RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/89
30November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3858)
Original: English Committee onSafeguards
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE NOTIFICATION PROVIDED
BYJAPAN1OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS
UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFAGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 24November 1995, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Delegation oftheEuropean Commission.
_______________
1. Ingeneral
1.1 Mayanimport restriction beimposed onthebasisofArticle 52oftheForeign Exchange and
Foreign Trade Control Lawwithout complying withthecriteria oftheWTO Safeguard
Agreement?
1.2 What isthelegal status oftheWTO Safeguard Agreement under Japanese law? Mayits
provisions beinvoked byprivate parties innational courts toprevent theapplication ofdomestic
rules which arecontrary totheAgreement?
1.3 TheJapanese legislation makes adistinction between twotypes ofsafeguard measures, i.e.
import quotas andtariffincreases, which aregoverned byadifferent setofrules(Regulations
togovern emergency measures tobetaken inresponse toanincrease intheimportation of
goods; Customs Tariff Law, Article 9).Canasafeguard procedure bebased onbothtypes
ofrules, ormustachoice bemade already atthetimeofopening oftheinvestigation? How
isachoice made between bothtypes ofmeasures?
2. Substantive conditions forsafeguard action
2.1 Under Article 2(1)oftheSafeguard Agreement, asafeguard measure maybeapplied onlywhen
"aproduct isbeing imported insuchincreased quantities [...],andunder suchconditions as
tocause orthreaten tocause serious injury [...]" (emphasis added). Where isthisimportant
requirement mentioned intheJapanese legislation? Does Japan consider thatthereference
tothedecrease inthemarket price oftheproduct under investigation inanyforeign market
(Article 2oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures tobetaken inresponse toan
increase intheimportation ofgoods, Article 9oftheCustoms Tariff Law) complies with
Article 2(1)oftheSafeguard Agreement?
2.2 Article 4(2)(a) oftheSafeguard Agreement listsrelevant factors having abearing onthesituation
ofthedomestic industry (market share, production, ...).Where arethose factors mentioned
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intheJapanese legislation? Onthebasis ofwhich precise factors mayasafeguard measure
beadopted under Japanese law?
2.3 Article 4(1)(b) oftheSafeguard Agreement defines theconcept of"threat ofinjury". How
isthisdefinition implemented intheJapanese legislation?
2.4 TheJapanese legislation doesnotappear tocontain aspecific provision onthecausal link.
Inparticular, theimpact offactors otherthanincreased imports (Article 4(2)(b) oftheSafeguard
Agreement) isnotmentioned.
2.5 What isthemeaning oftheexpression "necessary forthenational economy" mentioned in
Article 2oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures andArticle 9-1oftheCustoms
Tariff Law?
3. Procedure
3.1 Article 2infineoftheRegulations togovern emergency measures refers toArticle 3(1)of
theImport Trade Control Order. Under thelatterprovision, theMinister ofInternational Trade
andIndustry mayfindappropriate nottopublish certain import restrictions. How canthis
provision bereconciled withthetransparency requirement oftheSafeguard Agreement?
3.2 Whocanfileacomplaint forasafeguard action?
3.3 Dotherepresentatives ofanexporting country haveaccess totheevidence collected during
theinvestigation? Dotheyhavethestatus of"interested party" forthepurpose oftheprocedure?
3.4 Under Article 12(6) oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures andArticle 4(6)ofthe
CabinetOrderrelatingtoemergencyduties,theinvestigatingauthoritymaydisregardconfidential
information when nonon-confidential summary hasbeensubmitted norastatement setting
forth whyasummary isnotpossible. Under Article 3(2)oftheSafeguard Agreement, such
confidentialinformationmusthoweverbeacceptedwhenitcanbedemonstratedfromappropriate
sources thattheinformation iscorrect.
3.5 Under Article 13(2) oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures andArticle 5(2)ofthe
Cabinet Order relating toemergency duties, therightofaccess tothefileismade conditional
upon awritten statement setting forththetitleoftheparticular itemoritems oftheavailable
evidence which theinterested party wishes toinspect. Howcananinterested party know which
items areincluded intheavailable evidence? How isafulldisclosure ofthefileorganized
inpractice bytheinvestigating authority?
4. Measures
4.1 Under Article 7(1)oftheSafeguard Agreement, asafeguard measure maybeapplied onlyfor
suchperiod oftimeasmaybenecessary toprevent orremedy serious injury andtofacilitate
adjustment. Howisthisrequirement oftheSafeguard Agreement implemented intheJapanese
legislation?
4.2 Under Article 5(1)oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures, thelevelofanimport
quota maybedifferent from theaverage ofthelastthree years ifsuchisrequired forthe
purposes of"sustaining thenational economy". Under Article 5(1)oftheSafeguard Agreement,
suchadeviation isonlyauthorized when necessary "toprevent orremedy serious injury".
How canthisdifference beexplained?G/SG/W/89
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4.3 InArticle 5(5)oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures, noreference ismade to
consultations under theauspices oftheWTO Committee onSafeguards.
4.4 Under Article 9-1(1) oftheCustoms Tariff Law, asafeguard measure onaproduct cantake
theformofanadditional duty"inanamount equal toorlessthantheamount corresponding
tothedifference between thecustoms value ofthesaidproduct andthewholesale priceinJapan
oflikeorsimilar product". How cansuchanamount bedeemed tobealways appropriate
inthelightoftheSafeguard Agreement?
4.5 InArticle 6oftheRegulations togovern emergency measures andArticle 9-1oftheCustoms
Tariff Law, areference ismade todeveloping countries whose shares ofimports oftheproduct
under investigation are"small". Whyhasthe3-9percentlimitofArticle 9(1)oftheSafeguard
Agreement notbeenimplemented intheJapanese legislation? Whyisthere norequirement
forthedeveloping country tobeamember oftheWTO intheRegulations togovern emergency
measures?
4.6 Under Article 9-1(8) oftheCustoms Tariff Law, provisional safeguard measures maybetaken
when "itisdeemed urgently necessary intheinterest ofthenational economy". Howcanthis
provision bereconciled withArticle 6(1)oftheSafeguard Agreement, which requires "critical
circumstances where delay would cause damage which itwould bedifficult torepair"?