h1 id="wb-cont">North American Free Trade Agreement

Part Seven: Administrative and Institutional Provisions

(a) such amendment shall apply to goods from another Party only if the amending statute specifies that it applies to goods from that Party or from the Parties to this Agreement;

(b) the amending Party notifies in writing the Parties to which the amendment applies of the amending statute as far in advance as possible of the date of enactment of such statute;

(c) following notification, the amending Party, on request of any Party to which the amendment applies, consults with that Party prior to the enactment of the amending statute; and

(d) such amendment, as applicable to that other Party, is not inconsistent with

(i) the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the Antidumping Code) or the Agreement on the Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI and XXIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the Subsidies Code), or any successor agreement to which all the original signatories to this Agreement are party, or

(ii) the object and purpose of this Agreement and this Chapter, which is to establish fair and predictable conditions for the progressive liberalization of trade between the Parties to this Agreement while maintaining effective and fair disciplines on unfair trade practices, such object and purpose to be ascertained from the provisions of this Agreement, its preamble and objectives, and the practices of the Parties.

(a) the amendment does not conform to the provisions of Article 1902(2)(d)(i) or (ii); or

(b) such amendment has the function and effect of overturning a prior decision of a panel made pursuant to Article 1904 and does not conform to the provisions of Article 1902(2)(d)(i) or (ii).

(a) the two Parties shall immediately begin consultations and shall seek to achieve a mutually satisfactory solution to the matter within 90 days of the issuance of the panel's final declaratory opinion. Such solution may include seeking corrective legislation with respect to the statute of the amending Party;

(b) if corrective legislation is not enacted within nine months from the end of the 90day consultation period referred to in subparagraph (a) and no other mutually satisfactory solution has been reached, the Party that requested the panel may

(i) take comparable legislative or equivalent executive action, or

(ii) terminate this Agreement with regard to the amending Party on 60day written notice to that Party.

(a) the judicial review procedures of any Party, or

(b) cases appealed under those procedures,

(a) neither involved Party seeks panel review of a final determination;

(b) a revised final determination is issued as a direct result of judicial review of the original final determination by a court of the importing Party in cases where neither involved Party sought panel review of that original final determination; or

(c) a final determination is issued as a direct result of judicial review that was commenced in a court of the importing Party before the date of entry into force of this Agreement.

(a) (i) a member of the panel was guilty of gross misconduct, bias, or a serious conflict of interest, or otherwise materially violated the rules of conduct,

(ii) the panel seriously departed from a fundamental rule of procedure, or

(iii) the panel manifestly exceeded its powers, authority or jurisdiction set out in this Article, for example by failing to apply the appropriate standard of review, and

(b) any of the actions set out in subparagraph (a) has materially affected the panel's decision and threatens the integrity of the binational panel review process,

(a) 30 days for the filing of the complaint;

(b) 30 days for designation or certification of the administrative record and its filing with the panel;

(c) 60 days for the complainant to file its brief;

(d) 60 days for the respondent to file its brief;

(e) 15 days for the filing of reply briefs;

(f) 15 to 30 days for the panel to convene and hear oral argument; and

(g) 90 days for the panel to issue its written decision.

(a) amend its statutes or regulations to ensure that existing procedures concerning the refund, with interest, of antidumping or countervailing duties operate to give effect to a final panel decision that a refund is due;

(b) amend its statutes or regulations to ensure that its courts shall give full force and effect, with respect to any person within its jurisdiction, to all sanctions imposed pursuant to the laws of the other Parties to enforce provisions of any protective order or undertaking that such other Party has promulgated or accepted in order to permit access for purposes of panel review or of the extraordinary challenge procedure to confidential, personal, business proprietary or other privileged information;

(c) amend its statutes or regulations to ensure that

(i) domestic procedures for judicial review of a final determination may not be commenced until the time for requesting a panel under paragraph 4 has expired, and

(ii) as a prerequisite to commencing domestic judicial review procedures to review a final determination, a Party or other person intending to commence such procedures shall provide notice of such intent to the Parties concerned and to other persons entitled to commence such review procedures of the same final determination no later than 10 days prior to the latest date on which a panel may be requested; and

(d) make the further amendments set out in its Schedule to Annex 1904.15.

