NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLES 18.5 AND 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS

REPLIES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED STATES[1]
REGARDING THE NOTIFICATION OF CABO VERDE[2]

The following communication, dated and received on 29 October 2024, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Cabo Verde.

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First, we would like to thank the delegation of the United States for its attention to the laws and regulations on the anti-dumping practices of Cabo Verde, as notified in document _G/ADP/N/1/CPV/1-G/SCM/N/1/CPV/1.[3]

Question 1

Please provide the URL, if applicable, of the Cabo Verde official gazette where trade remedy proceeding updates will be updated.

Reply

Trade remedies, as administrative acts, are published in the Cabo Verde official gazette, as stipulated in the Constitution.

The URL of the Cabo Verde official gazette is: https://kiosk.incv.cv/.

To date, the country has not opened any investigation procedures on anti-dumping or countervailing measures.

Question 2

Regarding Article 100, please provide additional clarification on how parties may register to participate in a trade remedy investigation and how parties may find information about ongoing trade remedy proceedings.

Reply

The Customs Code and its Regulations do not contain provisions on the procedures and the manner of participation of parties in investigations.

The participation of parties in administrative and judicial procedures and the forms of representation are regulated in general legislation, specifically the Code of Administrative Procedure, approved by Legislative Decree No. 1/2023 of 2 October (https://kiosk.incv.cv/V/2023/10/2/1.1.103.5264/p2130), which provides for the right of stakeholders to information on all progress and decisions affecting investigation processes.

Under Articles 79 and 80 of this Code, interested parties have the right to consult processes that do not contain documents that are classified or that reveal trade secrets, or secrets related to literary, artistic or scientific property.

Interested parties thus have the right to request and obtain a certificate or authenticated declaration of the documents contained in the process to which they have access.

Question 3

Please expand upon the national interest test, as introduced in subsection (c) of Article 101, including the factors examined to determine the "positive and negative effects of dumping" as described in Article 106.

Reply

The concept of national interest generally results from weighing up the positive and negative effects of dumping, bearing two elements in mind:

-        on the one hand, the injury that affects domestic producers of the product in question and;

-        on the other hand, the benefit to consumers of obtaining products at lower prices.

Under Article 122 of the Customs Code Regulations, when determining national interest, an assessment of the various interests taken as a whole shall be considered, including the interests of the domestic industry, both upstream and downstream, and of users and consumers

Question 4

Regarding Article 107, please provide a timeframe or deadline for when provisional anti-dumping measures may be applied during an investigation process.

Reply

There are no special provisions in national legislation on a timeframe or deadline for when provisional anti-dumping measures may be applied during an investigation process. However:

-        Under the combined provisions of Articles 334 and 336 of the Customs Code and Article 97 of the Customs Code Regulations, and in application of Article 7, paragraph 7.4 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, the application of provisional measures shall be limited to as short a period as possible, not exceeding four months or, on decision of the authorities concerned, upon request by exporters representing a significant percentage of the trade involved, to a period not exceeding six months. When the authorities, in the course of an investigation, examine whether a duty lower than the margin of dumping would be sufficient to remove injury, these periods may be six and nine months respectively.

Question 5

Please clarify the expected timeline by which the investigating authority intends to conclude and issue final determinations on anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations.

Reply

There are also no special provisions in national legislation on the timeline to conclude and issue final determinations on anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations.

Investigations shall, except in special circumstances, be concluded within one year, and in no case more than 18 months, after their initiation, in accordance with the combined provisions of Articles 334 and 336 of the Customs Code and Article 97 of the Customs Code Regulations, and in application of Article 5, paragraph 5.10 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

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