RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/W/135
23October 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3217)
Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
RULES OFPROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS OF
THE COMMITTEE ONANTI-DUMPING PRACTICES
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Atitsmeeting on12June1995, theCommittee authorized theChairman tocontinue toconsult
informally asnecessary regarding Rules ofProcedure fortheCommittee, withaviewtoward preparing
draftRules andpresenting them totheCommittee atanappropriate time. TheCouncil forTrade in
Goods hasadopted Rules ofProcedure, based ontheRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral Council. The
Rules adopted bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods wereapproved bytheGeneral Council on31July1995
(WT/L/79).
2. Thefollowing draftrules, based ontheRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral Council asmodified
bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods, areproposed foradoption bytheCommittee onAnti-Dumping
Practices. They shallsubsequently beforwarded totheCouncil forTrade inGoods forapproval, in
accordance withparagraph 6ofArticle IVoftheWTO Agreement.
3. Inthefollowing drafttext,textwhich isinstrike outtypeislanguage intheRules oftheGeneral
Council which isstricken from theproposed Rules fortheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices.
Textwhich isinredline typeisnewormodified language proposed foradoption bytheCommittee
onAnti-Dumping Practices. Members should notethatmany ofthemodifications identified inthe
proposed rules reflect changes made bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods initsRules, andapproved
bytheGeneral Council.
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Chapter I—Meetings
Rule1
TheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shallmeet asappropriate not
lessthantwice ayearinregular session, andotherwise asappropriate.
Rule2
Meetings oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shallbeconvened
bytheDirector-General byanotice issued notlessthantencalendar daysprior tothedatesetforthe
meeting. Intheevent thatthetenth dayfallsonaweekend oraholiday, thenotice shallbeissued
nolaterthanthepreceding WTO working day. Meetings maybeconvened withshorter notice for
matters ofsignificant importance orurgency attherequest ofaMember concurred inbythemajority
oftheMembers.1
1Itisunderstood thatitisdesirable thatanotice convening ameeting, thelistofitems proposed
fortheagenda ofthatmeeting andthedocumentation forconsideration atthatmeeting beissued at
leastthree weeks inadvance ofthemeeting.G/ADP/W/135
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Chapter II—Agenda
Rule3
Alistoftheitems proposed fortheagenda ofthemeeting shallbecommunicated toMembers
together withtheconvening notice forthemeeting. ItshallbeopentoanyMember tosuggest items
forinclusion intheproposed agenda upto,andnotincluding, thedayonwhich thenotice ofthemeeting
istobeissued.1
Rule4
Requests foritems tobeplaced ontheagenda ofaforthcoming meeting shallbecommunicated
totheSecretariat inwriting, together withtheaccompanying documentation tobeissued inconnection
withthatitem. Documentation forconsideration atameeting shallbecirculated notlaterthanthe
dayonwhich thenotice ofthemeeting istobeissued tencalendar daysprior tothedatesetforthe
meeting.1
Rule5
Aproposed agenda shallbecirculated bytheSecretariat oneortwodaysbefore themeeting.
Rule6
Thefirstitemofbusiness ateachmeeting shallbetheconsideration andapproval oftheagenda.
Representatives maysuggest amendments totheproposed agenda, oradditions totheagenda under
"Other Business". Representatives shallprovide theChairperson ortheSecretariat, andtheother
Members directly concerned, whenever possible, advance notice ofitems intended toberaised under
"Other Business".
Rule7
TheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices mayamend theagenda orgive
priority tocertain items atanytimeinthecourse ofthemeeting.
Chapter III—Representation
Rule8
Each Member shallberepresented byanaccredited representative.
Rule9
Eachrepresentative maybeaccompanied bysuchalternates andadvisers astherepresentative
mayrequire.G/ADP/W/135
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Chapter IV—Observers
Rule10
Representatives ofStates orseparate customs territories mayattend themeetings asobservers
ontheinvitation oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices inaccordance with
paragraphs 9to11oftheguidelines inAnnex 2tothese Rules.the Rules ofProcedure oftheGeneral
Council.
