No basic multilateral definition of ‘circumvention’ is embedded within Article VI, nor in any subsequent Anti-Dumping Code or Agreement. This lack of a multilateral framework is striking, given the prominence this issue has assumed in the world of anti-dumping. Indeed, as reported in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Chapter, 36 of the 87 AD legislations that were notified to the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices already include anticircumvention provisions and more nations are expected to follow suit. This article provides a comparison of the relevant provisions and practices in the nine jurisdictions discussed in this Special Edition of the Global Trade and Customs Journal. This article also describes certain potential WTO concerns arising from this growing unilateral ‘self-regulation’ and practice. This overview does not include other possible means of combatting circumvention that could exist outside the traditional dumping ‘arena’, such as, for example, national criminal investigations, special customs proceedings or specific antifraud investigations.
Global Trade and Customs Journal