The purpose of the consultations will be to clarify the facts of the situation and arrive at a mutually agreed solution. In the event that a party to the dispute requests arbitration in terms of paragraph 6 of Article 22 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding ("DSU"), the arbitrator will determine whether the countermeasures are appropriate.10. 8 If a meeting of the DSB is not scheduled during this period, such a meeting is held for this purpose.
The purpose of the consultations is to clarify the facts of the situation and reach an amicable solution. The composition of the council and its tasks are determined within 15 days from the date of establishment. 21 If a DSB meeting is not scheduled during this period, such a meeting is held for this purpose.
22 If a meeting of DSB is not scheduled during this period, such a meeting will be held for this purpose.
COUNTERVAILING MEASURES
However, no investigation shall be initiated when local producers who expressly support the application constitute less than 25 percent of the total production of the like product produced by the domestic industry. 39 Members are aware that in the area of certain Members employees of domestic producers of the similar product or representatives of those employees may make or support an application for an investigation under paragraph 1. For the purpose of this paragraph, the amount of the subsidy shall be considered de minimis if the subsidy is less than 1 percent ad valorem.
Any decision of the investigating authorities can only be based on the information and arguments that were on the written record of this authority and that were available to interested Members and interested parties participating in the investigation, taking into account the need to protect confidentiality. information. These summaries must be in sufficient detail to enable a reasonable understanding of the content of the information submitted in confidence. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement must be provided of the reasons why summary is not possible.
45 Under this Agreement, unless otherwise specified, the term "injury" shall be construed as material injury to a domestic industry, threat of material injury to a domestic industry or material delay in the establishment of such an industry and shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Price increases under such undertakings shall not be higher than necessary to eliminate the amount of the subsidy. It is desirable that the price increases be less than the amount of the subsidy if such increases would be sufficient to remove the damage to the local industry.
In the event of a breach of an undertaking, the authorities of the importing Member may, under this Agreement, in accordance with its provisions, take prompt action, which may constitute the immediate application of provisional measures, using the best information available. 50 For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "interested domestic parties" includes consumers and industrial users of the imported product under investigation. If, as a result of the review under this paragraph, the authorities determine that the countervailing duty is no longer justified, it shall be terminated immediately.
Any such review will be carried out expeditiously and will normally be completed within 12 months of the date of commencement of the review. Such tribunals or procedures shall be independent of the authorities responsible for the relevant determination or review, and shall provide access to review to all interested parties who participated in the administrative proceedings and are directly and individually affected by the administrative action.
INSTITUTIONS
NOTIFICATION AND SURVEILLANCE
In particular, they shall provide sufficient detail to enable the other Member to assess their compliance with the terms of this Agreement. Any member who believes that such information has not been provided may bring the matter to the Committee's attention. If the alleged subsidy is not then notified immediately, such a member may himself bring the relevant alleged subsidy to the notice of the committee.
Members shall also submit semi-annual reports on any compensatory measures taken during the previous six months. 54The Committee shall establish a working group to review the content and format of the questionnaire contained in BISD 9S/193-194. Notifications submitted in the intervening years (update of notifications) are examined at each regular meeting of the Committee.
DEVELOPING COUNTRY MEMBERS
If no such determination is made by the Committee, the developing country member shall phase out the remaining export subsidies within two years from the end of the last authorized period. However, for a developing country member referred to in Annex VII that has achieved export competitiveness in one or more products, export subsidies on such products will be phased out gradually over a period of eight years. Export competitiveness shall exist either (a) on the basis of notification by the developing country Member that has achieved export competitiveness, or (b) on the basis of a calculation undertaken by the Secretariat at the request of any Member.
For the purposes of this paragraph, a product is defined as a section heading in the nomenclature of the Harmonized System. The Committee shall review the application of this provision five years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. The relevant provisions in such a case are those in Article 7. 27.8. There shall be no presumption pursuant to subsection 1 of Article 6, that a subsidy provided by a developing country member results in serious injury as defined in this Agreement.
Such serious prejudice, when applied under the terms of paragraph 9, shall be demonstrated by positive evidence, in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 3 to 8 of Article 6. 27.9 Regarding applicable subsidies granted or withheld by a member country under development, other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 6, action may not be authorized or taken under Article 7 unless the cancellation or impairment of tariff concessions or other obligations under GATT 1994 is found to exist as a result of a such subsidy, in such a way as to displace or impede imports of a like product of another member in the market of the subsidizing developing member country or unless injury occurs to a domestic industry in the market of an importing member. This provision shall apply from the date that the elimination of export subsidies is notified to the Committee and for as long as the export subsidies are not provided by the notifying developing country member. This provision will expire eight years from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.
TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
Further notifications of such subsidies may be made up to two years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
FINAL PROVISIONS
Indirect tax refund schemes may allow exemption, remission or deferral of cumulative upstream indirect taxes levied on inputs used in the production of the exported product (usually taking into account waste). Similarly, drawback schemes may allow the remission or refund of import duties charged on inputs used in the production of the exported product (subject to the usual compensation for waste). The illustrative list of export subsidies in Annex I to this Agreement refers to the term "inputs used in the production of the exported product" in paragraphs (h) and (i).
Under paragraph (h), indirect tax rebate schemes may constitute an export subsidy to the extent that they result in the exemption, remission or deferral of cumulative earlier indirect taxes in excess of the amount of such taxes actually levied on inputs that are consumed. in the production of the exported product. Under paragraph (i), drawback arrangements may constitute an export subsidy to the extent that they result in a remission or reimbursement of import duties in excess of the duties actually levied on inputs consumed in the production of the exported product. Both paragraphs provide that findings regarding the consumption of inputs in the production of the exported product should normally take waste into account.
Any calculation of the subsidy amount for the purposes of Article 6(1)(a) shall be made in terms of the costs to the granting authority. Subsidies granted before the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, the benefits of which are allocated to future production, shall be included in the total subsidy rate. Grants for which no action can be taken under the relevant provisions of this Agreement shall not be included in the calculation of the grant amount for the purposes of Article 6(1)(a).
64 In the case of tax-related subsidies, the value of the product is calculated as the total value of the recipient firm's sales in the fiscal year in which the tax-related measure was earned. The information gathering process as set out in paragraphs 2 to 4 will be completed within 60 days from the date on which the matter was referred to the DSB in terms of paragraph 4 of article 7. If in exceptional circumstances it is intended to include non-governmental experts in the investigation team, the firms and the authorities of the exporting member must be so informed.
It should be standard practice to obtain explicit consent from the relevant companies in the exporting member before finalizing the visit. In the event of such a request, the investigating authorities may make themselves available to the company;