RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/139
19March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0966)
Original: Spanish Committee onSafeguards
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYCANADA1AND AUSTRALIA2CONCERNING
THE NOTIFICATION PROVIDED BYARGENTINA3OFLAWS AND
REGULATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 4March 1996, hasbeenreceived from thePermanent
Mission ofArgentina.
_______________
Review ofArgentine Legislation onSafeguards
Introduction
Place oftheMarrakesh Agreements intheArgentine Legal System
TheFinalActEmbodying theResults oftheUruguay Round ofMultilateral Trade Negotiations
became partofArgentine internal lawunder LawNo.24,425, andthisraises thequestion ofthestatus
ofsuchagreements intheArgentine legalsystem. ThisLawhasbeennotified totheCommittee.4
Following thereform oftheConstitution in1994, Article 75(22) stipulates that: "Treaties
...arehigher thanthelawsinstatus".
Thisrulemeant theadoption bytheConstituent Convention ofthemodern ideaofgiving
international lawprimacy overinternal law.
Furthermore, thenewruleinArticle 75(22) isalsoinkeeping withthecaselawoftheSupreme
Court ofJustice, which, intheEkmekdjian v.Sofovich casein1992 ruled thatallinternational law
(andnotonlytreaties) stands above internal law.
While theConstitution refers onlytointernational treaties, thewording leaves nodoubt that
theyareplaced higher thanthelawsenacted byCongress, butbelow theConstitution, towhich they
arestillsubordinate (seeBidart Campos, Derecho Constitucional Argentino, vol.VI,pp.551etseq;
Sagües, LaLeyT.1994-E, p.1037; Colautti, LaLeyT.1994-D, p.1145; Ramírez Calvo, LaLey
T.1995-B, p.773; Bianchi, ElDerecho, vol.159,p.1003) .
1G/SG/W/54.
2G/SG/W/41.
3G/SG/N/1/ARG/1.
4G/SG/N/1/ARG/2 .G/SG/W/139
Page2
Questions Posed byCanada andReplies
Thenotification states thattheMarrakesh Agreement anditsannexed agreements havebeen
fully incorporated intoArgentine legislation andthere arenot,asofyet,other laws, decrees or
regulations relating tosafeguard measures.
1. Question
Please advise, ifthere areanyplans toenact anynewlaws, decrees orregulations and
ifso,when.
Reply
Regulations onsome aspects oftheSafeguards Agreement areunder study atthepresent time.
Thisiswithout prejudice tothefactthat,forthepurposes ofapplying safeguard measures, the
enforcement authority mustcomply withtheterms ofLawNo.24,425, which includes theAgreement
inquestion, andwiththeprocedure setoutinLawNo.19,549 andregulatory Decree 1759/72 and
Decree 766/94, wherever theydonotconflict thespecific provisions ofLawNo.24,425.
2. Question
Please identify thenational competent authority inArgentina charged withconducting
safeguards investigations.
Reply
Thecompetent authority forinvestigations toapply safeguard measures istheMinistry ofthe
Economy andPublic Works andServices. TheSafeguards Agreement, approved byLawNo.24,425,
isapplicable toallmeasures adopted asfrom14January 1995. Theprocedure forapplying safeguard
measures, untilsuchtimeasspecific rulesareissued, istheprocedure regulated byLawNo.19,549
andregulatory Decree 1759/72.
Without prejudice tothis,itisthefunction oftheNational Commission forForeign Trade "to
analyse theinjury thatasignificant increase inimports might cause todomestic production andassess
whether itisappropriate tointroduce safeguard measures, inaccordance withArticle XIXoftheGeneral
Agreement onTariffs andTrade, intheframework ofthelawsandregulations governing itsapplication
intheArgentine Republic" (Decree 766/94, Article 3(b)).G/SG/W/139
Page3
Questions Posed byAustralia andReplies
1. Question
Does Argentina consider thatitwillneed topromulgate additional legislation, orsome
form ofguidelines toofficials, asthebasis ofanyfuture safeguards investigation?
Reply
Regulations onsome aspects oftheSafeguards Agreement areunder study atthepresent time.
Thisiswithout prejudice tothefactthat, forthepurposes ofapplying safeguard measures, the
enforcement authority mustcomply withtheterms ofLawNo.24,425, which includes theAgreement
inquestion, andwiththeprocedure setoutinLawNo.19,549 andregulatory Decree 1759/72 and
Decree 766/94, wherever theydonotconflict thespecific provisions ofLawNo.24,425.
2. Question
Howwillitbedetermined which ofArgentina 'sauthorities arecompetent toinitiate and
conduct investigations under theSafeguards Agreement?
Reply
Thecompetent authority forinvestigations toapply safeguard measures istheMinistry ofthe
Economy andPublic Works andServices. TheSafeguards Agreement, approved byLawNo.24,425,
isapplicable toallmeasures adopted asfrom14January 1995. Theprocedure forapplying safeguard
measures, untilsuchtimeasspecific rulesareissued, istheprocedure regulated byLawNo.19,549
andregulatory Decree 1759/72.
Without prejudice tothis,itisthefunction oftheNational Commission forForeign Trade "to
analyse theinjury thatasignificant increase inimports might cause todomestic production andassess
whether itisappropriate tointroduce safeguard measures, inaccordance withArticle XIXoftheGeneral
Agreement onTariffs andTrade, intheframework ofthelawsandregulations governing itsapplication
intheArgentine Republic" (Decree 766/94, Article 3(b)).
3. Question
What isthehierarchy between theSafeguards Agreement andother Argentine legislation,
regulations andother administrative rules?
Reply
Please seetheexplanations given intheIntroduction.G/SG/W/139
Page4
4. Question
Willsubsequent laws(including legislation, regulations andother administrative rules)
takeprecedence overtheSafeguards Agreement?
Reply
No,again, please seetheexplanation intheIntroduction.