cause andnotlessimportant thananyother cause." Incontrast, however,
Article 4.2(b) oftheSafeguards Agreement provides that"When factors other thanincreased imports
arecausing injury todomestic industry, suchinjury shallnotbeattributed toincreased imports." The
Agreement therefore doesnotdistinguish between therelative magnitudes ofthecauses ofinjury.
What istheexplanation ofCanada withregard tothisinconsistency between itslawandthe
relevant Article oftheSafeguards Agreement?
4. Condition forthere-application ofsafeguard measures
TheCanadian Customs Tariff Actwasamended bytheStatutes ofCanada 1994, Chapter 47,
Sections 73through 99,inanActtoimplement theAgreement Establishing theWorld Trade
Organization. Theamendment toSection 59.1oftheAct,which introduces subsection (3.2), seems
tocontradict Article 7,paragraphs 5and6oftheAgreement onSafeguards, which concerns the
conditions under which asafeguard measure maybere-applied.
Article 7.6reads: "Notwithstanding theprovisions ofparagraph 5,asafeguard measure with
aduration of180daysorlessmaybeapplied again totheimport ofaproduct ...".Ourinterpretation
ofthisstipulation isthat,under certain conditions, asafeguard measure maybere-applied toaproduct,
buttheduration ofthenewmeasure must belimited to180days.
TheSection 59.1(3.2)oftheActasamended andcontained inpage222of(G/SG/N/1/CAN/1)
provides that: "Where theprevious order made pursuant tosubsection 1,waseffective withrespect
toanygoods foraperiod ofonehundred andeighty daysorless,afurther order maybemade pursuant
tothatsubsection withrespect tothegoods ...". Itisobserved, however, thattheperiod ofsuchaG/SG/W/10
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re-applied measure, isnotlimited to180days, astheAgreement stipulates. Itishoped thatthis
contradiction maybeclarified.
5. Export andImport Control List
TheCanadian Export andImport Permits Actspresents thesystem ofControl ListsinSections 3
through 5.Weareconcerned about thisbecause themaintenance ofsuchasystem canresult inthe
limitation ofexports andimports.
Inparticular, those listswhich areusedtoensure orderly export marketing ...(Section 3.1),
andwhen goods arelikely tobeimported ...causing orthreatening injury ...(Section 5(5)) maybe
typical examples ofprohibited measures under Article 11oftheSafeguard Agreement anditsfootnote.
Wewould liketoaskCanada toclarify howitintends tobridge theinconsistency between
itslawandtheAgreement.