Page 578 - MANUAL OF SOP

Notification to WTO Committee

23.20 Article 12 of Agreement on Safeguards which deals with Notification and
Consultation imposes an obligation upon a Member to notify the Committee on
Safeguards before applying or extending a safeguard measure, to show that all
pertinent information with regard to the requirement of serious injury or threat
thereof has been met. The member shall also notify the Committee about their
laws, regulations, administrative procedures and any measures or actions dealt
by them in this Agreement before imposing a measure. Any step being taken in
context of provisional duty shall also be notified to the Committee. The member
who is about to initiate or extend a Safeguard measure is also further obliged to
provide an opportunity for consultation to the other members who have substantial
interest in trade and details with regard to the proposed measure. So that affected
Members may exercise their opportunity to consult with the member imposing such
measure before such measure is actually implemented.

23.21 Section 8(b) of Customs Tariff Act 1975 grants power to the Central
Government to apply Safeguard duty on being satisfied that the identified article is
being imported in such increased quantities that it causes serious injury and threat
thereof. The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make
rules for the purposes of this section and such rules may provide for the manner in
which articles liable for safeguard duty may be identified and also for the manner in
which the causes of serious injury or causes of threat of in relation to such articles
may be determined for assessment and collection of such safeguard duty. While
imposing such duty the central government must follow the criteria of 3 percent
and 9 percent in context of the developing country and shall in no case extend or
exceed the provisional duty being applied to more than 200 days.

NOTIFICATION UNDER AGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING
MEASURE:

23.22 As per Article 25.11 and other WTO Decisions, it was decided that a semi
annual report shall be released. A Secretariat note of 31 March 2017 provides a
table with a summary of semi-annual reports of countervailing duty actions between
1 January 1995 and 31 December 2016. In 2009, the SCM Committee adopted a
format for so-called "one-time" notifications, to be used when a Member has not
established an authority competent to initiate and conduct an investigation within
the meaning of Article 25.12 and thus has not, to date, taken any countervailing
actions within the meaning of Article 25.11 of the Agreement and does not
anticipate taking any countervailing actions for the foreseeable future.

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