Circular No. 19/2019/TT-BCT on the application of special safeguard measures to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

 

 

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the application of special safeguard measures to implement the Agreement
Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership

 

Pursuant to the Law on Foreign Trade Management dated June 12, 2017;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Import-Export;

Pursuant to Decree No. 98/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 18, 2017, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to Decree No. 10/2018/NĐ-CP dated January 15, 2018 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Foreign Trade Management regarding trade remedy measures; The Minister of Industry and Trade issues this Circular on the application of special safeguard measures to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

At the request of the Director of the Department of Trade Defense, the Minister of Industry and Trade issues this Circular to guide the implementation of anti-dumping and countervailing measures under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

This Circular stipulates the application of special safeguard measures to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, including:

 

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. Safeguard measures during the transitional period.

2. Emergency measures for textile and apparel products.

1. State management agencies of Vietnam have the authority to investigate, apply, and handle special safeguard measures to implement the Agreement.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to:

2. Vietnamese traders, traders from member countries of the Agreement, agencies, organizations, individuals within and outside Vietnam related to the investigation, application, and handling of special safeguard measures to implement the Agreement.

1. The Agreement is the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

According to this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

2. Member country means any state or separate customs territory implementing the Agreement.

3. Similar goods are goods having all characteristics identical to the goods under investigation. In case there are no such goods, similar goods are goods having many basic characteristics identical to the goods under investigation.

4. Directly competitive goods are goods that buyers may accept as substitutes for the goods subject to safeguard measures due to price advantage and intended use.

6. Safeguard measures during the transitional period (hereinafter referred to as transitional safeguard measures) are measures provided for in Article 99 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Article 6.3 of Chapter 6 of the Agreement.

7. The transitional period for textile and apparel products is the time starting from the date the Agreement enters into force until five years after Vietnam eliminates tariffs on textile and apparel products exported by member countries under the Agreement.

8. Emergency measures for textile and apparel products are measures provided for in Article 99 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Article 4.3 of Chapter 4 of the Agreement.

9. The domestic industry is a collection of producers of similar or directly competitive goods or their representatives holding a substantial share in the total production volume of that industry produced domestically.

10. The date the Agreement enters into force is January 14, 2019.

Article 4. Parties involved in the investigation, application of transitional safeguard measures, and emergency measures for textile and apparel products

1. Parties involved in the investigation of transitional safeguard measures and emergency measures for textile and apparel products include:

a) Organizations and individuals from member countries producing and exporting goods under investigation into the territory of Vietnam;

c) Associations from member countries with a majority of members being organizations and individuals producing and exporting goods under investigation;

b) Organizations and individuals importing goods under investigation;

d) Governments and competent authorities of member countries exporting goods under investigation;

đ) Organizations and individuals with applications requesting the application of transitional safeguard measures and emergency measures for textile and apparel products;

g) Domestic associations with a majority of members being organizations and individuals producing similar goods, directly competitive goods;

e) Organizations and individuals domestically producing similar goods and directly competitive goods;

2. Organizations and individuals must register and be approved by the Investigating Authority to become parties involved in the investigation in accordance with the registration procedures prescribed in Clause 2, Article 75 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Article 11 of Decree No. 10/2018/NĐ-CP of the Government dated January 15, 2018.

h) Other organizations and individuals having legitimate rights and interests related to the investigation or who can assist in the investigation process or represent consumer interests.

3. Parties involved in the investigation shall have access to information and documents provided by other parties involved to the Investigating Authority in accordance with Clause 2, Article 75 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management and Article 11 of Decree No. 10/2018/NĐ-CP of the Government dated January 15, 2018.

Chapter II. TRANSITIONAL DEFENSIVE MEASURES

Article 5. Principles for Applying Transitional Defensive Measures

1. Transitional defensive measures shall not be applied simultaneously to the same goods at the same time with any of the following measures:

a) Anti-dumping measures on imported goods from foreign countries as provided for in the Law on Foreign Trade Management;

b) Emergency measures for textile and garment products as provided for in this Circular.

2. Transitional defensive measures shall not be applied beyond the transitional period.

3. Transitional defensive measures shall not be applied more than once to the same goods.

4. Transitional defensive measures shall not be applied to goods subject to tariff quotas under commitments in the Agreement.

5. Transitional defensive measures shall not be implemented through the application of tariff quotas or import quotas.

Article 6. Provisions on Information in the Application Request File for Transitional Defensive Measures

Article 7. Establishment of the Application Request File in Cases Where No Organization or Individual Submits the Application Request File

1. In cases where no organization or individual submits the application request file but there are clear signs that excessive imports of goods from one or more member countries into Vietnam during the transitional period due to reduced or eliminated tariffs under the Agreement have caused or threaten to cause serious damage to the domestic production industry, the investigating authority may establish an application request file for transitional defensive measures to submit to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration and decision to initiate an investigation.

