RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/M/3
20May1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1910)
Committee onSafeguards
MINUTES OFTHE REGULAR MEETING
HELD ON6NOVEMBER 1996
Chairman: Mr.J.Ruiz(Argentina)
1. TheCommittee onSafeguards ("theCommittee") heldaregular meeting on6November 1996.
2. TheCommittee adopted thefollowing agenda:
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A. Rules ofprocedure 1
B. Notification ofactions related tosafeguard measures 2
C. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byArticle 10 5
D. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byArticle 11.1 6
E. Assistance tobeprovided bytheCommittee 9
F. Other business 9
G. Annual report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods 10
A. Rules ofprocedure
3. TheChairman stated thatdraftRules ofProcedure fortheCommittee hadbeencirculated to
theCommittee indocument G/SG/W/59. These draftRules wereessentially therulesadopted bythe
General Council, incorporating changes made bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods initsownruleswith
relevant changes tomake therulesapplicable totheCommittee. Thesubstance ofthese ruleshadin
almost allrespects beenpreviously adopted ineither theGeneral Council ortheCouncil forTrade
inGoods. Those fewchanges totherulesoftheCouncil forTrade inGoods wereessentially identical
tothose proposed fortheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices. Inlightofdevelopments inthat
Committee, heproposed thattheCommittee authorize himtoundertake informal consultations regarding
Rules ofProcedure andrevert tothismatter atafuture meeting.
4. TheCommittee sodecided.G/SG/M/3
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B. Notification ofactions related tosafeguard measures
5. TheChairman recalled that,under Article 12.1(a), Members arerequired toimmediately notify
theCommittee uponinitiating aninvestigatory process relating toserious injury orthreat thereof and
thereasons forit.Hefurther recalled that,under Article 12.1(b), Members arerequired toimmediately
notify theCommittee upon making afinding ofserious injury ofthreat thereof caused byincreased
imports, andthatunder Article 12.1(c), Members arerequired toimmediately notify theCommittee
upon taking adecision toapply orextend asafeguard measure. TheCommittee ischarged with
reviewing these andallother notifications provided forintheAgreement.
6. TherepresentativeoftheUnitedStatesindicatedthathisauthoritiesneededmoretimetoconsider
thenotifications thatwere tobereviewed, andtoprepare theirquestions. Therefore, herequested
thatthisitembeadded totheagenda fortheCommittee 'sDecember special meeting, toprovide asecond
opportunityforCommitteereviewofthesenotifications.TherepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunity
indicated thathisauthorities hadexpected aprocess ofwritten questions andanswers, andalsothat
informalconsultationswouldhavebeenundertakentoestablishaprocessforreviewofthesenotifications.
Heindicated thathisdelegation wasprepared toposeandanswer anyquestions atthemeeting, but
alsosupported theideaofplacing thisitemontheagenda oftheDecember special meeting forasecond
round ofreview.
7. TheChairman proposed including agenda items 2.B,CandDontheagenda fortheDecember
special meeting, noting thatnothing would prevent anyMember fromreverting tothose notifications
atanytime. Regarding informal consultations onthereview process, herecalled thatsuchconsultations
were tohavebeenheldonlyifthere were averylarge number ofnotifications ofthetypes being
reviewed. Inviewofthesmall number ofnotifications actually submitted, nosuchconsultations had
beennecessary.
8. TheChairman proposed thatthereview attheDecember meeting beconducted onthebasis
ofwritten questions submitted inadvance tothenotifying Member, withadeadline of20November
forthesubmission ofsuchquestions.
9. TheCommittee sodecided.
(i) General issues
10. Therepresentative ofAustralia raised asystemic point withregard tonotifications ofthistype,
noting thatthenotification format (G/SG/N/6) suggests thatMembers provide some details ofthe
evidence ofthebasis onwhich theinvestigation wasinitiated. Henoted thattheUnited States '
notification didnotcontain suchdetails, andqueried whether delegations interpreted thenotification
format tomean thatplacing apetition onfileorproviding atleastcursory information.