(a) has prevented the establishment of a panel requested by the complaining Party;

(b) has prevented a panel requested by the complaining Party from rendering a final decision;

(c) has prevented the implementation of the decision of a panel requested by the complaining Party or denied it binding force and effect with respect to the particular matter that was before the panel; or

(d) has resulted in a failure to provide opportunity for review of a final determination by a panel or court of competent jurisdiction that is independent of the competent investigating authorities, that examines the basis for the competent investigating authority's determination and whether the competent investigating authority properly applied domestic antidumping and countervailing duty law in reaching the challenged determination, and that employs the relevant standard of review identified in Article 1911,

(a) the operation of Article 1904 with respect to the Party complained against; or

(b) the application to the Party complained against of such benefits under this Agreement as may be appropriate under the circumstances.

(a) the suspension of benefits by the complaining Party pursuant to paragraph 8(b) is manifestly excessive; or

(b) the Party complained against has corrected the problem or problems with respect to which the committee has made an affirmative finding.

(a) binational panel or extraordinary challenge committee review under Article 1904 shall be stayed

(i) in the case of review of any final determination of the complaining Party requested by the Party complained against, if such review was requested after the date on which consultations were requested pursuant to paragraph 1, and in no case more than 150 days prior to an affirmative finding by the special committee, or

(ii) in the case of review of any final determination of the Party complained against requested by the complaining Party, at the request of the complaining Party; and

(b) the time set out in Article 1904(4) or Annex 1904.13 for requesting panel or committee review shall not run unless and until resumed in accordance with paragraph 12.

(a) in the case of review of any final determination of the complaining Party requested by the Party complained against, at the request of either Party, or of a party to the panel review under Article 1904; or

(b) in the case of review of any final determination of the Party complained against requested by the complaining Party, at the request of the complaining Party, or of a person of the complaining Party that is a party to the panel review under Article 1904.

(a) final determinations of a competent investigating authority made after the date of entry into force of this Agreement; and

(b) with respect to declaratory opinions under Article 1903, amendments to antidumping or countervailing duty statutes enacted after the date of entry into force of this Agreement.

(a) the potential to develop more effective rules and disciplines concerning the use of government subsidies; and

(b) the potential for reliance on a substitute system of rules for dealing with unfair transborder pricing practices and government subsidization.

(a) publish notice of initiation of investigations in the importing Party's official journal, setting forth the nature of the proceeding, the legal authority under which the proceeding is initiated, and a description of the goods at issue;

(b) provide notice of the times for submissions of information and for decisions that the competent investigating authorities are expressly required by statute or regulations to make;

(c) provide explicit written notice and instructions as to the information required from interested parties and reasonable time to respond to requests for information;

(d) accord reasonable access to information, noting that in this context

(i) "reasonable access" means access during the course of the investigation, to the extent practicable, so as to permit an opportunity to present facts and arguments as set out in paragraph (e); when it is not practicable to provide access to information during the investigation in such time as to permit an opportunity to present facts and arguments, reasonable access shall mean in time to permit the adversely affected party to make an informed decision as to whether to seek judicial or panel review, and

(ii) "access to information" means access to representatives determined by the competent investigating authority to be qualified to have access to information received by that competent investigating authority, including access to confidential (business proprietary) information, but does not include information of such high degree of sensitivity that its release would lead to substantial and irreversible harm to the owner or which is required to be kept confidential in accordance with domestic law of a Party; any privileges arising under the domestic law of the importing Party relating to communications between the competent investigating authorities and a lawyer in the employ of, or providing advice to, those authorities may be maintained;

