RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/5
12July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1935)
Original: French Committee onSafeguards
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NOTIFICATIONS PROVIDED
BYCANADA OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 3July1995, hasbeen received from thePermanent
Delegation oftheEuropean Community.
________________
Please findenclosed thewritten questions submitted bytheEuropean Community inviewof
thelegislation review tobecarried outinthenextmeeting oftheSafeguards Committee.G/SG/W/5
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CANADIAN LEGISLATION ONSAFEGUARD MEASURES
Questions from theEuropean Community
Thelegislation notified byCanada totheCommittee onSafeguards consists ofanumber of
texts, including those oftheinitial legislation (theCanadian International Trade Tribunal Act,the
Customs Tariff Act,theExport andImport Permits Act,theFreeTrade Agreement withtheUnited
States ofAmerica andtheNorth American FreeTrade Agreement Implementation Act)andthetexts
ofthesuccessive amendments uptothose introduced fortheimplementation oftheAgreement
Establishing theWorld Trade Organization.
Reading andinterpreting these textsasawhole isdifficult anddoesnotallow anassessment
ofwhether theprovisions onsafeguard measures areconsistent withthose oftheAgreement on
Safeguards.
IntheEuropean Communities 'view, thefactthatexisting provisions onsafeguards werenot
notified intheform ofconsolidated textislikely toundermine theattainment ofoneofthemain
objectives oftheAgreement onSafeguards, namely, strengthening thedisciplines ofGATT 1994, and
specifically those ofArticle XIX.
Withthisgeneral reservation, theEuropean Community putsthefollowing questions toCanada
andreserves therighttoaskother questions afterfurther reflection and/or afterreceiving aconsolidated
text:
A. DOMESTIC INDUSTRY
Theamendments totheCanadian International Trade Tribunal Actintroduce intotheActthe
definitions of"serious injury" and"threat ofserious injury" inrelation tothedetermination ofprejudice,
ascontained inparagraph 1(a)(b) ofArticle 4oftheAgreement onSafeguards, butnotthedefinition
of"domestic industry" setoutinparagraph 1(c)ofthesame Article.
Would Canada indicate thereasons forthisomission?
Inaddition, what construction should beputontheamendment toparagraph 40(b) ofthe
Canadian International Trade Tribunal Actwhich confers ontheGovernor theauthority todefine
"domestic industry"?
B. SAFEGUARD MEASURES
WouldCanadapleaseindicate,anddescribe,thetypeofsafeguardmeasurewhichmaybeadopted
under itslegislation?
C. MAXIMUM DURATION OFMEASURES
Would Canada please indicate theprovisions initslegislation concerning themaximum duration
ofsafeguard measures?
D. PHASING OUT OFSAFEGUARD MEASURES
TheAgreement onSafeguards requires safeguard measures ofmore thanoneyear'sduration
tobephased out.
Would Canada indicate theprovisions ofitslegislation dealing withthissubject?G/SG/W/5
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E. PROVISIONAL MEASURES
Would Canada indicate andgivedetails ofwhich provisions ofitslegislation dealwiththe
adoption ofprovisional measures?
Moreparticularly,wouldCanadapleaseindicatethecircumstancesinwhichprovisionalmeasures
maybeadopted aswellasthetypeandmaximum duration ofsuchmeasures, andwhether these
circumstances areconsistent withthose inArticle 6oftheAgreement onSafeguards.
F. EXTENSION OFMEASURES
TheCanadian legislation provides forappropriate procedures forapplication fortheextension
ofsafeguard measures.
Would Canada please indicate theprovisions concerning themaximum extension period?
G. PAUSE BETWEEN TWO SAFEGUARD MEASURES
Article 7,paragraph 5,oftheAgreement onSafeguards states that,ingeneral, nonewsafeguard
measure maybeapplied totheimport ofaproduct which hasbeensubject tosuchameasure fora
period oftimeequal tothatduring which suchmeasure hadbeenpreviously applied, andthattheperiod
ofnon-application maynotbelessthantwoyears.
Would Canada please indicate whether thelegislation toimplement theAgreement reflects
thisprovision?
H. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE CONCERNING SAFEGUARD MEASURES
Canada hasnotified provisions concerning theadministrative procedure forsafeguard measures.
Would Canada please indicate theimpact ofthisprocedure ontheapplication ofsafeguard
measures?
Would Canada please statewhether suchaprocedure hasbeenpublished intheOfficial Journal?