RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/M/5
28May1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1985)
Committee onSafeguards
MINUTES OFSPECIAL MEETING
HELD ON11-12 DECEMBER 1995
Chairman: Mr.J.Ruiz(Argentina)
1. TheCommittee onSafeguards heldaspecial meeting on11-12 December 1995.
2. Thefollowing agenda wasadopted:
Page:
A. Notifications ofactions related tosafeguard measures 3
B. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byarticle 10 3
C. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byarticle 11(1) 3
D. Notifications oflegislation pursuant toarticle 12.6oftheAgreement 5
(i) Cuba
(G/ADP/N/1/CUB/1-G/SCM/N/1/CUB/1-G/SG/N/1/CUB/1)
(ii) Mexico
(G/SG/N/1/MEX/1)
(iii) Hungary
(G/SG/N/1/HUN/2)
(iv) Israel
(G/ADP/N/1/ISR/1-G/SCM/N/1/ISR/1-G/SG/N/1/ISR/1 +
Corr.1)
(v) Japan
(G/SG/N/1/JPN/2)
(vi) Macau
(G/SG/N/1/MAC/1)
(vii) Norway
(G/SG/N/1/NOR/2)G/SG/M/5
Page2
Page:
E. Notifications without legislative text: 7
(i) Australia
(G/SG/N/1/AUS/1)
(ii) Bolivia
(G/SG/N/1/BOL/1)
(iii) Brazil
(G/SG/N/1/BRA/2)
(iv) Dominican republic
(G/SG/N/1/DOM/1)
(v) ElSalvador
(G/SG/N/1/SLV/1)
(vi) Guatemala
(G/SG/N/1/GTM/1)
(vii) Honduras
(G/SG/N/1/HND/1)
(viii) Iceland
(G/SG/N/1/ISL/1)
(ix) India
(G/SG/N/1/IND/1)
(x) Malaysia
(G/SG/N/1/MYS/1)
(xi) Maldives
(G/SG/N/1/MDV/1)
(xii) Mauritius
(G/SG/N/1/MUS/1)
(xiii) Morocco
(G/SG/N/1/MAR/1)
(xiv) Nicaragua
(G/SG/N/1/NIC/1)
(xv) Pakistan
(G/SG/N/1/PAK/1)
(xvi) Paraguay
(G/ADP/N/1/PRY/1-G/SCM/N/1/PRY/1-G/SG/N/1/PRY/1)G/SG/M/5
Page3
Page:
(xvii) Philippines
(G/SG/N/1/PHL/1)
(xviii) Poland
(G/SG/N/1/POL/1)
(xix) Slovak Republic
(G/SG/N/1/SVK/1)
(xx) SriLanka
(G/SG/N/1/LKA/1)
(xxi) Switzerland
(G/SG/N/1/CHE/1)
(xxii) Trinidad &tobago
(G/SG/N/1/TTO/1)
(xxiii) Turkey
(G/SG/N/1/TUR/1)
(xxiv) Uruguay
(G/SG/N/1/URY/1)
(xxv) Zambia
(G/SG/N/1/ZMB/1)
(xxvi) Zimbabwe
(G/ADP/N/1/ZWE/1-G/SCM/N/1/ZWE/1-G/SG/N/1/ZWE)
F. Future review ofnotifications oflegislation pursuant toarticle 12.6
oftheAgreement 8
3. TheChairman observed thatthere werethree major items ontheagenda. Thefirstofthese,
covered inagenda points A,BandC,wastorevert tothereview, which wasbegun attheNovember
regular meeting, ofthenotifications ofactions andmeasures covered bytheSafeguards Agreement.
Thesecond major item, agenda points DandE,wasthecontinuation ofthereview oflegislative
notifications intheareaofsafeguards. Thethirdmajor item, agenda point F,wasconsideration of
howtoproceed withlegislative reviews thefollowing year, bothfirst-time reviews ofnotifications
notpreviously reviewed, andrevisitation ofnotifications already reviewed. Heurged anyMembers
withideas inthislatter regard tospeak either totheSecretariat orhimself.
