The Law of Trade Remedies in International Trade

استمع
Wednesday 07 Dec 2022

The Law of Trade Remedies in International Trade

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The following terms and expressions have the following meanings wherever stated in the Law, unless the context requires otherwise:


The Kingdom: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Law: The Law of Trade Remedies in International Trade.

The Regulation: The Executive Regulation of the Law.

Trade Remedies: Issues related to the Anti-dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the 

Agreement on Safeguards of the World Trade Organization.

The Authority: The General Authority of Foreign Trade. 

The Board: The Board of Directors of the Authority.

The Chairperson: The Chairperson of the Board.

​The Governor: The Governor of the Authority.

The Department: The Department responsible for trade remedies issues in the Authority.

WTO: The World Trade Organization. 

GCC Common Law: The GCC Common Law of Anti-dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures.
Council States: The Member States of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

Dumping: Exporting a product to the Kingdom at a price lower than the normal value for the like product, in the ordinary course of trade when destined for domestic consumption in the exporting country.

Dumped imports: Imports into the Kingdom of the product under an anti-dumping investigation whose prices are alleged to be or found to be at dumped prices according to the investigation.

Dumping margin: The outcome of the calculation based on the difference between the normal value and the export price during the period of investigation.

Normal value: The price paid or payable, for the like product in the market of the exporting country in the ordinary course of trade when destined for consumption in the exporting country, or as determined by the Regulation. 
Export price: The price paid or payable, for the product under investigation when exported to the Kingdom, or as determined by the Regulation.

Subsidy: A financial contribution provided by a government or a public body in a country, that confers a benefit and takes one of the forms of a subsidy as provided for in Article 1 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. 

Specific subsidy: A subsidy that is specific to an enterprise or industry, group of enterprises or industries, or to a specific region, or contingent upon export performance or the use of domestic over imported goods, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

Subsidized imports: Imports into the Kingdom of the product under a countervailing investigation that is alleged to be or found to be receiving a benefit due to specific subsidies according to the investigation.

Amount of subsidy: The outcome of the calculation that represents the value of benefit conferred to the recipient of the specific subsidy during the period of investigation.
Injury: Material injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry, or material retardation to the establishment of a domestic industry.
Like product: Identical product (i.e., alike in all respects) to the product under investigation and, in the absence of a product alike in all respect to the product under investigation, the product that has characteristics closely resembling those of the product under investigation. In safeguard investigations, it is the like or directly competitive products.
Imports destined to the Kingdom: Imports destined for domestic consumption in the Saudi market.
Increase in imports: An increase of imports destined to the Kingdom of the product under safeguard investigation in such increased quantities, whether in absolute terms or relative to domestic production, as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.

Serious Injury: A significant overall impairment in the position of the domestic industry.

Threat of serious injury: Serious injury that is imminent based on facts and not merely an allegation or remote possibilities.

GCC investigations: The investigations that are conducted in accordance with the GCC Common Law.
Investigation/Investigations: Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard investigations conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or based on a complaint.

Period of Investigation:  The periods that are announced by the Authority in each investigation or review to constitute the periods over which interested parties’ information and evidence related to the investigation or review will be collected and examined.
Measures / Trade remedies measures: Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures imposed by the Authority.
The product under investigation: The product imported into the Kingdom that is subject to the investigation or review. Services are not included within the scope of this definition.

Review/ reviews: All types of reviews conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or upon a review request. 

Interim review: A review conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or upon a review request, when there is a change in circumstances requiring a review of the level, form, or the scope of the measures.

Expiry review: A review conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or upon a review request by the domestic industry, or on its behalf, initiated before the expiry of the anti-dumping and/or countervailing measures, to determine whether the expiry of the measures would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and/or subsidization and continuation or recurrence of injury. ​

Mid-term review of safeguard measures:  A review conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or upon a review request, no later than the mid-term of the imposed safeguard measures that exceed three years, in order to review the situation of the domestic industry, the impact of the measures, and the extent of the need to withdraw or accelerate liberalization of the measures. 

Review of extension of a safeguard measures: A review conducted by the Authority on its own initiative, or upon a review request by the domestic industry, or on its behalf, to review the need to extend the safeguard measures to prevent or remedy serious injury in the presence of indications that the domestic industry is adjusting during the application of the measures.

Refund review: A review initiated upon a request by an importer, or on its behalf, to claim a refund of a specific amount equal to the difference between the anti-dumping duties paid and the actual dumping margin on its imports of the product subject to the measures during the period of review. 

​New exporter review: A review initiated after the imposition of definitive anti-dumping or countervailing measures upon a request of an exporter, or on its behalf, that was not exporting the product under investigation during the period of investigation, and is not related to an exporter or producer that exported the product under investigation during the period of investigation.

