RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/L/3
16February 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0335)
Original: English
MALAYSIA -NOTIFICATION INPURSUANCE OFARTICLE XVIII:C
AND THE 1979 DECISION ON"SAFEGUARD ACTION
FOR DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES"
Communication byMalaysia
Thefollowing communication, dated 15February 1995, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofMalaysia, withtherequest thatitbecirculated toallmembers oftheWorld Trade
Organization.
_______________
Iamwriting inrelation totheletter bySingapore dated 9February 1995andhavethehonour
topresent acommunication from theGovernment ofMalaysia asfollows:
Singaporearguesintheircommunication(Doc.G/L/2)thattheMalaysiancommunication
(Doc. WT/L/32) cannot beaccepted asanotification under Article XVIII:C andthe1979
Decision onSafeguard Action forDevelopment Purposes, asthenotification should havebeen
made prior totheintroduction ofthemeasure.
With respect tothedelay insubmitting thenotification, itisanestablished practice
under GATT thatprocedural deficiencies should notbeusedtoinvalidate anaction thatwould
meetthesubstantive criteria established intheAgreement. Theintroduction ofthemeasure
was, furthermore, published intheOfficial Gazette ofMalaysia three weeks prior toits
implementation. Therequirements ofArticle XofGATT havethusbeenmetandthemeasure
brought totheattention oftraders andgovernments alsowellinadvance ofitsimplementation.
SingaporeclaimsthatMalaysia'snotificationwasmadeasanattempttodelaySingapore's
request forconsultations. Thisisnotcorrect. Bilateral consultations havealready begun under
Article XXIII:1, andMalaysia isprepared toenter intoconsultations under Article XVIII:C
whenever suchconsultations arerequested.
Itshould further benoted thatSingapore 'sdescription ofthemeasure inquestion as
animport prohibition iserroneous. Asamatter offact,licences wereissued during theperiod
from 7April 1994 to31December 1994 forimports of209457 metric tonsofpolyethylene
and45994 tonsofpolypropylene. This represents amajority share oftotal domestic
consumption. Itshould alsobenoted thatthemeasure isofatemporary nature.