Oman Announces First Anti-Injurious Trade Practices Investigation

The Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”) forms a common customs union and free trade area between its member states.  The member states share numerous common pieces of legislation relating to trade and customs, including the GCC Common Law on Anti-Dumping, Countervailing Measures and Safeguards (“GCC Common Law”).  In accordance with the provisions of the Common Law and its implementing regulations, any member state may file a complaint with GCC Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti Injurious Practices in International Trade (“GCC Technical Secretariat”).  The GCC Technical Secretariat then evaluates the complaint, which must be supported by evidence, and decides whether to initiate an investigation.  The ministries of economy and foreign affairs in each member state liaise with the GCC Technical Secretariat and provide application and communication support to local companies involved in GCC Common Law investigations.

Omani Royal Decree 20/2015 promulgated the GCC Common Law.  The intent behind this decree and its associated Executive Regulations is to take anti-injurious trade measures such as anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) where dumped or unfairly subsidized imports have injured the domestic industry in Oman.

If a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own domestic market, it is said to be “dumping” the product.  This is considered unfair competition, and GCC member states may take action against dumping in order to defend their domestic industries.

AD investigations under the GCC Common Law consist of two major stages.  The first stage involves the determination of whether the product under investigation is indeed being dumped.  Once the GCC Technical Secretariat finds that a product is being dumped, it proceeds to the second phase: injury determination.  The GCC Common Law contains more precise definitions, but generally it empowers member states to take AD measures where there is genuine or “material” injury to the competing domestic industry.  In order to do that, the member state must calculate the extent of dumping (or show how much lower the import price is compared to the exporter’s home market price), and show that the dumping is causing injury or threatening to do so within the member state’s home market.

In August 2017, Oman’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that the GCC Technical Secretariat approved the commencement of an investigation against the producers and importers of paper and paperboard from Spain, Italy and Poland.  The complaint which led to the investigation was filed by a local Omani producer invoking the Executive Regulations promulgated by Royal Decree 20/2015.

This is one of the first such official investigations stemming from the Executive Regulations promulgated by Royal Decree 20/2015, and indicates Oman’s interest in protecting and promoting local industry by combatting harmful practices in international trade.  It may also reflect Oman’s reaction to Omani companies having been the target of AD/CVD actions in other countries, resulting in some cases in which additional duties have been imposed on Omani exports.  Under the GCC Common Law, Omani companies may now also seek protection from unfairly priced or subsidized imports.