Anti-circumvention review: A review conducted by the Authority on its own initiative or upon a request by an interested party, or on its behalf, or by a governmental body in the Kingdom to examine whether circumvention of the measures is taking place, as a consequence of which the scope and/or level of the measures may be amended, in accordance with Chapter VI of the Law.

Domestic industry: The Kingdom’s producers as a whole of the like domestic products, or whose output or those whose collective output of the products constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of those products in the Kingdom. In safeguard  investigations, the domestic industry means the Kingdom’s producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive products, or whose output or those whose collective output of the like or directly competitive products constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of those products in the Kingdom.

Interested parties: Exporters; foreign producers; importers of the product under investigation; trade or business associations, whose majority of members are producers, importers, or exporters of the product under investigation; domestic producers of the like product; and, trade or business associations, whose majority of members are producers of the like product in the Kingdom. Likewise, producers in the Kingdom whose industrial inputs include the product under investigation; the governments of the exporting countries; or, any other national or foreign parties that have a direct interest in the product under investigation, provided that such interested party makes themselves known during the period as specified in the Regulation.

Public interest persons: Governmental entities, institutions, and civil associations in the Kingdom that do not fall within the definition of the interested parties, and that have an opinion regarding the impact of the imposition of the measures on the public interest. This includes, but is not limited to, entities concerned by consumer interests, public health, and the competitiveness of the domestic market and other entities concerned with issues of public interest. 

Relevant governmental entities: All governmental entities in the Kingdom that the Authority determines to be relevant to investigations and reviews. 

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The Law aims to protect the domestic industry from injury caused by dumped and subsidized imports and to safeguard from the increase in imports, and to defend the Kingdom's exports that are subject to trade remedies proceedings.​

  1. The procedures of investigations, reviews, and the measures consequently imposed on imports destined to the Kingdom from WTO Members, have to be applied in accordance with the provisions of the Law and the Regulation.
  2. When conducting investigations and reviews on imports destined to the Kingdom from non-WTO Members, the Governor may apply the provisions of the Law and the Regulation, in whole or in part, or take other measures in a manner that does not conflict with the Kingdom's international commitments.​

 
 
 
 
 

  1. The Authority is responsible for trade remedies including conducting investigations, reviews and the imposition of measures in accordance with the Kingdom's international commitments, especially under the Anti-dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the Agreement on Safeguards.
  2. The Department shall receive and study the complaints and review requests, and decide whether to accept or reject them; and, establish the investigating teams to conduct investigations and reviews. In this respect, the Department has the authority to request all confidential and non-confidential information required to conduct the investigations and reviews, receive, collect, access, maintain, examine and verify such information, issue reports and submit its findings to the Governor, in accordance with the provisions of the Law and Regulation.
  3. The Governor has the authority to initiate investigations, to terminate them without imposing measures, to initiate reviews, and to submit recommendations to the Chairperson to impose, extend, or terminate the measure and to amend the amount, form, and scope of the measures, refund provisional and definitive measures or part thereof.  The Governor decides on the implementation of import registration and monitoring, import licenses and the addition of sub-heading customs codes, and imposes fines and consider grievances submitted in this regard, in accordance with the provisions of the Law and the Regulation.
  4. The Chairperson has the authority to decide whether or not to impose provisional and definitive trade remedies measures based on the Governor’s recommendations upon the findings of the investigations and reviews. The Chairperson may reduce, extend, terminate and amend measures, their amounts, forms, and scope, refund provisional and definitive measures or part thereof. The Chairperson has the authority to decide on public interest matters, and on grievances submitted by interested parties, in accordance with the provisions of the Law and Regulation. The Chairperson may at his discretion establish advisory committees and technical teams to support his decision-making.
  5. Relevant governmental entities, based on Authority’s request, shall provide the Authority with the necessary information required for the conduct of investigations and reviews; these entities shall take the necessary executive actions to apply the measures in accordance with the timeframe and mandates of the Authority. The Authority shall provide the necessary information to enable each relevant governmental entity to carry out its required tasks.
 
