WTO | 2011 News items – For the first time, members invoke Article 13.1(b) of the Safeguards Agreement

WTO: 2011 NEWS ITEMS

27 October 2011

SAFEGUARD MEASURES

For the first time, members invoke Article 13.1(b) of the Safeguards Agreement

Colombia and India asked the Safeguards Committee in separate cases, on 27 October 2011, to find whether or not the procedural requirements of the Safeguards Agreement have been complied with in connection with the safeguard measures taken by Ecuador on glass windshields and by Turkey on cotton yarn, respectively.

This is the first time Article 13.1(b) of the Safeguards Agreement has been invoked by members.  This provision provides that one of the functions of the Safeguards Committee is “to find, upon the request of an affected Member, whether or not the procedural requirements of this Agreement have been complied with in connection with a safeguard measure, and report its findings to the Council for Trade in Goods.”

Members expressed various views on procedure and substance, and the Chair, Ms Lillian Bwalya (Zambia), informed members that she would convene informal consultations in the near future to discuss these two requests. . . .

WTO | 2011 News items – For the first time, members invoke Article 13.1(b) of the Safeguards Agreement