11. Therepresentative oftheUnited States indicated thattheinvestigation hadnotbeenpursued,
andthatnonotification format hadbeendesigned forstopping aninvestigation without pursuing it.
Heindicated thatinpreparing thenotification, hisgovernment believed thatiftheyhadtried to
paraphrase theinformation inthepetition, which formed thebasis fortheinitiation, theymight have
inadvertently committed anerror. Thepetition wassolengthy thattheybelieved thattotranslate and
circulate itwould notbeappropriate either. Therefore theyhaddecided instead toplacetheentire petition
onfilewiththeWTO Secretariat, where itcould bereviewed inrawformbyanyinterested delegation.
12. TheChairmanraisedthequestionwhethertheCommitteeshouldagreeonaformatforinitiations
ofinvestigations, toensure thatallnotifications weresubmitted inthesame way, andifso,whether
itwould beappropriate toholdconsultations tothatend.G/SG/M/3
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13. TherepresentativesofCanada,Korea,theEuropeanCommunity,Brazil,HongKong,Australia,
andMexico expressed support fortheideathatsome summary oftheevidence should beprovided.
There wasagreement thattheprecise formandcontent ofthesummary should belefttothenotifying
Member.
14. Hong Kong suggested thattheCommittee develop aformat fornotifications toinform the
Committee thataninvestigation hadbeenterminated. Anumber ofdelegations expressed support for
thissuggestion, andtheChairman proposed thattheSecretariat circulate adraftforsuchaformat to
theCommittee foritsapproval.
15. TheCommittee sodecided.
16. TheChairman noted thatnotifications ofinitiation ofsafeguard investigations hadbeenreceived
from theUnited States andKorea, andinvited questions regarding theUnited States 'notification.
(ii) United States 'notification (Fresh Winter Tomatoes)
17. Therepresentative ofHong Kong asked whether theUnited States 'investigation hadbeen
formally terminated. Therepresentative ofMexico enquired oftheUnited States astothetermination
dateoftheinvestigation, andtheavailability ofanofficial document indicating thattheinvestigation
hadbeenterminated.
18. Therepresentative oftheUnited States indicated thattheinvestigation hadbeenterminated
on4May1995, andthatthenotice oftermination hadbeenpublished intheFederal Register (the
United States 'official journal) on11May1995. Therepresentative ofMexico indicated thathiscountry
hadasubstantial trade interest intheproduct.
19. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(iii) Korea 'snotification (Soybean Oil)
20. Therepresentative ofHong Kong enquired astothestatus ofKorea 'sinvestigation.
21. Therepresentative ofKorea stated thatthepublic hearing wasscheduled totakeplace in
November, andthattheinvestigation would becompleted bytheendof1995.
22. Therepresentatives ofBrazil andIndonesia expressed theirconcern overtheinvestigation.
Therepresentative ofBrazil indicated thataccording tothenotification, imports ofsoybean oilhad
increased from9,820 tonnes in1993 to19,679 tonnes inthefirstmonths of1995, andthatdomestic
production haddeclined. Hestated thatdataprovided byBrazilian exporters indicated that,inspite
oftheincrease inKorea 'simports during theprevious twoyears, these imports hadnotreached their
levelofimports in1991, 56,600 tonnes. Hefurther noted thatWorld Oil,aGerman publication on
vegetable oils,indicated thattheKorean soybean oilindustry 'sproduction hadachieved arecord level
in1994. Therefore, heindicated, hisdelegation would closely follow theevolution oftheinvestigation,
andreserved allofitsrights under theWTO ontheissue.
23. Therepresentative ofIndonesia indicated thathiscountry aswellhadatrade interest inthe
matter, thathisdelegation would follow theinvestigation closely, andthatIndonesia alsoreserved its
righttobring thematter totheWTO.
24. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.G/SG/M/3
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C. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byArticle 10
25. TheChairman recalled thatArticle 13.1(d) oftheAgreement requires theCommittee toexamine
measures covered byArticle 10,thatis,pre-existing safeguard measures imposed under Article XIX
ofGATT 1947, aswellasthephase-out ofsuchmeasures, andtoreport asappropriate totheCouncil
forTrade inGoods. Hefurther recalled theCommittee decision that,attheendofeachyear, Members
would submit areport regarding progress inphasing outsuchmeasures. TheChairman noted that
veryfewnotifications ofpre-existing safeguard measures hadbeenreceived bytheSecretariat, and
indicated thathecould notjudge whether thismeant thatactually there wereveryfewsuchmeasures
inplace, orwhether itreflected anoverall failure tonotify. Herecalled theprovision ofArticle 12.8,
under which anyMember maynotify theCommittee ofanymeasures oractions thatshould havebeen
notified byanother Member butwere not.
26. TheChairman indicated thattheEuropean Community andKorea hadnotified pre-existing
Article XIXmeasures. These notifications hadbeencirculated inaddenda toG/SG/N/2.
(i) General Issues
27. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community noted thelownumber ofnotifications thathad
beenmade withrespect toArticle 10andArticle 11.1measures, andstated thatifthisaccurately reflected
thenumber ofmeasures inforce, thiswasagood thing. Heindicated thatitwould beanindication
ofgoodwill ifMembers withnosuchmeasures inforcesonotified, despite theabsence ofarequirement
todoso.
28. TheChairmanstatedthatCanada,Colombia,CostaRica,India,Indonesia,Malaysia,Mauritius,
Pakistan, Peru, Singapore, Switzerland, United States, Venezuela, andSouth Africa hadmade such
nilnotifications.
29. Therepresentatives ofAustralia, Norway, India, Mexico andHong Kong indicated their
opposition tothesuggestion thatnilnotifications beencouraged inthisarea. Their concerns included
resource issues, bothfortheSecretariat andforMembers, thefactthatencouragement ofnon-obligatory
notifications might gradually create adefacto obligation, andthatitmight notbedesirably legally
toencourage nilnotifications inanareawhere thepresumption should be,ifnoaffirmative notification
ismade, thatnomeasures areinforce. Rather, itwassuggested thattheChairman make astatement
reminding Members maintaining suchmeasures torespect thenotification obligation under Article 12.7.
30. TheChairman affirmed thatthere isnoobligation tomake anilnotification inthiscontext,
andindicated thathedidnotintend toencourage suchnotifications.
(ii) European Community 'snotification
31. Therepresentative ofAustralia enquired whether theGerman import licensing scheme forcoal
applied totheentire territory ofGermany, subsequent toGerman reunification.
32. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community replied, subject toconfirmation, inthe
affirmative.
33. Therepresentative ofHungary asked whether themeasure onpreserved cherries isanon-tariff
measure, andifso,whatitsstatus wasunder theAgreement onAgriculture.G/SG/M/3
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34. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community indicated thatthemeasure hadbeentaken under
horizontal provisions ofGATT Article XIX,andweretherefore excluded fromthetariffication provided
forunder theAgriculture Agreement.
35. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(iii) Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
36. TheChairman recalled thatArticle 13.1(d) oftheAgreement requires theCommittee toreport
totheCouncil forTrade inGoods asappropriate concerning itsmonitoring ofpre-existing Article XIX
measures, andproposed that,rather thansubmitting aseparate report onthismatter, theCommittee
provide thisreport aspartofitsAnnual Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
37. TheCommittee sodecided.
D. Examination andmonitoring ofmeasures covered byArticle 11.1
38. TheChairman recalled thatArticle 13.1(d) alsorequires theCommittee toexamine measures
covered byArticle 11.1, theso-called "grey area" measures, aswellasthephase-out ofsuchmeasures,
andtoreport asappropriate totheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Hefurther recalled theCommittee 's
decision thatattheendofeachyear, Members would submit areport regarding progress inphasing
outthemeasures. TheChairman noted that,aswithArticle XIXmeasures, veryfewnotifications
ofgreyareameasures hadbeenreceived, andindicated thatagain, itwasdifficult tojudge whether
thisreflected theexistence ofveryfewmeasures, orfailure tonotify. TheChairman recalled the
provision inArticle 12.8pertaining tocounternotification ofsuchmeasures.