 
 
 
 

  1. A decision to impose definitive anti-dumping and countervailing measures may be taken in the form of definitive duties and acceptance of price undertakings based on the anti-dumping and countervailing investigations that are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Law and Regulation that resulted in finally finding that imports are dumped and/or subsidized, caused or threaten to cause material injury to the domestic industry, or materially retard the establishment of a domestic industry.
  2. A decision to impose definitive safeguard measures may be taken in the form of definitive duties and quantitative restrictions based on the safeguard investigations conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Law and Regulation, that resulted in finally finding that there is an increase of imports that caused or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry. The Regulation sets the conditions for determining the quantitative restrictions and the distribution of the quotas.
  3. Definitive measures are applied on imports destined to the Kingdom that are subject to the measures based on a decision to impose definitive measures, and retroactively on the products subject to decision of imposition of provisional measures in accordance with Article 10 of the Law, and on imports subject to registration and monitoring based on paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Law, and on imports subject to registration based on the Law when the conditions for final collection are met.​

  1. The application of anti-dumping and countervailing measures shall be for the period and amount necessary to counteract dumping and/or specific subsidy that is causing injury to the domestic industry. The imposition of safeguard measures shall be to the extent necessary to prevent or remedy the serious injury and to facilitate adjustment to the domestic industry. 
  2. The level, form, or scope of definitive measures may be amended based on an interim review or an anti-circumvention review. In anti-dumping and countervailing investigations, a measure may be determined for a new exporter after the imposition of definitive measures based on a new exporter review in accordance with the provisions of the Law and the Regulation.​

  1. Definitive anti-dumping and countervailing measures shall be imposed for a period not exceeding five years from the date from which the imposition decision is in force, including the period of imposition of provisional measures, or from the date of concluding the most recent interim review that positively found a likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping and/or specific subsidy and injury if the measures were removed.
  2. Definitive anti-dumping and countervailing measures may be extended as they are, or with amendments, if the scope of the review included an examination of the modification of the measures - for subsequent periods of maximum five years for each extended period. Provided that the expiry review proceeding shall be initiated before the end of the period of the imposition of the measures, and the review shall find that the expiry of the measures would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and/or specific subsidy and injury to the domestic industry. The definitive measures shall remain in force pending the outcome of the expiry review.
  3. Definitive safeguard measures shall be imposed for an initial period not exceeding four years from the date from which the imposition decision is in force, including the period of imposition of the provisional measures. If the period of imposition of safeguard measures is more than one year, the level of measures shall be gradually liberalized each year during the imposition period.
  4. The period of imposition of safeguard measures may be extended for subsequent periods, provided that an extension review of the safeguard measures is conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation, and provided that the total period of imposition of the safeguard measures does not exceed ten years from the date of the beginning of their imposition, including the initial period of imposition and extension periods. The safeguard measures whose period of imposition has been extended shall be less restrictive than the measures initially imposed, and the authority shall conduct a mid-term review of the safeguard measures in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation.
  5. No safeguard measures shall be applied again to a product, which has been subject to final safeguard measures previously imposed, unless after a period of time equal to half the period during which the safeguard measures have been previously applied, provided that the period of non-application is at least two years. The Authority, when imposing safeguard measures that do not exceed a period of one hundred and eighty days, may re-impose them on the same product, provided that at least one year has elapsed since the date of imposition of the safeguard measures and provided that these safeguard measures are not applied on the same product more than twice in the five-year period immediately preceding the date of the imposition of the safeguard measures.​

  1. The applied definitive anti-dumping and countervailing measures shall not exceed the dumping margin nor the amount of subsidy definitively determined.
  2. The importer may be refunded the difference in the paid anti-dumping duties if it is found - based on the importer and exporter’s information and on a refund review conducted in accordance to the Law and Regulation - that the actual paid amount of duties by the importer is greater than the dumping margin determined on the concerned products which was imported during the period of review.
  3. Anti-dumping measures and countervailing measures shall not be imposed on the same product from the same source as a dual remedy for the same situation of dumping and an export subsidy.​

 
 
 
  

  1. A decision may be taken to impose provisional anti-dumping and countervailing measures in the form of provisional duties or securities, based on an anti-dumping or countervailing investigation that has shown preliminary affirmative findings that dumped or subsidized imports have caused injury to the domestic industry; and that the imposition of provisional measures is necessary to prevent the injury being caused during the investigation in accordance with the provisions of the Law and Regulation.
  2.  In critical circumstances where delay would cause damages that would be difficult to repair, a decision to impose a provisional safeguard measure may be taken in the form of provisional duties or securities pursuant to a preliminary determination that there is clear evidence that increased imports have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry. 
  3. Provisional anti-dumping and countervailing measures shall not exceed the dumping margin or the amount of subsidy determined based on preliminary findings of the investigation.
  4. Provisional anti-dumping, countervailing, and safeguard duties shall be refunded and the securities shall be returned to the payers, where the investigation is concluded without the imposition of definitive measures, whether due to; public interest, the absence of dumping or specific subsidy, the absence of material injury caused by dumped or subsidized imports to the domestic industry, or because it has not been proven that the increase in imports has caused or threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.
  5. Price undertakings may be accepted for the product under anti-dumping and countervailing investigation, in the period between the preliminary affirmative determinations and final determinations. The Authority may terminate or suspend the proceeding for the party whose price undertaking is accepted, unless the party requests the completion of the investigation or the Authority finds it necessary.​