(e) provide an opportunity for interested parties to present facts and arguments, to the extent time permits, including an opportunity to comment on the preliminary determination of dumping or of subsidization;

(f) protect confidential (business proprietary) information received by the competent investigating authority to ensure that there is no disclosure except to representatives determined by the competent investigating authority to be qualified;

(g) prepare administrative records, including recommendations of official advisory bodies that may be required to be kept, and any record of ex parte meetings that may be required to be kept;

(h) provide disclosure of relevant information, including an explanation of the calculation or the methodology used to determine the margin of dumping or the amount of the subsidy, on which any preliminary or final determination of dumping or of subsidization is based, within a reasonable time after a request by interested parties;

(i) provide a statement of reasons concerning the final determination of dumping or subsidization; and

(j) provide a statement of reasons for final determinations concerning material injury to a domestic industry, threat of material injury to a domestic industry or material retardation of the establishment of such an industry.

(a) all documentary or other information presented to or obtained by the competent investigating authority in the course of the administrative proceeding, including any governmental memoranda pertaining to the case, and including any record of ex parte meetings as may be required to be kept;

(b) a copy of the final determination of the competent investigating authority, including reasons for the determination;

(c) all transcripts or records of conferences or hearings before the competent investigating authority; and

(d) all notices published in the official journal of the importing Party in connection with the administrative proceeding;

(a) the importing Party; or

(b) a Party whose goods are the subject of the final determination;

(a) an application for protective order for information supplied by the United States or its persons covering business proprietary and other privileged information;

(b) an undertaking for information supplied by Canada or its persons covering confidential, personal, business proprietary and other privileged information; or

(c) an undertaking for information supplied by Mexico or its persons covering confidential, business proprietary and other privileged information.

(a) a determination by the Deputy Minister pursuant to section 41;

(b) a redetermination by the Deputy Minister pursuant to section 59; and

(c) a review by the Deputy Minister of an undertaking pursuant to section 53(1).

(a) elimination of the possibility of imposing duties within the fiveday period after the acceptance of a petition;

(b) substitution of the term Initial Resolution ("Resolución de Inicio") for the term Provisional Resolution ("Resolución Provisional") and the term Provisional Resolution ("Resolución Provisional ") for the term Resolution Reviewing the Provisional Resolution ("Resolución que revisa a la Resolución Provisional");

(c) full participation in the administrative process for interested parties, as well as the right to administrative appeal and judicial review of final determinations of investigations, reviews, product coverage or other final decisions affecting them;

(d) elimination of the possibility of imposing provisional duties before the issuance of a preliminary determination;

(e) the right to immediate access to review of final determinations by binational panels for interested parties, without the need to exhaust first the administrative appeal;

(f) explicit and adequate timetables for determinations of the competent investigating authority and for the submission of questionnaires, evidence and comments by interested parties, as well as an opportunity for them to present facts and arguments in support of their positions prior to any final determination, to the extent time permits, including an opportunity to be adequately informed in a timely manner of and to comment on all aspects of preliminary determinations of dumping or subsidization;

(g) written notice to interested parties of any of the actions or resolutions rendered by the competent investigating authority, including initiation of an administrative review as well as its conclusion;

(h) disclosure meetings with interested parties by the competent investigating authority conducting its investigations and reviews, within seven calendar days after the date of publication in the Federal Official Journal ("Diario Oficial de la Federación") of preliminary and final determinations, to explain the margins of dumping and the amount of subsidies calculations and to provide the interested parties with copies of sample calculations and, if used, computer programs;

(i) timely access by eligible counsel of interested parties during the course of the proceeding (including disclosure meetings) and on appeal, either before a national tribunal or a panel, to all information contained in the administrative record of the proceeding, including confidential information, excepting proprietary information of such a high degree of sensitivity that its release would lead to substantial and irreversible harm to the owner as well as government classified information, subject to an undertaking for confidentiality that strictly forbids use of the information for personal benefit and its disclosure to persons who are not authorized to receive such information; and for sanctions that are specific to violations of undertakings in proceedings before national tribunals or panels;