39. TheChairman indicated thatArticle 11.1measures hadbeennotified byCyprus, theEuropean
Community, Korea, Slovenia, South Africa, andThailand. These notifications hadbeencirculated
inaddenda toG/SG/N/3.
(i) Cyprus 'snotification
40. Therepresentative ofAustralia queried astothelegalrelationship between thediscretionary
import licensing measures maintained byCyprus onaglobal basis, andtheprovisions ofArticle 11.1.
Heindicated thatAustralia thinks ofgreyareameasures asmeasures applied onabilateral orplurilateral
basis. TheSecretariat noted thatfootnote 4toArticle 11.1identifies discretionary import licensing
asanexample ofagreyareameasure. Norepresentative ofCyprus waspresent. TheChairman asked
therepresentative ofAustralia toputthequestion inwriting toCyprus.
41. Therepresentative ofMexico alsoasked forclarification astowhether thenotified measures
really were greyareameasures orsome other typeofmeasures.
42. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(ii) European Community 'snotification
43. Therepresentative ofCanada noted thatintheEC'snotification dated 15July, notimetable
wasprovided forphasing outthemeasures onlivebovine animals, swine andmeatofswine, rabbit
meatandpotatoes. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community responded, subject toconfirmation,
thatthemeasures onbovine, swine andrabbit meathadbeentariffied pursuant totheAgreement on
Agriculture, andthuswereterminated on1July1995. Heindicated thattheCommunity hadadoubt
astowhether ornottherewasanobligation tonotify themeasures. Hefurther indicated thatthelegalG/SG/M/3
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nature ofthemeasure onpotatoes wasatthattimeunder review, andthathecould notprovide ananswer
regarding thedateforitstermination. Hestated that,weretheCommunity todetermine thatthiswas
notameasure pursuant totheAgreement onAgriculture, butrather wasagreyareameasure under
theSafeguards Agreement, theCommunity would thennotify atimetable foritstermination.
44. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(iii) Korea 'snotification
45. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Community indicated thatCommunity authorities hadno
knowledge ofthemeasures onmicrowave ovens andcolour picture tubes notified byKorea asexisting
between Korea andtheCommunity, orofthemeasure onstainless steelflatware notified asexisting
between theKorea andtheUnited Kingdom. Therepresentative ofKorea responded thatthese were
measures between theprivate sectors ofthose countries, andthatthemeasures hadbeennotified for
transparency.
46. TherepresentativeofJapanstatedthathisdelegationhadbeeninformedbytheKoreandelegation
thatthemeasure onchestnuts notified byKorea asexisting between Korea andJapan alsowasarranged
bytheprivate sectors ofthose countries, andthathisgovernment hadnotbeeninvolved inthematter.
47. Therepresentatives ofMexico, Hong Kong, Canada, andMexico enquired astothenature
ofthemeasures covered byrestrictions onoysters inairtight containers, aswellastothecountries
subject totheserestrictions. Therepresentative ofKorea indicated, subject toconfirmation, thatthese
measures werevoluntary, unilateral export restraints undertaken byKorean oyster exporters, andthat
themeasures hadbeennotified forthesakeoftransparency. Heindicated thathewould confirm his
response atalatermeeting. TheChairman asked thatallquestions onthisnotification beputinwriting.
48. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(iv) Slovenia 'snotification
49. Therepresentative ofJapan noted thatSlovenia hadnotcirculated atimetable forphasing out
itsnotified measure, andencouraged theSlovenian delegation todoso.Therepresentative ofHungary
observed thatnorepresentative ofSlovenia waspresent. Hefurther noted thatbased ontheinformation
inthenotification thatthenotified measure appeared tohimtohavebeenimposed inthespirit ofGATT
Article XX,rather thanArticle XIX, andthatifthatwasthecase, themeasure wasnotrelevant to
theCommittee. TheChairman expressed hiswishthattheSlovenian delegation bepresent atthe
December meeting.
50. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(v) South Africa 'snotification
51. Therepresentative ofAustralia noted thatSouth Africa 'snotification covered themaintenance
ofimport licensing requirements, andqueried astothelegal relationship oftheimport licensing
requirements andArticle 11.1. Heindicated thattheissue waswhether delegations considered that
notification under anArticle suchas11.1provided themwithlegalcover inrespect ofobligations under
other aspects oftheWTO Agreements. Therepresentative ofSouth Africa indicated that,based on
thelanguage offootnote 4toArticle 11.1, South Africa believed thatthemeasure wassubject to
notification. Henoted thatmost oftheproducts covered bythenotified measures were oiland
petrochemical products, aswellasplastics andtiresformotor vehicles. Some ofthemeasures had
originated during theperiod ofsanctions against South Africa. Hestated thatSouth Africa could haveG/SG/M/3
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invoked GATT Article XXIwithrespect tothese measures, buthadnotdoneso,andthatthenotified
measures clearly were subject toelimination under theSafeguards Agreement. Henoted thathis
government wasdeveloping atimetable foreliminating themeasures -probably around fouryears -
during which period themeasures definitely would beremoved.
52. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(vi) Thailand 'snotification
53. Therepresentative ofIndia noted thatThailand 'snotification provided atermination datefor
thenotified measure of28June1995, sothatthemeasure probably already hadbeeneliminated. The
representative oftheEuropean Community indicated theirunderstanding thatthemeasure alsofell
under theAgreement onAgriculture, under which ithadbeentariffied on1July1995. Norepresentative
ofThailand waspresent atthemeeting.
54. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
(vii) Nilnotifications
55. TheChairman noted that,although notrequired todoso,anumber ofcountries hadnotified
thattheydidnothaveinplace anymeasures covered byArticle 11.1. These countries wereCanada,
Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Peru, Singapore, Switzerland, the
United States, andVenezuela. These notifications hadbeencirculated inaddenda toG/SG/N/3.
56. Noquestions were raised orcomments made withrespect tothese notifications.
(viii) Notifications oftimetables forthephase-out ofmeasures covered byArticle 11.1
57. TheChairman recalled thatMembers arerequired byArticle 11.2tophase outmeasures covered
byArticle 11.1within fouryears ofthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, subject to
asingle exception foreachMember. Theexception fortheEuropean Community appears intheAnnex
totheAgreement. NoMember hadnotified anyfurther exception, andthus, allother suchmeasures
were subject toelimination within fouryears.
58. TheChairman further recalled thatMembers were required byArticle 11.2tonotify the
Committee ofatimetable forphasing outmeasures covered byArticle 11.1. Cyprus, theEuropean
Community, Korea, andThailand hadmade suchnotifications. These notifications hadbeencirculated
inaddenda toG/SG/N/5, andinthecaseofThailand, indocument G/SG/N/3/THA.