  1. When an affirmative final determination has been made that imports are dumped and/or subsidized and have caused material injury to the domestic industry, or that an increase in imports has caused or threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry; the definitive measures shall be imposed retroactively on imports destined to the Kingdom from the date of the decision to impose the provisional measures. In the situation where the definitive duties are lower than the applied provisional duties, the difference shall be reimbursed. The difference shall not be collected if the definitive duties are higher than the provisional duties.
  2. In anti-dumping and countervailing investigations, when an affirmative final determination has been made that imports are dumped and/or subsidized and threaten to cause injury to the domestic industry or has materially retarded the establishment of domestic industry rather than to cause material injury; provided that this determination was not due to the imposition of provisional measures, provisional anti-dumping and countervailing duties shall be refunded and securities shall be returned. The imposition of the definitive measures – in this case shall be effective from the date when the decision comes into force.​
  1. Provisional anti-dumping and countervailing measures shall not be imposed sooner than sixty days from the date of initiation of the investigation. Provisional anti-dumping measures shall not be imposed for a period that is more than four months from the date of the imposition. However, it may be extended to no more than six months when the Authority has taken procedures to examine whether a duty lower than the dumping margin would be sufficient to remove injury. These periods may increase from four months to six months, and from six months to nine months,  in case of a request by exporters representing a significant percentage of the trade of the product under investigation to increase the period of imposition of the provisional measures. Provisional countervailing measures shall not be imposed for more than four months. 
  2. When the conditions determined in the Regulation are fulfilled, definitive measures may be imposed retroactively on dumped or subsidized imports for a period of not more than ninety days prior to the date of the decision to impose provisional measures, and not later than the date of initiation of the investigation. To execute this provision, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall, upon the request of the Authority, register and monitor such imports and provide the necessary reports to the Authority.
  3. Provisional safeguard measures shall be imposed for a period not exceeding two hundred days, during which the investigation procedures are conducted and final findings are issued according to the provisions of the Law and the Regulation.
 
 
 
 
 
  1. The domestic industry - or someone on its behalf – may file a complaint based on the forms prepared by the Department for the purpose of conducting the investigations.
  2. Any of the interested parties - or someone on their behalf - may submit review requests based on the forms prepared by the Department according to the review type.
  3. Complaints and review requests shall be submitted, and investigations and reviews shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Law. The Regulation sets the required provisions that are necessary to implement the requisites of this paragraph.
  4. Duration of investigations procedures shall not exceed twelve months from the date of the notice of initiation of the investigation. The Governor, when needed, may extend the duration of investigation for an additional period/periods, provided that the duration does not exceed in total eighteen months from the date of the notice of initiation of the investigation.
  5. When provisional safeguard measures are imposed, the duration of the investigation procedures shall not exceed the period of the imposition of the provisional safeguard measures.
  6. The duration of review procedures shall not exceed twelve months from the date of the notice of initiation of the review. The Governor - as needed and with the exception for a new exporter review- may extend the duration of the review procedures for an additional period/periods, provided that the duration does not exceed in total fifteen months from the date of the notice of initiation of the review.​

 
 
 
 
 
  1. When the existence of circumvention on the imposed measures on imports destined to the Kingdom is established, the Authority may apply one or more of the following actions: 
  2. Amend the scope of imposition of the definitive measures imposed on  imports of other modified product of the product subject to measures, or parts thereof, from the countries or entities subject or not to the measures, or to be imposed on imports of like product from other countries, whether it  is modified or not;
  3. Increase the level of the definitive measures imposed on an exporter for whom an individual measure is established based on the investigation, up to the level of the country-wide general measure imposed, or to another appropriate level without prejudice to paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Law;
  4. Increase the level of the definitive measure on the product subject to the measure to counteract the absorption of the measure, up to an appropriate level without prejudice to paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Law.
  5. When one of the circumvention practices provided in Article 14 of the Law is established, and where it is established that the imports subject to the anti-circumvention review are still imported at a dumped price relative to their normal value as determined in the anti-dumping investigation based on which the measures were imposed, or still benefiting from the specific subsidy as determined in the countervailing investigation based on which the measures were imposed, and proven that there is injury or serious injury or that the effectiveness of the expected remedial effect of the imposed measures is weakened due to no reflection of the measure’s impact on the volume or prices of the product subject to the measure, the circumvention shall be established  if one of the following situations exist: 
  6. A change in the pattern of trade between countries or parties not subject to the measure and parties in the Kingdom, or between parties in countries subject to measure and parties in the Kingdom, arising from the existence of a practice, a procedure, or an action for which there is no sufficient justification or an objective economic reason other than the imposition of the measures;
  7. A manipulation of customs data and documents in respect of the declaration of value, origin or customs classification of the product subject to the measure;
  8. An absorption of the measures through any means by the exporter or the importer or both.​