(j) timely access by interested parties during the course of the proceeding, to all non-confidential information contained in the administrative record and access to such information by interested parties or their representatives in any proceeding after 90 days following the issuance of the final determination;

(k) a mechanism requiring that any person submitting documents to the competent investigating authority shall simultaneously serve on interested persons, including foreign interests, any submissions after the complaint;

(l) preparation of summaries of ex parte meetings held between the competent investigating authority and any interested party and the inclusion in the administrative record of such summaries, which shall be made available to parties to the proceeding; if such summaries contain business proprietary information, the documents must be disclosed to a party's representative under an undertaking to ensure confidentiality;

(m) maintenance by the competent investigating authority of an administrative record as defined in this Chapter and a requirement that the final determination be based solely on the administrative record;

(n) informing interested parties in writing of all data and information the administering authority requires them to submit for the investigation, review, product coverage proceeding, or other antidumping or countervailing duty proceeding;

(o) the right to an annual individual review on request by the interested parties through which they can obtain their own dumping margin or countervailing duty rate, or can change the margin or rate they received in the investigation or a previous review, reserving to the competent investigating authority the ability to initiate a review, at any time, on its own motion and requiring that the competent investigating authority issue a notice of initiation within a reasonable period of time after the request;

(p) application of determinations issued as a result of judicial, administrative, or panel review, to the extent they are relevant to interested parties in addition to the plaintiff, so that all interested parties will benefit;

(q) issuance of binding decisions by the competent investigating authority if an interested party seeks clarification outside the context of an antidumping or countervailing duty investigation or review with respect to whether a particular product is covered by an antidumping or countervailing duty order;

(r) a detailed statement of reasons and the legal basis for final determinations in a manner sufficient to permit interested parties to make an informed decision as to whether to seek judicial or panel review, including an explanation of methodological or policy issues raised in the calculation of dumping or subsidization;

(s) written notice to interested parties and publication in the Federal Official Journal ("Diario Oficial de la Federación") of initiation of investigations setting forth the nature of the proceeding, the legal authority under which the proceeding is initiated, and a description of the product at issue;

(t) documentation in writing of all advisory bodies' decisions or recommendations, including the basis for the decisions, and release of such written decisions to parties to the proceeding; all decisions or recommendations of any advisory body shall be placed in the administrative record and made available to parties to the proceeding; and

(u) a standard of review to be applied by binational panels as set out in subparagraph (c) of the definition of "standard of review" in Annex 1911.

(a) the procedures shall assure a right to at least one hearing before the special committee as well as the opportunity to provide initial and rebuttal written submissions;

(b) the procedures shall assure that the special committee shall prepare an initial report typically within 60 days of the appointment of the last member, and shall afford the Parties 14 days to comment on that report prior to issuing a final report 30 days after presentation of the initial report;

(c) the special committee's hearings, deliberations, and initial report, and all written submissions to and communications with the special committee shall be confidential;

(d) unless the Parties to the dispute otherwise agree, the decision of the special committee shall be published 10 days after it is transmitted to the disputing Parties, along with any separate opinions of individual members and any written views that either Party may wish to be published; and

(e) unless the Parties to the dispute otherwise agree, meetings and hearings of the special committee shall take place at the office of the Section of the Secretariat of the Party complained against.