59. Noquestions were raised orcomments made withrespect tothese notifications.
(ix) Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
60. TheChairman recalled thatArticle 13.1(d) requires theCommittee toreport totheCouncil
forTrade inGoods asappropriate concerning itsmonitoring ofmeasures covered byArticle 11.1,
andproposed that,instead ofsubmitting aseparate report onthismatter, theCommittee provide this
report aspartofitsAnnual Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
61. TheCommittee sodecided.G/SG/M/3
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E. Assistance tobeprovided bytheCommittee
62. TheChairman recalled that,atitsmeeting on24February, theCommittee haddiscussed the
provisions ofArticles 13.1(b),(c)and(e),under which theCommittee istoprovide assistance to
Members uponrequest: Inparticular, under Article 13.1(b), theCommittee isto"find, uponrequest
ofanaffected Member, whether ofnottheprocedural requirements ofthisAgreement have been
complied withinconnection withasafeguard measure, andreport itsfindings totheCouncil forTrade
inGoods". Under Article 13.1(c), theCommittee isto"assist Members, iftheysorequest, intheir
consultations under theprovisions ofthisAgreement". Under Article 13.1(e), theCommittee isto
"review, attherequest oftheMember taking asafeguard measure, whether proposals tosuspend
concessions orother obligations are'substantially equivalent ',andreport asappropriate totheCouncil
forTrade inGoods".
63. TheChairman noted thatnorequests foranysuchassistance hadbeen received, andno
suggestionsmadeastohowsuchassistanceshouldbeprovided.Heproposedthat,ratherthanattempting
toestablish aprocedure inadvance ofanyrequests forassistance, theCommittee address thesematters
onanadhocbasis, ifandwhen arequest forassistance inthese matters isreceived.
64. TheCommittee sodecided.
F. Other business
65. TheChairman recalled that,on28July1995, hehadsentaletter totherepresentatives ofall
Members whohadnotasofthatdatenotified theCommittee concerning thestatus oftheirsafeguard
legislation. Inspiteofthis,asofthemeeting date, thefollowing 44Members stillhadnotnotified
inthisregard: Antigua andBarbuda, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei
Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Djibouti,
Dominica, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Republic ofGuinea, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait,
Lesotho,Liechtenstein,Malawi,Malaysia,Mali,Malta,Mauritania,Mozambique,Myanmar,Namibia,
Nigeria, St.Lucia, St.Vincent &Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Suriname, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, andUganda. Heremarked thatthissituation wasdistressing, given that
thefirstanniversary oftheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement wasnear. Hewasparticularly
distressed given thesimplicity ofnotifying where thereisnolegislation, which isprobably thesituation
formany Members whohadnotnotified bythattime. Heurged allMembers toencourage theirfellow-
Members tonotify astothestatus oftheirlegislation assoonaspossible.
66. TherepresentativeofMalaysiastatedthathisdelegationhadnotifiedtheCommitteethatmorning
thatMalaysia hadnolegislative text,andthattheyhadrequested thattheirnotification bereviewed
atthenextspecial meeting oftheCommittee.
67. Therepresentative ofColombia thatinthedocumentation prepared formeetings, iftheSpanish
version ofsome ofthedocuments isnotavailable atthetimeofthemeeting, thattheEnglish version
beincluded inthedocument package instead, sothatthepackage iscomplete. TheChairman requested
thattheRules Division check onthefeasibility ofhaving thepackages prepared inthisway.
68. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.
69. TheChairman recalled thattheCommittee hadagreed atits24February 1995 meeting that
regular meetings normally would beheldinthefirstweek ofNovember, asclose aspossible tothe
meetings oftheAnti-Dumping andSubsidies Committees. Thepossibility ofmore thanoneregular
meeting eachyearhadbeenraised, butnodecision taken. TheChairman reminded theCommittee
thattheschedule forfuture legislative reviews would bediscussed attheDecember special meeting,G/SG/M/3
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andnoted thatatthattime, adecision could betaken astoadding asecond regular meeting tothe
Committee 'sannual schedule. Henoted that,unless theCommittee tookadecision thatmore than
oneregular meeting peryearshould beheld, thenextregular meeting oftheCommittee would beheld
intheweek of4November 1996.
70. TheCommittee sodecided.
G. Annual report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
71. TheCommittee adopted itsAnnual Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.