Circumvention practice is deemed to occur when an exporter or producer carries out any of the following practices, procedures, or actions, at the initiation or prior to or following the imposition of provisional or definitive measures: 
1. A limited modification of the product subject to the measure with the object of making the modified product fall under a custom tariff classification other than the classification covered by the measures. This modification is inferred to be limited when the exported product, after modification, has the same production methods of the product subject to the measure, uses the same raw materials for production, and has essentially the same apparent characteristics of the product subject to measure, or is a substitute of the product subject to the measure;
2. Exportation, transportation, shipping of the product subject to the measure or parts thereof to the Kingdom through countries that are not subject to the measure;
3. Manipulation of the commercial, shipping or freight documents by the importer and/or the exporter, to declare or show information concerning the product subject to the measures that does not reflect the reality, whether related to the value of the product, its origin, or its customs classification;
4. Reorganization by an exporter or a producer for the pattern or channels of sale in the country subject to the measure for the purpose of exportation of the products to the Kingdom through another exporter or producer that benefit from more advantageous measure than those applied to it;
5. Absorption of the measure. The Regulation specifies situations where measures imposed are deemed to be absorbed; 
6. Assembly or completion of a minor production process on the product subject to the measure within the Kingdom or in a country/countries not subject to the measure, regardless of whether the assembled or completed product obtained the origin of the country not subject to the measure – occurs when the following two conditions are met:
A.  The assembly process, or the minor completion of production began, or its processing substantially increased immediately at the initiation of the investigation, during the investigation, or during the imposition of the measures. Provided that, the parts used for assembly process, or the product for which a minor production process has been done has been imported from a country or countries subject to the measure.
B.  The value added to the assembly process or the minor production process, does not exceed twenty-five percent of the production value, unless the production process of transforming the product to the product subject to measures is substantial.  For the purpose of this article, the value added shall be calculated based only on direct and indirect costs of the production process. The general, administrative and selling costs, packaging costs, and profit are not to be included in value added calculation.
7. Any other form of practices, procedures or actions that aim to circumvent the measures.​

1. The Authority has the right to initiate an anti-circumvention review on its own initiative, or upon a request of an interested party - or on its behalf - or a request submitted by one of the relevant governmental entities, when there is sufficient evidence of the occurrence of one of the circumvention practices as provided in Article 14 of the Law and the existence of evidence of one of the circumvention situation as provided in Paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Law. The Regulation specifies the procedures of the anti-circumvention review.    
2. The Authority has the right, in addition to the request for import monitoring mentioned in Paragraph 2 of Article 18 of the Law, to request from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority the registration of imports subject to an anti-circumvention review and/or to request securities on these imports from the date of initiation of the anti-circumvention review. Where the result of an anti-circumvention review justifies amending the scope and/or level of the measures, the amended measures shall be collected retroactively from the date of initiation of the anti-circumvention review based on the Chairperson’s decision. 
3. When it is determined that a practice of circumvention of measures in accordance with paragraph 5 of Article 14 of the Law exists, the level of measures on imports subject to the anti-circumvention review shall be re-evaluated by using the normal value or the amount of subsidy that was determined in the investigation findings based on which the measures were imposed, except if any of the producers, exporters and importers request an exemption based on paragraph 5 of this Article to submit evidence to the Authority within the period specified by the Authority that proves that a modified normal value or a modified amount of subsidy should be used in the anti-circumvention review.
4. When it is determined that one of the practices of circumvention as described under Article 14 of the Law exists, with the exception of paragraph 5 of that Article, the scope of measures or level of the measures imposed shall be amended up to the level of the country-wide general measure imposed on the exporting country or to another level, on a case-by-case basis, without prejudice to paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Law. 
5. Producers, exporters and importers of the product subject to an anti-circumvention review have the right to submit exemption requests to the Authority from the import registration proceedings or from payment of securities during the anti-circumvention review, or from applying the amended measures on its imports as result of the anti-circumvention review. The Authority may -– based on the Chairperson’s decision - grant this exemption to the producer, the exporter or the importer, on a case-by-case basis, provided that it is proven that it did not participate  in circumvention.
6. Without prejudice to the authority’s right to conduct an anti-circumvention review based on this Chapter and to take the necessary actions in this regard, in the event that the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority detects that an importer has practiced circumvention to evade payment of the applied measures or part of them - provided that this is clearly proven based on evidence and information related to the concerned shipment - the Governor may issue a decision to collect the evaded measures by the importer of the seized shipment, and to impose a penalty equivalent to double the value of the evaded measures.  The penalty shall be doubled in the case of repeated circumvention practice by the same importer. 
In the event that the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority finds that an importer is practicing any of the circumvention practices to evade payment of the measures applied or part of them, it shall - before releasing the seized shipment subject to circumvention - take the necessary securities from the importer at a value equal to the evaded measures and the penalty, until the issuance of the Governor’s decision regarding the measures and the penalty. The Regulation specifies the necessary conditions and procedures for the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority to submit to the Authority the documents indicating the cases of the seizure.
7. The Governor shall issue its decision regarding cases of the detected circumvention practices within 60 days from the date of receiving the case of seizure by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority. In case an additional investigation is needed and additional documents and evidence are requested from the exporter, importer, or the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, the Governor may extend this period for up to 120 days upon a decision issued by the Governor to extend this period before the end of the original period, and to inform the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority and the importer of this decision. 
8. If the Governor does not take a decision within the two periods referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, it is considered that the case of circumvention is not established, and the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall return the securities of the measures and the penalty to the importer.
9. As soon as the Governor’s decision regarding the practice of circumvention is issued, the Authority shall notify the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the importer of the decision. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall implement the decision immediately, as follows:
A. In the event that the Governor decides that the circumvention practice to evade the measures is not proven, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall return the securities to the importer.
B. In the event that the Governor decides that the circumvention practice to evade the measures is proven, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall collect the value of the evaded measures and the penalty stated in the Governor's decision from the securities that were taken from the importer or by any other appropriate means.
10. In the event that the importer concerned with the circumvention practice does not provide the necessary securities to the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority equal to the value of the evaded measures and the penalty within ten days from the date of notification by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, the latter shall treat the shipment subject to the circumvention practice based on Chapter 14 of the Common Customs Law.  Thereafter, based on the Governor’s decision finding the existence of circumvention practice, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall collect the value of the evaded measures and the penalty from the value of the seized shipment.
11. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall collect the measures and penalties stipulated in Paragraph 6 of this Article.

