./.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/Q1/CZE/2
8 November 1999
(99-4810)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 12.6 OF THE AGREEMENT
Replies from the CZECH REPUBLIC1
to Questions posed by the UNITED STATES2
The following communication, dated 2 November 1999, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic.
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Q1. Why does the Czech Republic maintain a separate Article XIX/Safeguards Agreement
safeguard provision for agricultural products, and how does it differ from the Czech
Article XIX/Safeguards Agreement safeguard provisions that apply in the case of other types ofimported goods?
Reply
In fact, a response to this query is a simple one. It has to do with the preparations of the draft of
Act on Agriculture.  The idea was to adopt a comprehensive piece of legislation covering all important
aspects of agricultural activities, including protection of the agrarian market.  Therefore a specificprovision was inserted through which the Agreement on Safeguards was incorporated into the Czech
legal system.  Due to the scope of the Act, measures adopted in conjunction with it can be applied only
with regard to agricultural products. Later on, a Regulation implementing safeguards provisions of the
Act on Agriculture was adopted by the Government, thus making respective domestic provisions
operational and fully compatible with the Agreement on Safeguards.
I would like to add to this that we are just about to finalize our internal approval procedures
concerning a new legislation through which the Safeguards Agreement shall become applicable to all
products, including industrial ones.  Should a need arise, in the meantime, for a safeguard measure on any
industrial product, the authorities will proceed strictly in accordance with the Agreement on Safeguardsbecause the Government is obliged to act in a manner consistent with an international treaty to which the
Czech Republic is a signatory and which has been published.
Q2. What procedures does the Czech Republic plan to follow in deciding the basis for
instituting an investigation and in conducting an investigation?  For example, will notice andopportunity for interested parties to participate be provided as required by Article 4 of the
Safeguards Agreement?  Who will make the decision on the remedy to be applied?
                                                     
1 G/SG/N/1/CZE/2 & Corr.1
2 G/SG/Q1/CZE/1G/SG/Q1/CZE/2
Page 2
Reply
The Czech Republic acts in conformity with the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of the Agreement
on Safeguards.  The Ministry of Agriculture conducts an investigation pursuant to procedures previously
established and made public in the Commercial Journal.  According to these procedures investigationshall include reasonable public notice to all interested parties and public hearing in which all interested
parties could present their views and evidence, including the opportunity to respond to the presentation of
other parties. The Ministry of Agriculture as an authority responsible for the investigation shall publish in
the Commercial Journal a report setting forth their findings and conclusions.  The decision on the remedy
to be applied according to this regulation is made by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.
Q3. In paragraph (2) under the section entitled "Conditions and Duration of Application of the
Measure" why is the reference not to the three last "representative" years as in Article 5.1 of the
Safeguards Agreement?
Reply
The Czech legal system does not define the term "representative".  The Regulation of the
Government No. 39/1999 Coll. in section entitled "Conditions and Duration of Application of the
Measure" determines that if the measure is in the form of a quantitative restriction, this measure shall not
reduce the volume of imports of the agricultural product below the average level of imports of this
agricultural product in the last three years for which statistics are available.  This period and condition areconsidered by the Czech authorities fully compatible with the term "representative" as described in the
Agreement on Safeguards.
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