RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/118
7February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0442)
Original: English Committee onSafeguards
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYAUSTRALIA1
CONCERNING THE NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS
OFROMANIA2UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 19January 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofRomania.3
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Q.1 Which oftheRules (pages 9-35) approved inJointOrder No.128apply tosafeguard measures?
Inparticular which ofArticles 2-13oftheRules apply? IfonlyArticles 1,14and15ofthe
Rulesapply,whatguidanceisgiventotheCommissiontoensurecompliancewiththeSafeguards
Agreement?
A.1 Theprovisions concerning safeguard measures areincluded inArticles 1,14and15ofthe
Rules annexed totheJointOrder No.128/1992. Article 15oftheRules stipulates that"No
matter where inthese Rules there arenotmentioned express provisions, GATT provisions
aretobeapplied ...". Atpresent, Romania alsoapplies theresults oftheUruguay Round,
following ratification through LawNo.133/1994 oftheAgreement Establishing theWTO,
which includes, inAnnex 1,theSafeguards Agreement. Under thesecircumstances, reference
to"application ofGATT provisions" ofArticle 15oftheRules isunderstood as"application
ofWTO rules".
Thus, totheextent thatinJointOrder No.128/1992 arenotcovered wholly allelements of
theSafeguards Agreement oranyinconsistency between Joint Order No.128/1992 andthe
Safeguards Agreement might appear, thelatter shallprevail.
Q.2 Article 14.1oftheRules (page 21)refers to"serious injury todomestic producers oflikeor
directly competitive products". Under thelegislation, willthisbeinterpreted asmeaning the
sameasArticle 2.1oftheSafeguards Agreement, which requires "serious injury tothedomestic
industry thatproduces likeordirectly competitive products"? Ifso,howwould Romania
determine "domestic industry"?
1G/SG/W/44.
2G/SG/N/1/ROM/1.
3SeealsoGeneral Statement ofRomania (document G/SG/W/123), tobereadinconjuction with
thisdocument.
./.G/SG/W/118
Page2
A.2 Article 14.1oftheRules annexed totheJointOrder No.128/1992 shallbeunderstood ashaving
thesame meaning asArticle 2.1oftheSafeguards Agreement, and"national industry" shall
beunderstood inthesense ofArticle 4,paragraph 1(c)ofthesame Agreement.
Q.3 Article 14.2oftheRules (page 21)saysthatthe"[d]etermination ofinjury orthreat ofaserious
injury todomestic producers maybemade bytheCommission either exofficio ,orattherequest
ofnational producers oflikeordirectly competitive products oroftheirassociations". Does
thissimply mean thataninvestigation canbeinitiated exofficio bytheCommission orcan
theCommission make adetermination without apublic investigation?
A.3 Provision exofficio refers onlytothefactthatinvestigations canbeinitiated exofficio bythe
Commission.
Q.4 Thesecond paragraph ofJointOrder No.128(page 8)appears todescribe safeguard action
asbeing "against theexport atprices lower thanthose inthedomestic market". Isthisa
necessary condition forsafeguard action? Isitasufficient condition todemonstrate causal
linkforinjury orthreat ofinjury?
A.4 Thesecond paragraph ofJointOrder No.128/1992 should bereadinconjunction withArticle 4
ofGovernment Decision No.228/1992. When evaluating whether ornotasafeguard measure
should beintroduced, theCommission willtakeintoconsideration allspecific provisions
concerning theinjury andthecausal linkprovided forintheAgreement onSafeguards.
Q.5 Article 1oftheRules (page 9)refers toprotection against "imports which byquantity orby
conditions attached cause orthreaten tocause aserious injury". What ismeant by"conditions
attached" andwhatrelevance doesthathavetojustify safeguard action?
A.5 Theexpression "conditions attached" came outfrom thetranslation andmakes reference to
thewaytheimports wereperformed (ofthecategory other factors), andhastobeconsidered
inconjunction withArticle XIXpara. 1(a)ofGATT. Incaseofmassive increases ofimports
overshort periods oftime, thefactthatthese imports haveincreased steeply canbetaken into
consideration when evaluating thenecessity tointroduce asafeguard measure.
Q.6 What relevance doArticles 9-12oftheDecision (pages 3and4)regarding export prices have
tosafeguard measures?
A.6 Articles 9-12ofGovernment Decision No.228/1992 making reference toexport (Romania 's)
thushavenorelevance when considering introducing asafeguard measure against imports.
Q.7 What guidance isgiven totheCommission toensure thatitsrecommendations comply with
Article 5oftheSafeguards Agreement ontheapplication ofmeasures?
A.7 According toArticle 15oftheRules annexed totheJointOrder No.128/1992 theCommission
willtakeintoconsideration theprovisions ofArticle 5oftheSafeguards Agreement.
Q.8 Canprovisional safeguard measures beimposed and,ifso,under whatprovision inthenotified
legislation?
A.8 NoArticle ofthenotified legislation provides expressly forthepossibility tointroduce
provisional safeguard measures. However, thispossibility exists, having inviewthatthrough
Article 15oftheRules annexed totheJointOrder No.128/1992 reference ismade toArticle 6
oftheSafeguards Agreement.