 
 
 
 
 

  1. Provisional and definitive measures shall be imposed through a decree of the Chairperson, which shall include information on the product subject to the measures including the product description and customs classification/s under which the product subject to measures is imported. The decree shall specify the period of the application of the measures including the period of retroactive imposition of the measures, nature (i.e., provisional or definitive) and the type of measures, whether as a percentage, and/or value, restrictive quantities, price undertakings, securities, or combination of the previous, or any other form relevant to the type of the investigation. Moreover, the decree shall identify the applied measures and the parties to whom the measures apply, including the measures that are imposed on specific exporters or producers or those imposed as country-wide general measures on all imports from the concerned countries, and any other criteria or requirements related to the measures.
  2. The public notice of imposition of provisional and definitive measures includes the decree issued by the Chairperson and a summary of the preliminary or final findings of the Authority including the main facts and provisions of the Law and the Regulation on the basis of which the findings are concluded, taking into consideration the confidentiality of information. The notice and the Chairperson’s decree shall be published in the Official Gazette and all Chairperson’s decrees shall enter into force from the day following of the publication unless the decree specifies other enforcement dates. 
  3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply to the decisions regarding the initiation of investigations and reviews, their termination and suspension, and termination or non-imposition or amendments of the measures, taking into account the necessary amendments to be made according to the nature of each decision.
  4. In addition to issuing a public notice, the Authority is obligated, in the safeguard investigations, to immediately notify the Committee on Safeguards in the WTO of the decisions and proceedings taken regarding safeguard investigations and reviews in this regard, as specified in the Regulation.

  1. The provisional and definitive measures imposed based on the Law shall be implemented and collected by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority on imports destined to the Kingdom. Those measures shall be collected independently from customs duties and other services fees or taxes. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall notify the Authority on a monthly basis with information concerning the procedures of implementation and collection, including the quantity and value of imports subject to the measures and the volume and value of the imposed and collected duties.
  2. When measures are imposed in the form of price undertakings, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall, upon request by the Authority, register imports of the exporters from which undertakings were accepted and submit monthly reports thereon to the Authority.
  3. When measures are imposed in the form of quantitative restrictions, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority shall - based on a decision of the Authority – register the imports of the product subject to the measures from all sources, follow up and monitor the level of the quotas from all sources and submit monthly reports to the Authority. The Authority, in the event of applying quantitative restrictions, may require prior import licenses for the imports of the product subject to the measure in order to organize and monitor the quotas applied based on the Chairperson decision.
  4. Chairperson’s decrees related to the imposition of the measures shall be applied on imports destined to the Kingdom, as long as these products have not cleared out from the customs circle before the enforcement date of the Chairperson’s decrees imposing definitive and provisional measures and other measures with retroactive effects based on paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the Law.