A,BandC. Notifications ofactions related tosafeguard measures, examination andmonitoring
ofmeasures covered byarticle 10,andexamination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered
byArticle 11.1
4. TheChairman recalled thatattheNovember regular meeting, theCommittee hadreviewed
thesafeguards notifications identified inagenda points A,BandC.Atthatmeeting, various Members
whohadsubmitted suchnotifications indicated thattheywerenotfullyprepared torespond toother
Members'questionsbecausetherehadbeennorequirementthatwrittenquestionsbesubmittedinadvanceG/SG/M/5
Page4
ofthemeeting, andbecause certain Members hadnothadtimetoprepare either oralquestions oranswers
onthese questions. Inviewofthis,ithadbeendecided tocarry outatleastapreliminary review of
those notifications attheNovember meeting, andalsotorevert tothem atthepresent meeting. The
Committee decided torequire thatanyquestions about suchnotifications, whether newquestions or
questionsraisedorallyattheNovembermeeting,besubmittedinwritingdirectlytothenotifyingMember
andtotheSecretariat forcirculation, by20November 1995. Only onesetofsuchquestions, from
Colombia totheEuropean Community, hadbeensubmitted. Inviewofthesmall number ofquestions
received, theChairman concluded thatthereview ofthesenotifications hadbeensubstantially completed
attheNovember meeting. Hethusproposed togivethefloor totherepresentative oftheEuropean
Community torespond tothequestions from Colombia, thentogivethefloor toKorea tomake a
clarifying statement concerning itsnotification, andthentoproceed withthereview oflegislation.
TheChairmanremindedMembersthatfuturereviewsofsuchnotificationswouldfollowthesamepractice
ofwritten questions inadvance ofmeetings.
5. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community responded tothequestions putbyColombia
which concerned therestrictions oncoalimports intoSpain. These questions canbefound indocument
G/SG/W/69. TheEuropean Community 'sanswers tothese questions canbefound indocument
G/SG/W/117.
6. Therepresentative ofHong Kong asked whether theEuropean Community hadinforce any
measure which would prevent imports ofproducts subject tothenotified measures being shipped to
other Member States, orprevent imports ofsuchproducts frombeing sentfromanimporting Member
StatetoSpain. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community indicated thattherewerenomeasures
intheCommunity thatrestrict internal commerce between other Community Members andSpain.
Henoted thatasapractical matter, suchtrade inthecaseofthisproduct wasunlikely because ofthe
hightransportation costs. Henoted thatthemeasure wasaresidual measure adopted under theauthority
oftheTreaty Establishing theEuropean CoalandSteelCommunity. Thehightransportation costfor
theproduct leads totheeffective implementation ofthemeasure inSpain only.
7. Therepresentative ofAustralia noted thattohim,thenotified measure seemed tobemore in
thenature ofaquantitative restriction orsome other typeofmeasure different fromwhatheunderstood
wasintended tobecovered asgreyareameasures under Article 11.1(b). Hisunderstanding wasthat
suchgreyareameasures classically involved voluntary arrangements between countries thatmight be
administratively implemented ontheexport ortheimport side. Themeasure asdescribed bytheEC
seemed tobemore akintoaquantitative restriction through import licensing.
8. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community explained thatthemeasure wasdescribed as
arestriction fordomestic terminology reasons, andthat,inanycase, themeasure wasimplemented
through issuance ofnon-automatic licences, andfrom thepoint ofviewoftheCommunity, itmight
beseenasadomestic measure. Heindicated thatsimilar measures inAustria andGermany alsohad
beennotified bytheCommunity.
9. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
10. Therepresentative ofKorea made astatement concerning Korea 'snotification ofmeasures
described inparagraph 11.1(b) -document G/SG/N/2/KOR -toclarify thesituation withrespect to
questions thathadbeenraised attheprevious meeting, inparticular astothenotified measure onoysters
inairtight containers. Hestated thatofKorea 'stotalexports ofoysters inairtight containers theprevious
year, approximately 79percent hadgonetotheUnited States. Asexported products arerequired to
satisfy thesanitary standards oftheUnited States Food andDrug regulations, theKorean Oyster
Producers Association, apurely private sector organization, voluntarily regulates thequality ofthe
exported product. Inaddition, export licenses areissued upon therecommendation oftheProducersG/SG/M/5
Page5
Association. Because Korea accounts foramajor share oftheworld 'smarket foroysters inairtight
containers, Korea alsoapplies voluntary export restraints toproducts exported tocountries other than
theUnited States forthepurpose ofmaintaining highquality andagood reputation.