Rule11
Representatives ofinternational intergovernmental organizations mayattend themeetings as
observers ontheinvitation oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices inaccordance
withtheguidelines inAnnex []tothese Rules theRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral Council.
Chapter V—Officers
Rule12
TheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shallelectaChairperson*and
mayelectaVice-Chairperson from among therepresentatives ofMembers. Theelection shalltake
place atthefirstregular meeting oftheyearandshalltakeimmediate effect attheendofthemeeting.
TheChairperson andVice-Chairperson shallholdoffice untiltheendofthefirstregular meeting of
thefollowing year.
Rule13
IftheChairpersonisabsentfromanymeetingorpartthereof,theVice-Chairpersonshallperform
thefunctions oftheChairperson. IfnoVice-Chairperson waselected oriftheVice-Chairperson is
notpresent,theGeneralCouncilCommitteeonAnti-DumpingPracticesshallelectaninterimChairperson
forthatmeeting orthatpartofthemeeting.
Rule14
IftheChairperson cannolonger perform thefunctions oftheoffice, theGeneral Council
Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shalldesignate theVice-Chairperson referred toinRule12
or,ifnoVice-Chairperson waselected, shallelectaninterim Chairperson, toperform those functions
pending theelection ofanewChairperson.
Rule15
TheChairperson shall normally participate intheproceedings assuch andnotasthe
representative ofaMember. TheChairperson may, however, atanytimerequest permission toact
ineither capacity.
*TheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices shallapply therelevant guidelines contained inthe
"Guidelines forAppointment ofOfficers toWTO Bodies" (WT/L/31 dated 7February 1995).G/ADP/W/135
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Chapter VI—Conduct ofbusiness
Rule16
Asimple majority oftheMembers shallconstitute aquorum.
Rule17
Inaddition toexercising thepowers conferred elsewhere bythese rules, theChairperson shall
declare theopening andclosing ofeachmeeting, shalldirect thediscussion, accord therighttospeak,
submit questions fordecision, announce decisions, ruleonpoints oforder and,subject tothese rules,
havecomplete control oftheproceedings. TheChairperson mayalsocallaspeaker toorder ifthe
remarks ofthespeaker arenotrelevant.
Rule18
During thediscussion ofanymatter, arepresentative mayraiseapoint oforder. Inthiscase
theChairperson shallimmediately statetheruling. Iftheruling ischallenged, theChairperson shall
immediately submit itfordecision anditshallstand unless overruled.
Rule19
During thediscussion ofanymatter, arepresentative maymove theadjournment ofthedebate.
Anysuchmotion shallhavepriority. Inaddition totheproponent ofthemotion, onerepresentative
maybeallowed tospeak infavour of,andtworepresentatives against, themotion, afterwhich the
motion shallbesubmitted fordecision immediately.
Rule20
Arepresentative mayatanytimemove theclosure ofthedebate. Inaddition totheproponent
ofthemotion, notmore thanonerepresentative maybegranted permission tospeak infavour ofthe
motion andnotmore thantworepresentatives maybegranted permission tospeak against themotion,
afterwhich themotion shallbesubmitted fordecision immediately.
Rule21
During thecourse ofthedebate, theChairperson mayannounce thelistofspeakers and,with
theconsent ofthemeeting, declare thelistclosed. TheChairperson may, however, accord theright
ofreply toanyrepresentative ifaspeech delivered afterthelisthasbeendeclared closed makes this
desirable.
Rule22
TheChairperson, withtheconsent ofthemeeting, maylimitthetimeallowed toeachspeaker.
Rule23
Representatives shall endeavour, totheextent thatasituation permits, tokeep their oral
statements brief. Representatives wishing todevelop theirposition onaparticular matter infuller detail
maycirculate awritten statement fordistribution toMembers, thesummary ofwhich, atthe
representative 'srequest, maybereflected intherecords oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-
Dumping Practices.G/ADP/W/135
Page5
Rule24
Inorder toexpedite theconduct ofbusiness, theChairperson mayinvite representatives that
wishtoexpress theirsupport foragiven proposal toshow theirhands, inorder tobedulyrecorded
intherecords oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices assupporting statements;
thus,onlyrepresentatives withdissenting views orwishing tomake explicit points orproposals would
actually beinvited tomake astatement. Thisprocedure shallonlybeapplied inorder toavoid undue
repetition ofpoints already made, andwillnotpreclude anyrepresentative whosowishes fromtaking
thefloor.