  1. For purposes of conducting investigations, the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, at the time of the initiation of an investigation or at the time of the imposition of provisional or definitive measures, or as necessary, and at the request of the Authority, shall apply a mechanism to monitor customs codes and create sub-codes for the product under investigation or subject to measures. The Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority shall provide the Authority with monthly reports to follow up with the monitoring procedures and the change in volume and price of the product under investigation or subject to measure.
  2. For the purpose of anti-circumvention investigations, the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, at the time of the initiation of the investigation or at the time of imposition of provisional or definitive measures, and at the request of the Authority, shall apply an appropriate mechanism to monitor customs codes or create sub-codes for products which are related to the product under investigation or subject to measure based on the Authority’s discretion. The Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority shall provide the Authority with monthly reports containing the required information on the monitoring procedures.

 
 
 
 
 

  1. Public interest persons may make themselves known during the period specified by the Regulation in the notice of initiation of investigations, expiry review, and review of extension of safeguard measures. 
  2. Public interest persons shall submit information supported by documents and evidence to the Authority concerning the effects of the imposition of measures on the public interest, and whether imposing, extending, or not imposing or terminating the measures is beneficial to the public interest, within the time periods set forth by the Authority and in accordance with the Regulation.
  3. The non-confidential information concerning the public interest shall be maintained and made available in a public file devoted to this purpose. Interested parties and public interest persons that are taking part in the investigations or expiry reviews or reviews of extension of safeguard measures, shall have access to the public file and may provide their comments in accordance with the rules and procedures set forth in the Regulation.

  1. The Authority shall submit to the Chairperson information of public interest that was received based on this Chapter during the investigation, expiry review, or review of extension of the safeguard measures; along with the final results of the investigation, expiry review and review of extension of safeguard measures in accordance with the Regulation’s provisions. The Authority shall not evaluate information of public interest that was received in accordance with this Chapter, and such information shall not affect the final results of investigation, expiry review and review of extension the safeguard measures.
  2. When making the decision to impose or extend definitive measures, the Chairperson may make a decision in relation to public interest considerations. Accordingly, the Chairperson may impose, extend, not impose, or not extend the measures, or reduce the period of imposition of the measures, or reduce the level of the measures, and may request further information in this regard from any entity found appropriate, and make a justified decision in relation to public interest according to its discretion and based on the available information to determine which decision is more beneficial to public interest.

  1. When the Chairperson decides to reduce the level of measures based on public interest considerations contrary to the final findings of the investigations, expiry review and the review of extension of safeguard measures, the Authority shall, before publishing the Chairperson’s decision, re-determine the measures imposed based on the percentage of reduction of the level as decided by the Chairperson.
  2. When the Chairperson decides not to impose or extend definitive measures based on public interest considerations, the domestic industry shall not be entitled to file a complaint regarding the same product under the investigation from the same source for at least six months from the date of the Chairperson’s decision not to impose or extend measures due to public interest considerations.​
 
 
 
 
 

  1. The Authority and all participants that have access to investigations, including Board members, employees, contractors, and representatives of the Authority, shall protect and not disclose confidential information regarding investigations or reviews, including confidential information of the interested parties, public interest persons, or the reports prepared by the Authority, or confidential information received by virtue of jurisdiction or employment in trade remedies. 
  2. The Authority shall adopt the necessary procedures to protect confidential information and to regulate its circulation and access by those who have access to confidential information. The Authority shall separate the confidential data files from the public files that are accessible to the interested parties and public interest persons participating in the investigation or review.​

  1. The disclosure of any confidential information is prohibited unless there is written consent from the party having submitted the confidential information, or based on a final judicial decision or a binding order from the competent court requiring the disclosure of such information, provided that the party who owns the confidential information is notified of this decision or order.
  2. Without prejudice to any more severe penalty under relevant laws, the Law on Penalties for Publishing and Disclosing Confidential Documents and Information shall apply to violators of Paragraph 1 of Article 22 of the Law. 
  3. The Regulation sets out the conditions under which information is considered confidential and the conditions in which the interested parties and public interest persons are obliged to provide non-confidential summaries in investigations and reviews.
 
 
 
 
 

  1. Any interested parties who participated in an investigation or review and is directly affected by a final decision of the Chairperson, may submit a grievance to the Chairperson against its decision concerning final results of an investigation or review within thirty days of the date of publication of the decision in the Official Gazette. 
  2. The Chairperson shall decide on the grievance submitted in accordance with Paragraph 1 of this Article with a justified decision within a period not exceeding sixty days from the date of its submission. If no decision is taken within that period, the grievance shall be considered rejected.
Any interested parties who participated in an investigation or review and is directly affected by a final decision of the Chairperson, may submit, within thirty days starting from the date in which they were notified of the Chairperson’s decision in connection to their grievance or from the date of the expiry of the 60-day period without the Chairperson making a decision on the grievance, a claim of cancelation of the Chairperson’s decision to the competent Administrative Court according to the applicable laws..

