RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/W/272
G/SCM/W/282
ORGANIZATION 19February 1996
(96-0608)
Original: Spanish Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Committee onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYKOREA1CONCERNING THE
NOTIFICATION OFCOLOMBIAN LAWS AND REGULATIONS2
Thefollowing communication, dated 19January 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofColombia.
_______________
1.1 Incases where there arenorelevant provisions inthedomestic legislation, doestheWTO
Agreement apply?
TheWTO Agreement, which wasincorporated inColombian legislation bymeans ofLaw170
of1994, isapplied incases where thenational regulations contain norelevant provisions.
1.2 Iftheprovisions oftheexisting domestic legislation donotconform totheWTO Agreement,
dotheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement apply?
Thenationallegislationconcerninganti-dumpingmeasuresandcountervailingmeasuresapplicable
toproducts from WTO Member countries orterritories consists ofLaw170of1994, Decree 299of
1995 andother decrees which maybeissued toregulate orsupplement Law170. Intheevent ofa
conflict oflegalrules, theprovisions ofLaw170takeprecedence overother ordinary lawsordecrees
because itisalawapproving anational treaty andonaccount ofitsstatus inrelation toalldecrees.
2. Normal value inother transactions
Chapter III,Article 6ofColombia 'sA-Dlawregulates thenormal value when there are
nosales ofthelikeproduct intheordinary course oftrade inthedomestic market.
Inthisprovision, thehighest export price forthelikeproduct exported tothird countries
shall beusedforthenormal value. Thiscanincrease thedumping margin intentionally without
anybasis ofreasonability forthedumping activity.
Does Colombia think thehighest export price canbetherepresentative export price?
Furthermore, thesame provision ofColombia 'sA-Dlawrecommends theconstructed
value based onthecostofproduction, reasonable SG&A andprofit. However, thisprovision
1G/ADP/W/164-G/SCM/W/171.
2G/ADP/N/1/COL/1-G/SCM/N/1/COL/1.G/ADP/W/272
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doesnotreflect thespecific methods forcalculating theconstructed normal value described in
theArticle 2.2.1 and2.2.2 oftheWTO Agreement.
Therefore, wethink thatthespecific methods forcalculating theconstructed normal value
should beinserted inthisprovision ofColombia 'sA-Dlaw. What isColombia 'sopinion onthis?
Incases where thenormal value ofaproduct subject toaninvestigation cannot bedetermined
onthebasis ofthesaleprice oftheproduct onthedomestic market, sothatitisnecessary touseas
reference theexport pricetoathirdcountry ortheconstructed value, INCOMEX shalladopt thespecific
methods described inArticle 2.2.1 and2.2.2.
Totheextent thatArticle 6.1oftheDecree isinconflict withArticle 2oftheAgreement,
thelatter willtakeprecedence.
3. Anti-circumvention measures
InArticle 24ofColombia 'santi-dumping law,theanti-circumvention measures havebeen
adopted.
However, theanti-circumvention issues havenotbeenconcluded inthenegotiation ofthe
WTO inanyform, sothisprovision should bedeleted from theanti-dumping lawofColombia.
Article 24.5ofColombia 'santi-dumping lawisveryambiguous andneeds tobemade
more specific. Wethink that"Total costoftheparts orcomponents ..."should bechanged to
"Total costoftheparts orcomponents originating intheexporting countries subject tothe
anti-dumping duty".
Colombia considers itdesirable toapply uniform standards inorder tocontrol avoidance of
anti-dumping measures. Accordingly, itisanxious thattheCommittee initiate work onthissubject.
Inthemeantime, Colombia considers thatitisnecessary toapply Article 24inorder toensure the
effectiveness oftheanti-dumping measures adopted.
4. Price undertaking
Inaccordance withArticle 8oftheWTO Agreement, price undertaking instead ofthe
imposition ofanti-dumping dutyhasbeen regulated.
Why doesn 'tColombia adopt theprovision concerning theprice undertaking?
Price undertakings arecovered byArticle 17ofDecree 299,under theheading "Statements
ofIntent", andtheprocessing ofsuchstatements isdealtwithinArticle 18.
Colombian legislation follows theconceptual approach ofArticle 8oftheWTO Agreement
concerning price undertakings, which arereferred toas"Statements ofIntent" inArticles 17and18
ofDecree 299/95. Inthesame wayasunder Article 8oftheWTO Agreement, statements ofintent
maybeoftwokinds: anintention toreview export prices oracommitment todiscontinue exports.
Inbothcases, thestatement mustbemade within two(2)months following thepreliminary determination
asanalternative tothecollection ofanti-dumping duties orasameans ofreducing theamount ofsuch
duties.G/ADP/W/272
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5. Currency conversion, dispute settlement
Article 2.4.1 oftheWTO Agreement regulates currency conversion, andArticle 17of
theWTO Agreement gives theprovision fordispute settlement.
Aretheabove twoArticles oftheWTO Agreement reflected intheanti-dumping lawof
Colombia?
Therelevant provisions cannot befound inColombia 'sA-DLaw.
Article 2.4.1 oncurrency conversion andArticle 17onconsultation anddispute settlement
areenshrined inLaw170of1994.