11. TheChairman asked whether thevoluntary export restraints areonlyapplied tomarkets other
thantheUnited States.
12. Therepresentative ofKorea responded thatthesemeasures apply toallcountries towhich Korea
exports thisproduct.
13. Therepresentative ofHong Kong asked whether suchmeasures entail anyquantitative limits
onKorea 'sexports oftheproduct, orwhether theysimply confer certain qualitative orhygiene standards
ontheexports.
14. Therepresentative ofKorea stated thatthepurpose ofthemeasure isthemaintenance ofhigh
quality, andthatitinvolves noquantitative limitation orcontrol.
15. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
D. Notifications ofLegislation Pursuant toArticle 12.6oftheAgreement
16. TheChairman proposed twochanges withrespect totheCommittee 'sreview ofthenon-text
notifications ofBrazil andTurkey. These twocountries had,inthepreceding fewdays, submitted
notifications oflegislative texttotheSecretariat. Inlightofthis,herecommended thatthesubstantive
review ofthese countries 'legislation bepostponed untiltheCommittee 'snextmeeting.
17. TheChairman observed thatanumber ofMembers hadsubmitted written questions inadvance
ofthemeeting bothtoMembers whose notifications were being reviewed andtotheSecretariat.
Unfortunately, themajority ofthequestions hadbeenreceived afterthedeadline. TheSecretariat had
made every effort totranslate andcirculate thequestions thatweresubmitted, butthishadnotbeen
possible inallcases. Nevertheless, copies ofthequestions assubmitted wereavailable intheroom.
TheChairman noted thatitwasuptotheMembers whose legislation wasbeing reviewed todetermine
theextent towhich theywere abletorespond atthemeeting toquestions submitted late. Answers
inwriting would berequired toallwritten questions, however.
18. TheChairman reminded theCommittee oftheprocedures thathadbeenestablished forthe
conduct ofthereview oflegislation. Henoted thatthedeadline forsubmission totheMember concerned
andtotheSecretariat ofthewritten form ofquestions asked orally was19January 1996.
19. TheChairman further recalled thatthiswould notbethelastopportunity forMembers topose
questions concerning thelegislative notifications thatwould bereviewed atthemeeting.
20. TheCommittee proceeded tothesubstantive review ofthelegislations ontheagenda.
21. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofCuba canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/76 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/88 Submitted bytheEuropean Community
G/SG/W/107 Submitted bytheUnited StatesG/SG/M/5
Page6
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/132 ToJapan
G/SG/W/133 TotheEuropean Community
G/SG/W/134 TotheUnited States
22. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofMexico canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/80 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/85 Submitted byKorea
G/SG/W/90 Submitted bytheEuropean Community
G/SG/W/96 Submitted byAustralia
G/SG/W/100 Submitted byIndia
G/SG/W/101 Submitted bytheUnited States
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/124 ToJapan
G/SG/W/127 ToKorea
G/SG/W/130 TotheEuropean Community
G/SG/W/128 ToAustralia
G/SG/W/129 ToIndia
G/SG/W/131 TotheUnited States
23. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofHungary canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/77 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/87 Submitted byKorea
G/SG/W/106 &108 Submitted bytheUnited States
G/SG/W/114 Australia
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/137 ToJapan
G/SG/W/135 ToKorea
G/SG/W/136 TotheUnited States
G/SG/W/169 ToAustralia
24. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofIsrael canbefound inthefollowing document:
G/SG/W/78 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/84 Submitted byKorea
G/SG/W/98 Submitted byAustralia
G/SG/W/102 Submitted bytheUnited States
Answers tothese questions hadnotbeenreceived asof3May1996.
25. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofJapan canbefound inthefollowing document:
G/SG/W/71 Submitted byCanada
G/SG/W/83 Submitted byKorea
G/SG/W/89 Submitted bytheEuropean CommunityG/SG/M/5
Page7
G/SG/W/97 Submitted byAustralia
G/SG/W/99 Submitted byIndia
G/SG/W/105(+Corr.1) Submitted bytheUnited States
Answers tothese questions hadnotbeenreceived asof3May1996.
26. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofMacau canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/79 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/103 Submitted bytheUnited States
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/145 ToJapan
G/SG/W/144 TotheUnited States
27. Thequestions concerning thelegislation ofNorway canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/81 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/86 Submitted byKorea
G/SG/W/95 Submitted byAustralia
G/SG/W/104 Submitted bytheUnited States
Answers tothese questions hadnotbeenreceived asof3May1996.
E. Notifications without legislative text
28. Therepresentatives ofBrazil andTurkey made briefstatements indicating thattheyhadeach
notified legislative textsduring theprevious fewdays, andunderstood thattheirlegislations would
bereviewed bytheCommittee atthenextlegislative review session heldbytheCommittee.
29. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
30. Thequestions concerning thenotification ofAustralia canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/75 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/115 Submitted byCanada
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/141 ToJapan
G/SG/W/140 ToCanada
31. ThequestionsconcerningthenotificationofSwitzerlandcanbefoundinthefollowingdocuments:
G/SG/W/82 Submitted byJapan
G/SG/W/94 Submitted byAustralia
Answers tothese questions canbefound inthefollowing documents:
G/SG/W/126 ToJapan
G/SG/W/125 ToAustraliaG/SG/M/5
Page8
32. Noquestions were raised withrespect tothenotifications ofBolivia, Dominican Republic,
ElSalvador,Guatemala,Honduras,Iceland,India,Malaysia,Maldives,Mauritius,Morocco,Nicaragua,
Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Slovak Republic, SriLanka, Trinidad andTobago, Turkey,
Uruguay, Zambia, orZimbabwe.
F. Future review ofnotifications oflegislation pursuant toArticle 12.6oftheAgreement
33. TheChairman recalled that,atthepreceding meeting, aproposal hadbeenmade fromthefloor
foraprocedure fortheconduct offuture reviews oflegislative notifications, andthatatthebeginning
ofthepresent meeting, hehadasked Members foranyadditional proposals inthisregard. Hereported
thatnosuchadditional suggestions orproposals hadbeenmade.
34. TheChairman noted that,asofthattimemeeting, theCommittee hadalmost completed the
review ofnotifications received todate. Heproposed thatinviewofthenotifications received shortly
before themeeting, another special meeting oftheCommittee beheldinSpring 1996, tobescheduled
inconjunction withthemeetings oftheAnti-Dumping andSubsidies Committees inlateApril-early
May. Hefurther proposed thattheprocedures forreviews atthatmeeting bethesame asthose for
thefirstthree legislative review sessions.
35. TheCommittee sodecided.
36. TheChairman observed thatthereview ofnotifications oflegislation would notbefinished
aftertheSpring special meeting. Inlightofthediscussions inthereview sessions, itwasclear that
newandamended legislations could beexpected fromanumber ofMembers. Inaddition, 43Members
hadnot,asofthatdate,made anynotification atallregarding safeguards legislation. Further, asnew
Members joined theWTO, theyalsowould beexpected tosubmit notifications. Finally, Members
might haveadditional follow-up questions withrespect tolegislations already reviewed. Thus, the
taskofreviewing legislative notifications would continue intotheforeseeable future. Whether ornot
future meetings would benecessary tocarry outthese future reviews, itwould probably beuseful to
establish procedures fortheirconduct, sothattheycould becarried outasefficiently aspossible. In
thisregard, intheirjointmeeting theprevious week, theAnti-Dumping andSubsidies Committees
hadagreed thattheirChairmen would circulate awritten proposal regarding procedures fortheirfuture
legislative reviews. Those Committees alsohadagreed thattheirChairmen should holdinformal
consultations ontheproposal ifnecessary, withaviewtoreaching adecision attheirSpring meetings.
Toensure themaximum possible consistency between those Committee 'sprocedures andthose ofthe
Safeguards Committee, theChairman proposed tocirculate thesame proposal totheSafeguards
Committeeforconsideration,andtoparticipateinanyinformalconsultationsonthesubject.Heindicated
thathoped thattheCommittee could reach adecision inthematter atitsnextspecial meeting.
37. TheCommittee sodecided.
38. TheChairman reminded Members thatquestions asked orally during themeeting weretobe
submitted inwriting totheMembers whose legislations were concerned, andtotheSecretariat, no
later than19January 1996. Written answers toquestions were tobesubmitted nolater than
26February 1996.
39. Themeeting wasadjourned.