  1. The importer who is subject to the Governor’s decision of imposition of a fine and collection of evaded measures may, according to paragraph 6 of Article 15 of the Law, submit a grievance to the Governor within thirty days from the date on which the importer was notified of the Governor’s decision. 
  2. The Governor shall decide on the grievance submitted in accordance with Paragraph 1 of this Article with a justified decision within a period not exceeding sixty days from the date of its submission. If no decision is taken within that period, the grievance shall be considered rejected.
  3. The importer who is subject to the Governor’s decision of imposition of a fine and collection of evaded measures may submit, within thirty days starting from the date in which the importer was notified of the Governor’s decision in connection to its grievance or from the date of the expiry of the 60-day period without the Governor making a decision on the grievance, a claim of cancelation of the Governor’s decision before the competent Administrative Court according to the applicable laws.
Interested parties who are affected by procedures made by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority in applying and collecting the imposed trade remedies measures, may object on such procedures in accordance with the applicable provisions in customs procedures.
 
 
 
 
 

  1. The domestic industry has the right to submit a trade remedies complaint against an imported product from specific sources either under this Law or under the Common Law. It is not permissible to examine complaints and conduct investigations targeting the same imported product from the same specific source in parallel under both laws.
  2. Measures shall not be imposed concurrently under this Law and the Common Law on imports destined to the Kingdom against the same product and from same sources to remedy the same case of dumping or specific subsidy or the increase in imports.
The Authority shall coordinate and cooperate with the relevant governmental entities, each in their respective capacity, to provide the necessary assistance to the domestic industry and the Technical Secretariat Office in the conduct of GCC investigations, including providing information for conducting GCC investigations and taking the necessary implementing procedures to apply the measures in accordance with the Common Law.​

 
 
 
 
 

In defending Saudi exports in relation to trade remedies, the Authority shall carry out the following duties:
  1. Represent the Kingdom in defending its exports in trade remedies proceedings and investigations initiated by importing countries.
  2. Provide technical advice and support to exporters concerned by trade remedies proceedings and investigations initiated by importing countries against their exports. 

The Authority shall abide by the mandatory time periods set forth in the Law, the Regulation and WTO agreements in relation to trade remedies. For that purpose, the Authority shall communicate directly with all interested parties including governmental and private foreign entities and the WTO in regards with trade remedies. It may also, for that purpose, request, receive, collect, access and maintain all confidential and non-confidential information needed to perform its activities relating to trade remedies from relevant foreign governmental entities, interested parties, public interest persons and relevant governmental entities.
All time periods shall be extended if their last day fall on a public holiday or a weekend, as defined under the applicable Saudi law, to the day following the end of the holiday. The last day of any time period shall end at (3:00 PM) in the Kingdom’s timing. 
  1. The Authority represents the Kingdom before the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO or any other appropriate disputes settlement bodies in dispute settlement proceedings related to trade remedies measures imposed by the Kingdom or imposed against the Kingdom’s exports, or matters affecting the interests of the Kingdom.
  2. The Governor takes the decision to resort to dispute settlement in the WTO or any other body concerned in disputes settlement resulting from measures applied by foreign importing countries against the Kingdom's exports, and makes a decision in that regard, including resorting to consultations, arbitration or any types and levels of disputes settlement. The Governor takes decisions related to the defense of the interests of the Kingdom with the WTO or with any other judicial body or any other body concerned with disputes settlement, or any litigation, arbitration, consultations and other procedures made by foreign exporting countries against the measures imposed by the Authority.
  3. The Chairperson shall, based on the Governor’s recommendation, amend, suspend or terminate measures and take all necessary actions and procedures to comply with a final and binding decision issued by the competent Administrative Court or the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO or other disputes settlement bodies in relation to investigations and reviews conducted by the Kingdom or measures imposed by the Kingdom; or based on a final agreement reached further to consultations under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism or other disputes settlement bodies. 

  1. The investigation procedures provided in the Law and Regulation shall not prevent customs clearance of imports of the product under investigation or review.
  2. Measures applied on any imported product shall not be refunded, or waived fully or partially, unless on the basis of the provisions of the Law or the Regulation.   

The provisions of the Anti-Dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidy and Countervailing Measures, and the Agreement on Safeguards and other provisions related to trade remedies in the WTO, shall apply in matters that are not provided in the Law and Regulation.

.The Board issues the Regulation within ninety days of the date of publication of the Law in the Official Gazette

The Law enters into force ninety days after its publication in the Official Gazette.​
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