./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SG/33
9 April 2001
(01-1782)
Committee on Safeguards Original:  English
PROVISIONAL SAFEGUARD MEASURES IMPOSED
BY EGYPT ON POWDERED MILK
Request for Consultations under Article 12.3
of the Agreement on Safeguards
The following communication, dated 5 April 2001, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the European Communities.
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On 25 September 2000, Egypt notified to  the WTO (No. G/SG/N/7/EGY/2) under
Article 12.1 (a) of the Agreement on Safeguards that it had initiated a safeguard investigation on
imports of Milk Powder into Egypt.  On 30 March 2001, Egypt notified to the WTO Committee onSafeguards the final findings in this investigation.  These were circulated to WTO Members on
3 April 2001 the WTO (No. G/SG/N /8/EGY/4 and G/SG/N/10/EGY/4).
The European Commission (EC) is seriously concerned about the consistency of this measure
with Article XIX GATT 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards.  In particular, the European
Commission considers that the requirements laid down in the Agreement on Safeguards for the
adoption of a definitive safeguard measure have not been satisfied.
The EC objects to the use of safeguards in cases like this where domestic factors rather than
imports appear to be the cause of the problems of domestic producers.  Firstly, there appear to be no
direct competition between imported milk powder (mainly for consumption) and Egyptian fresh milk
(for the transformer industry).  Furthermore, imports of powdered milk have decreased substantiallyand international prices have increased sharply in 2000.  Finally, economic indicators do not justify
the conclusion that domestic industry is seriously injured and insufficient elements have been
provided by Egypt on the existence of a causal link between imports and injury.
The EC formally requests the holding of consultations under Article 12.3 with a view to, inter
alia, reviewing the information provided by Egypt, exchanging views on the measure and reaching an
understanding on ways to achieve the objective set out in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Agreement
on Safeguards.
The EC notes that Egypt, in its above mentioned notification, informed that these
consultations will be held in Cairo in the period between the 6 and 10 of April, and should be
requested before 5 April 2001.  However, this information was only circulated to WTO Members two
days before, on 3 April 2001.  The EC believes that the terms proposed by Egypt can hardly be seen
as providing an “adequate opportunity for prior consultations”, as required under Article 12.3 of the
WTO Agreement on Safeguards.  The EC is therefore not in a position to hold consultations in the
dates proposed by Egypt.  Accordingly, the EC pr oposes that consultations be held forthwith at a
mutually agreed date and place.G/SG/33
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The EC reserves all its rights under the Agreement on Safeguards, in particular Article 14, as
well as under the Dispute Settlement Understanding.
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