3. Organizations and individuals related to the matter have the responsibility to cooperate and provide necessary information upon request by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 8. Application of transitional safeguard measures

1. The Minister of Industry and Trade decides on the application of transitional safeguard measures when the investigation authority's conclusion includes the following contents:

a) There is an absolute or relative increase in imports compared to domestic production volume of the investigated goods from one or more member countries as a result of reducing or eliminating taxes on such goods under the Agreement. In cases where imports increase from two or more investigated member countries, the import volume of each member country must have an absolute or relative increase compared to domestic production volume since the date the Agreement entered into force for those member countries;

b) The domestic industry suffers serious injury or is threatened with serious injury;

c) The increase in imports specified in point a of this clause is the cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry.

2. Transitional safeguard measures include:

a) Suspension of the continued reduction of tariff rates according to the Agreement for the investigated goods;

b) Increase in the tariff rate for such goods but not exceeding the lower of the preferential tariff rate in effect at the time of applying this measure or the preferential tariff rate in effect on the day immediately preceding the entry into force of the Agreement.

3. The duration of the application of transitional safeguard measures shall not exceed two years. In cases where the investigation authority concludes that it is necessary to continue applying transitional safeguard measures to prevent or remedy serious injury and facilitate adjustment by the domestic industry, the application period may be extended by up to one additional year.

4. In cases where transitional safeguard measures exceed one year, such measures must be gradually relaxed throughout the entire application period.

5. After the expiration of the transitional safeguard measures application period, the import tariff rate applied to related goods shall be implemented according to the Special Preferential Tariff Schedule effective at the time of termination of the transitional safeguard measures.

Chapter III. URGENT MEASURES FOR TEXTILE AND GARMENT PRODUCTS

Article 9. Principles for Applying Urgent Measures for Textile and Garment Products

1. Urgent measures shall not be simultaneously applied to textile and garment products for the same goods at the same time with any of the following measures:

a) Safeguard measures in the importation of foreign goods into Vietnam as stipulated in the Law on Foreign Trade Management;

b) Transitional safeguard measures as stipulated in this Circular.

2. Urgent measures shall not be applied to textile and garment products beyond the transition period for such products.

3. Urgent measures shall not be applied more than once to textile and garment products for the same goods.

Article 11. Establishment of the Application File for Emergency Measures for Textile and Garment Products in cases where no organization or individual submits the Application File

1. In cases where no organization or individual requests but there are clear signs of increased imports of textile and garment products into Vietnam due to tariff reductions under the Agreement during the transitional period causing or threatening to cause serious damage to the domestic production industry, the Investigating Authority shall establish the Application File for Emergency Measures for Textile and Garment Products to be submitted to the Minister of Industry and Trade for consideration and decision on investigation.

3. Organizations and individuals related to the matter have the responsibility to cooperate and provide necessary information upon request by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 12. Application of Emergency Measures for Textile and Garment Products

1. The Minister of Industry and Trade decides on the application of emergency measures for textile and garment products when the Investigation Report of the Investigating Authority contains the following contents:

a) There is an absolute or relative increase in imports compared to the volume and quantity of domestic production of textile and garment products being investigated from one or more member countries as a result of enjoying preferential tariffs under the Agreement.

b) The domestic industry suffers serious injury or is threatened with serious injury;

c) The increase in imports specified in point a of this clause is the cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry.

2. Based on considering factors including production volume, actual capacity, productivity, inventory, market share, exports, labor, wages, domestic selling price, profit, and investment, the investigating authority determines serious damage or threat of serious damage to the domestic production industry as stipulated in Point b, Clause 1 of this Article. Factors related to technological changes or changes in consumer preferences will not be considered.

3. Emergency measures for textile and garment products are applied in the form of increasing the tariff rate on such goods but not exceeding the lower of the effective preferential tariff rate at the time of applying such measures or the effective preferential tariff rate on the day immediately before the Agreement took effect.

4. The duration of the transitional safeguard measure shall not exceed two years and may be extended for up to an additional two years.

5. After the expiration of the period for applying emergency measures for textile and garment products, the import tariff rate applicable to related goods shall be implemented according to the Special Preferential Import Tariff implementing the Agreement effective at the time of termination of the application of emergency measures for such textile and garment products.

Chapter IV. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 13. Effective Date

1. This Circular shall take effect 45 days from the date of signature.

2. Investigative agencies shall consider accepting files requesting the application of transitional safeguard measures or urgent measures for textile and garment products according to the effectiveness of the Agreement./.