(a) in the case of Canada, the relevant provisions of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, and any successor statutes;

(b) in the case of the United States, the relevant provisions of Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, and any successor statutes;

(c) in the case of Mexico, the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Act Implementing Article 131 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States ("Ley Reglamentaria del Artículo 131 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en Materia de Comercio Exterior"), as amended, and any successor statutes; and

(d) the provisions of any other statute that provides for judicial review of final determinations under subparagraph (a), (b) or (c), or indicates the standard of review to be applied to such determinations;

(a) in the case of Canada (i) the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, or its successor, or (ii) the Deputy Minister of National Revenue for Customs and Excise as defined in the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, or the Deputy Minister's successor;

(b) in the case of the United States

(i) the International Trade Administration of the United States Department of Commerce, or its successor, or

(ii) the United States International Trade Commission, or its successor; and

(c) in the case of Mexico, the designated authority within the Secretariat of Trade and Industrial Development ("Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial"), or its successor;

(a) in the case of Canada, the relevant provisions of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, and any successor statutes;

(b) in the case of the United States, section 303 and the relevant provisions of Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, and any successor statutes;

(c) in the case of Mexico, the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Act Implementing Article 131 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States ("Ley Reglamentaria del Artículo 131 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en Materia de Comercio Exterior"), as amended, and any successor statutes; and

(d) the provisions of any other statute that provides for judicial review of final determinations under subparagraph (a), (b) or (c), or indicates the standard of review to be applied to such determinations;

(a) in the case of Canada,

(i) an order or finding of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal under subsection 43(1) of the Special Import Measures Act,

(ii) an order by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal under subsection 76(4) of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, continuing an order or finding made under subsection 43(1) of the Act with or without amendment,

(iii) a determination by the Deputy Minister of National Revenue for Customs and Excise pursuant to section 41 of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended,

(iv) a redetermination by the Deputy Minister pursuant to section 59 of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended,

(v) a decision by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal pursuant to subsection 76(3) of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, not to initiate a review,

(vi) a reconsideration by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal pursuant to subsection 91(3) of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended, and

(vii) a review by the Deputy Minister of an undertaking pursuant to subsection 53(1) of the Special Import Measures Act , as amended;

(b) in the case of the United States,

(i) a final affirmative determination by the International Trade Administration of the United States Department of Commerce or by the United States International Trade Commission under section 705 or 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, including any negative part of such a determination,

(ii) a final negative determination by the International Trade Administration of the United States Department of Commerce or by the United States International Trade Commission under section 705 or 735 of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, including any affirmative part of such a determination,

(iii) a final determination, other than a determination in (iv), under section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended,

(iv) a determination by the United States International Trade Commission under section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, not to review a determination based on changed circumstances, and

(v) a final determination by the International Trade Administration of the United States Department of Commerce as to whether a particular type of merchandise is within the class or kind of merchandise described in an existing finding of dumping or antidumping or countervailing duty order; and

(c) in the case of the Mexico,

(i) a final resolution regarding antidumping or countervailing duties investigations by the Secretar a de Comercio y Fomento Industrial ("Secretariat of Trade and Industrial Development"), pursuant to Article 13 of the Ley Reglamentaria del Artículo 131 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en Materia de Comercio Exterior (" Foreign Trade Act Implementing Article 131 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States "), as amended,

(ii) a final resolution regarding an annual administrative review of antidumping or countervailing duties by the Secretariat of Trade and Industrial Development ("Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial"), as described in paragraph (o) of its Schedule to Annex 1904.15, and

(iii) a final resolution by the Secretariat of Trade and Industrial Development ("Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial"), as to whether a particular type of merchandise is within the class or kind of merchandise described in an existing antidumping or countervailing duty resolution; and

(a) in the case of Canada, the grounds set out in subsection 18.1(4) of the Federal Court Act , as amended, with respect to all final determinations;

(b) in the case of the United States,

(i) the standard set out in section 516A(b)(l)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, with the exception of a determination referred to in (ii), and

(ii) the standard set out in section 516A(b)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended, with respect to a determination by the United States International Trade Commission not to initiate a review pursuant to section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 , as amended; and

(c) in the case of the Mexico, the standard set out in Article 238 of the Federal Fiscal Code ("Código Fiscal de la Federación"), or any successor statutes, based solely on the administrative record.

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