RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/142
19March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0965)
Original: Spanish Committee onSafeguards
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES1CONCERNING
THE NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS OFCOLOMBIA2
UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 8March 1996, hasbeenreceived from thePermanent
Mission ofColombia.
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1. Under theColombian legal system, doesacceptance byColombia oftheURagreements
make those agreements partofColombian law? Ifso,what istherelationship between theWTO
Safeguards Agreement andColombia 'sstatute notified totheWTO?
TheUruguay Round Agreements wereincorporated inColombian legislation under Law170
of15December 1994.
Colombian legislation hassafeguard provisions, contained inDecree 809of21April 1994.
Inthose provisions, where there isadiscrepancy between theDecree andLaw170,theterms ofthe
latter prevail.
2. Article11requiresINCOMEXtoforwarditsfindings,togetherwithanyrecommendations,
totheCustoms, Tariffs andForeign Trade Committee. Isthisreport provided tointerested parties
andmade available tothepublic?
Alltheinformation andthedocumentation pertaining toaninvestigation, including thetechnical
report prepared byINCOMEX, intended fortheCustoms, Tariffs andForeign Trade Committee, are
placed inafile. Thefilehasaconfidential partandapublic part. Thelatter maybeconsulted at
anytimebyanyperson aftertheinvestigation isinitiated.
3. Asacondition forimposition ofprovisional safeguard measures, doesArticle 14require
clear evidence thatincreased imports arecausing orthreatening serious injury?
Notonlyisevidence required ofserious injury orthreat ofserious injury todomestic industry
butevidence mustalsobefurnished oftheexistence ofcritical circumstances forthedomestic industry
where delay inadopting corrective measures would involve injury thatisdifficult toremedy.
4. Article 17specifies adefinition of"threat ofserious injury" asitapplies tocertain
agricultural products. How would thisbeapplied, ifatall,tosafeguard investigations related
1G/SG/W/20.
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tonon-agricultural products? Oristhere no"threat ofserious injury" standard withrespect
tonon-agricultural products?
There isno"threat ofserious injury" standard withrespect tonon-agricultural products in
Decree 809of1994. However, under Law170of1994, threat ofserious injury canapply toalldomestic
industries.
5. AlsoinArticle 17,howdoesthedefinition ofthreat (specifically thereference to"afall
ininternational prices") compare withthedefinitions ofthreat andserious injury contained in
theSafeguards Agreement?
Although Decree 809of1994 includes provisions onagricultural safeguards onaccount of
threats ofserious injury, theydonotapply inasmuch astheywerereplaced bytherespective provisions
oftheSafeguards Agreement, which wasincorporated inColombian lawunder Law170of1994.
6. Article 21provides fornotification totheGATT ofaffirmative recommendations toapply
safeguards. Does thestatute contain asimilar notification requirement withregard toinitiation
ofaninvestigation orextension ofasafeguard measure?
ThisArticle wasabrogated byLaw170of1994 andreplaced byArticle 12oftheWTO
Safeguards Agreement. Consequently, notifications willbemade inaccordance withtheterms ofthe
Agreement.
7. Please explain themeaning ofthelastparagraph ofArticle 21.
Inthiscase, thesame answer asfortheprevious question applies.
8. Article 22provides fortheuseofaquantitative restriction asasafeguard measure. Does
Colombia haveamechanism forallocating thequantitative restriction orquota among supplying
countries?
No.However, where deemed necessary toapply one,Colombia willfollow bytheprovisions
oftheWTO Safeguards Agreement onquotas among supplying countries.
9. Article 23setsalimitof90daysfortheduration ofaprovisional agricultural safeguard.
What isthelimit foranon-agricultural product?
Thefourth paragraph ofthesame Article establishes theduration ofprovisional safeguard
measures forallproducts, aperiod thatcannot exceed 90days.
10. DoesColombiahaveaprovisiontoissueapromptrefundofdutiesifaprovisionalsafeguard
measure isnotupheld inasubsequent investigation?
TheNational Customs andTaxes Directorate isthebody forcollecting customs duties and
other charges andthose applied intheevent ofasafeguard measure. When theapplication ofa
provisional measure issuspended, theCustoms Administrator must, inareasoned decision, proceed
toorder arefund ofalloftheamount paidasaprovisional safeguard measure orimmediate cancellation
oftheguarantee (Article 6oftheSafeguards Agreement, ofLaw170of1994).
11. Article 23limits theduration oftheapplication ofasafeguard measure tooneyear, with
thepossibility forextension fora"further year". Assuch, istheduration ofthesafeguard limited
totwoyears, orcanthere bemultiple extensions?G/SG/W/142
Page3
Yes. Theduration ofthesafeguard islimited totwoyears, inaccordance withtheprovisions
ofArticle 23.TheArticle inquestion establishes that"...theperiod ...maybeextended forafurther
year...". Thenumber ofextensions isnotdefined inDecree 809of1994, butoverall application
willcomply withtheprovisions oftheWTO Safeguards Agreement.
12. Article 24allows forthereapplication ofasafeguard measure onthesame product after
aone-yearnon-applicationperiod.However,theWTOSafeguardsAgreement(Article7.5)specifies
thatthenon-application period must beatleasttwoyears. Canyouexplain thevariance?
BecausetheWTOSafeguardsAgreementhasbeenincorporatedinourlegislation,theprovisions
oftheAgreement willbefollowed inmatters pertaining totheminimum periods ofnon-application
ofameasure onthesame product.