The Philippines has formally notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its initiation of a preliminary safeguard investigation on the importation of cement from various countries.
The WTO in its website said its Committee on Safeguards received on Nov. 4, 2024 a communication from the Permanent Mission of the Philippines on the investigation.
The investigation has been initiated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to determine whether or not safeguard measures on imported cement are warranted.
The WTO circulated the notification at the request of the delegation of the Philippines.
The notice of initiation of preliminary safeguard investigation was published on Oct. 31, 2024.
Covered by the investigation are cement classified under Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature 2523.2990 and 2523.9000.
The WTO said the Philippines initiated the investigation on the basis of import data obtained from official sources and information submitted by members of the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (Cemap) that increased imports of cement are a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry in terms of declining market share, production sales, capacity utilization, profitability, price depression, suppression and undercutting.
The WTO said a safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or is threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry.
During a safeguard investigation, importers, exporters and other interested parties may present evidence and views and respond to the presentations of other parties.
A WTO member may take a safeguard action (i.e. restrict imports of a product temporarily) only if the increased imports of the product are found to be causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury.
The DTI said it is accepting comments and position papers from all interested parties on the investigation. So far five local companies have submitted their position papers.
Cemap, citing data from the Bureau of Customs, said cement imports reached 6.2 million tons from January to October, which is 5 percent higher than last year.
In October alone, imports reached a record high of 870,000 tons. The majority of imports of 94 percent come from Vietnam, with smaller portions of 5 percent from Japan and 1 percent from Indonesia.
