The repeated application of safety precautions in relation to a particular product is limited by the agreement. Normally, a safeguard clause cannot be reapplied to a product until a period equal to the duration of the original safeguard clause has expired, as long as the period of non-application is at least two years. The WTO rules set out in this Agreement require WTO Member States to conduct an investigation before a safeguard measure can be applied and to formally establish that imports of the product significantly affect or threaten to affect a domestic industry. Countries are also required to publicly inform all interested parties of their intention to apply a safeguard measure and to give exporters ample opportunity to make their views known. The Agreement on Safeguard Measures (SG Agreement) contains the rules for the application of safeguard measures under Article XIX of the GATT 1994. Safeguard measures are defined as emergency measures concerning the increase in imports of certain products where such imports have caused or are threatening to cause material injury to the domestic industry of the importing Member. The main guiding principles of the Agreement with regard to safeguard measures are that such measures must be temporary; whereas they may be imported only if it is established that the imports are causing or threatening to cause material injury to a competing domestic industry; that they are based on non-selectivity (i.e., most-favoured-nation or most-favoured-nation treatment); that they be progressively liberalized as long as they are in force and that the Member who imposes them must pay compensation to the members whose business is affected. If you have any questions regarding this Agreement or its use, you may send an email to the Trade Agreement Negotiations and Compliance Office, which will forward your message to the Department of Commerce`s designated monitoring officer for the agreement. You can also contact the designated tracking agent at the following address: at this stage, the Regulation covers the implementation of the EU-Japan, EU-Singapore and EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreements. Other trade agreements could in the future be included in the scope of the Regulation by means of delegated acts. Bilateral safeguard measures related to trade agreements (allowing for the temporary withdrawal of tariff preferences) are intended to protect a particular domestic industry from an increase in imports of goods that cause or threaten to cause material injury to that industry. There are several ways to learn about possible protections in the countries where your company does business.

First, your company may be contacted directly by the government, which is considering protective measures (especially if your company is a major exporter of the product in question), or by a company that imports your product. Secondly, you can consult the official journals of the countries to which you export. Third, you may be contacted by the U.S. government after learning that one of our trading partners has decided to open a protection investigation. (However, the U.S. government does not publish information about protective measures taken by other countries in the Federal Register.) Once a safeguard mechanism is implemented, it must be progressively liberalized over time. Normally, protective measures cannot last more than four years, but they can be extended up to eight years if the country implementing the protective measures deems it necessary to prevent or repair serious injuries. Developing countries are allowed to take security measures for up to ten years. All safeguard measures require the payment of compensation – in the form of substantially equivalent trade concessions – for each implementation beyond three years.

The maximum duration of a safeguard measure is four years, unless it is extended in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement. In particular, a measure may be extended only if it is considered necessary to maintain it in order to prevent or remedy serious injury and only if there is evidence that the industry is making adjustments. New protective measures may be applied only after an investigation by the competent authorities in accordance with previously published procedures. Although the agreement does not contain detailed procedural rules, it requires appropriate public disclosure of the investigation and that interested parties (importers, exporters, producers, etc.) Have the opportunity to express their point of view and respond to the views of others. Among the issues on which advice is required is whether or not a protective measure would be in the public interest. Competent authorities are required to publish a report setting out and explaining their findings on all relevant issues, including evidence of the relevance of the factors examined. The agreement also contains specific rules for the treatment of confidential information in the context of an investigation. Basic Introduction to the Agreement on Safeguards Links to the “Safeguards” section of the WTO Guide “Understanding the WTO” The Agreement on Safeguards incorporates many concepts in the security interest of the United States (Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended) into WTO rules. Where a safeguard measure has been used to protect a particular sector of the economy, additional safeguard measures to protect the same sector cannot be taken for a certain period after the expiry of the initial safeguard clause. For example, if a safeguard measure for a particular product has been in force for three years, the importing country usually has to wait three more years before applying a new safeguard measure to the same product. All U.S.

companies doing business internationally can benefit from this agreement, which establishes strict ground rules for the application of protective measures. The notification obligations of the agreement help ensure that U.S. exporters are fully informed of the nature of a safeguard measure, the products it will cover, and the duration of its duration. Under this Agreement, exporters may make their views known, provide evidence and respond to statements by other parties to the investigation which must precede the application of a safeguard measure […].