RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/134
12March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0887)
Original: Spanish Committee onSafeguards
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES1CONCERNING
THE NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS OFCUBA2
UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 21February 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofCuba.
_______________
General
Cuba notes initsnotification thatitcurrently doesnothave"specific legislation orregulations
related totheAgreement".
DoesCubaintendtodevelopsuchlegislation,regulationsoradministrativeprocedurestogovern
theapplication ofsafeguard measures consistent withtheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement on
Safeguards?
Reply
Forsome months, thecompetent Cuban authorities, theMinistry ofFinance andPrices and
theMinistryofForeignTrade,havebeenworkingonthepreparationofspecificlegislationonsafeguards,
which forms partoftheprocess ofareview ofCuban trade policy, asaresult ofbringing itintoline
withthenewconditions fordeveloping ourforeign trade. Aworking objective forbothMinistries
in1996 istocomplete thislegislation andsubmit itforconsideration bytheGovernment. Assoon
asthespecific legislation hasbeenadopted, itwillbenotified totheWTO.
Safeguard measures
Article 11ofDecree-Law No.124which Cuba citesasgoverning, inpart,safeguard measures
doesnotappear toconform totherequirements ofGATT Article XIXortheWTO Agreement on
Safeguards.
Please indicate anddescribe thetypeofsafeguard measures which maybeadopted under this
decree, andthemanner inwhich suchmeasures areadopted andapplied. Arethere anyregulations
oradministrative procedures thatimplement orfurther explain howthedecree would beapplied in
thecontext ofanaction under theWTO Agreement onSafeguards?
1G/SG/W/107.
2G/ADP/N/1/CUB/1-G/SCM/N/CUB/1-G/SG/N/1/CUB/1 +G/ADP/N/1/CUB/1/Suppl. 1.G/SG/W/134
Page2
Reply
Such measures, alluded toverygenerally inArticle 11oftheDecree-Law No.124,include
allthesafeguard measures provided forinArticle XIXofGATT 1994. Since theWTO Agreement
andalltheAnnexes thereto formpartoftheCuban legalsystem andsinceArticle 11oftheDecree-Law
explicitly refers totheformlaidininternational treaties towhich Cuba isaparty orwhich Cuba has
ratified, safeguard measures willbeadopted andapplied inkeeping withtherules established bythe
Agreement onSafeguards. Cuba willrefrain fromresorting tomeasures ofthiskinduntilithasspecific
lawsandregulations; nevertheless, where necessary, itmayusetheminaccordance withtheprovisions
ofthecorresponding Agreement, which islegally binding inCuban territory.
Implementation ofsafeguard measures
Decree-Law No.124doesnotdescribe theprocess forimplementing safeguard measures.
Theprocedures described donotappear toinvolve aninvestigation anddetermination asrequired by
theWTO Safeguards Agreement.
- What istheprocess under which safeguard measures areimplemented?
- How doesthegovernment determine thatimports cause orthreaten tocause serious injury?
- What factors aretaken intoaccount when conducting suchaninvestigation? Howisthelevel
ofimport restriction determined?
- Howareinterested parties toparticipate inthisprocess? Howareoutside views addressed?
Replies
Asstated, Decree-Law No.124doesnotinclude procedures. Therules tobefollowed by
ouradministrative authorities willappear inthespecific legislation nowbeing prepared. Meanwhile,
sincetheWTO Agreement forms partoftheCuban legalsystem, theSafeguards Agreement procedures
havelegalvalidity forthepurposes ofimplementation byourauthorities.
Insuchcircumstances, theprocess ofimplementing safeguard measures would beinkeeping
withArticles 2to7oftheAgreement onSafeguards, relating toconditions, conducting ofinvestigations,
determination ofserious injury orthreat thereof, adoption ofprovisional safeguard measures incritical
circumstances, application ofmeasures, andduration andobligatory review.
Forthedetermination ofserious injury orthreat thereof, thecompetent Cuban authorities would
follow therules established inArticle 4oftheAgreement, inrecognition oftheconcepts defined in
paragraph 1andinobservance ofthedirectives setoutinparagraph 2.
Toconduct safeguards investigations, therules setoutinArticle 3oftheAgreement would
befollowed. Intheevent ofquantitative restrictions orquotas among supplying countries, wewould
comply withtherules setoutinArticle 5oftheAgreement.
Theparticipationoftheinterestedpartieswouldbeguaranteedbycompliancewiththeprovisions
ofArticle 3,paragraph 1,oftheAgreement, relating topublic notices, public hearings orother means
which, during theinvestigation, permit exporters, importers andother interested parties topresent
evidence andtheirviews andtoanswer questions, andalsobypublication ofthereport setting forth
thefindings andconclusions reached ineachcase. TheAgreement onSafeguards requires consultations
tobeheldwithinterested Members orMembers affected byvarious circumstances, more particularlyG/SG/W/134
Page3
inArticle 12,andCuba would respect them inevery case. Attention would bepaidinaprocess of
thistypetothestipulations ofArticle 8oftheAgreement regarding thelevelofconcessions andother
obligations.
Duration ofsafeguard measures
TheCuban decree states thatmeasures shallbeineffect "foraslongasisconsidered necessary".
- How isthisstatement consistent withWTO time-limits onsafeguard measures duration?
Noreference ismade tohowsuchmeasures would bereviewed orphased out.There isalso
noreference totheapplication ofprovisional measures incritical circumstances. Inaddition,
there arenoprovisions describing thetimeinterval required before there-application ofthe
safeguard measure.
- Would Cuba elaborate onthese points?
Replies
Thestatement "foraslongasisconsidered necessary", contained inArticle 11ofDecree-Law
No.124,because theArticle thengoesontorefertotheterms laiddown ininternational agreements,
means, since Cuba hasratified theWTO Agreements, compliance withtherulescontained inArticle 7
areofAgreement onSafeguards andthiswillbesospecified inthelegislation inpreparation. Even
withthetemporary absence ofspecific laws, there isnoinconsistency between Article 11ofthe
Decree-Law andtheAgreements.
Inthespecific legislation nowbeing prepared, explicit references willbemade tosafeguard
measures being reviewed, thepossibility ofextending them andofrevoking them. Similarly, itwill
contain rulesontheapplication ofprovisional measures incritical circumstances andthetimeinterval
required toreapply asafeguard measure tothesame imported product. Meanwhile, forallsuchcases,
theprovisions oftheAgreement onSafeguards inthisregard would bevalid inCuban territory.