Rule25
Representatives should avoid unduly longdebates under "Other Business". Discussions on
substantive issues under "Other Business" shallbeavoided, andtheGeneral Council Committee on
Anti-DumpingPracticesshalllimititselftotakingnoteoftheannouncementbythesponsoringdelegation,
aswellasanyreactions tosuchanannouncement byother delegations directly concerned.
Rule26
While theGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices isnotexpected totakeaction
inrespect ofanitemintroduced as"Other Business", nothing shall prevent theGeneral Council
Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices, ifitsodecides, totakeaction inrespect ofanysuchitemat
aparticular meeting, orinrespect ofanyitemforwhich documentation wasnotcirculated atleast
tencalendar daysinadvance.
Rule27
Representatives should make every effort toavoid therepetition ofafulldebate ateachmeeting
onanyissue thathasalready beenfullydebated inthepastandonwhich there appears tohavebeen
nochange inMembers 'positions already onrecord.
Rule28
Proposals andamendments toproposals shallnormally beintroduced inwriting andcirculated
toallrepresentatives notlaterthantwelve hours before thecommencement ofthemeeting atwhich
theyaretobediscussed.
Rule29
Iftwoormore proposals aremoved relating tothesamequestion, themeeting shallfirstdecide
onthemost far-reaching proposal andthenonthenextmost far-reaching proposal andsoon.
Rule30
When anamendment ismoved toaproposal, theamendment shallbesubmitted fordecision
firstand,ifitisadopted, theamended proposal shallthenbesubmitted fordecision.G/ADP/W/135
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Rule31
When twoormore amendments aremoved toaproposal, themeeting shalldecide firston
theamendment farthest removed insubstance from theoriginal proposal, then, ifnecessary, onthe
amendment nextfarthest removed, andsoonuntilalltheamendments havebeensubmitted fordecision.
Rule32
Parts ofaproposal maybedecided onseparately ifarepresentative requests thattheproposal
bedivided.
Chapter VII—Decision-Making
Rule33
TheGeneral Council shalltakedecisions inaccordance withthedecision-making provisions
oftheWTO Agreement, inparticular Article IXthereof entitled "Decision-Making".
Where adecision cannotbearrived atbyconsensus, thematter atissue shallbereferred to
theCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Rule34
When, inaccordance withtheWTO Agreement, decisions arerequired tobetaken byvote,
suchvotes shallbetaken byballot. Ballot papers shallbedistributed torepresentatives ofMembers
present atthemeeting andaballot boxplaced intheconference room. However, therepresentative
ofanyMember mayrequest, ortheChairperson maysuggest, thatavotebetaken bytheraising of
cards orbyrollcall.Inaddition, where inaccordance withtheWTO Agreement avotebyaqualified
majority ofallMembers isrequired tobetaken, theGeneral Council maydecide, upon request from
aMember orthesuggestion oftheChairperson, thatthevotebetaken byairmail ballots orballots
transmitted bytelegraph ortelefacsimile inaccordance withtheprocedures described inAnnex 1to
these Rules.
Chapter VIII—Languages
Rule35
English, French andSpanish shallbetheworking languages.G/ADP/W/135
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Chapter IX—Records
Rule36
Records ofthediscussions oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shall
beintheform ofminutes.***
Chapter X—Publicity ofmeetings
Rule37
Themeetings oftheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices shallordinarily
beheldinprivate. Itmaybedecided thataparticular meeting ormeetings should beheldinpublic.
Rule38
After aprivate meeting hasbeenheld, theChairperson mayissueacommuniqué tothePress.
Chapter XI—Revision
Rule39
TheGeneral Council Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices maydecide atanytimetorevise
these rules oranypartofthem.
***Thecustomary practice under theGATT 1947, whereby representatives may,upontheirrequest,
verify those portions ofthedraft records containing theirstatements, prior totheissuance ofsuch
records, shallbecontinued.