Facilitating your import / export procedures with Mauritius
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organisation dealing with international trade rules to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible between nations. Nonetheless, the WTO permits members to impose trade remedies or trade defense measures against imports to protect their domestic industries from unfair trade practices such as dumping and subsidies, or to cope with a sudden surge of imports.
The WTO Agreement contains three distinct agreements on trade remedies, namely the Agreement on Anti-dumping, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and the Agreement on Safeguards. If a WTO Member State wants to impose trade remedy measures, it will have to incorporate the provisions of these Agreements in its national laws.
In line with its commitments taken at the WTO, Mauritius has enacted the Trade Remedies legislation to protect its domestic industries against unfair trade practices.
Any trade defense measures (anti-dumping, countervailing or safeguard) can only be applied pursuant to a thorough investigation that should establish a causal link between dumped, subsidised or sudden surge in imports and the injury caused to the domestic industry.
The Trade (Anti-Dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures) Act 2022 has been enacted in Mauritius in December 2022. This Act repeals and replaces the Trade (Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures) Act 2010 with a view to regrouping all trade remedy measures under a single umbrella legislation.
This new Act aims to protect the Domestic Industry against the injurious effect of unfair trade practices, namely of dumped and subsidised imports; and of the injury caused or threat of injury that may be caused as a result of a surge in imports, in accordance with the relevant WTO Agreements. To this end, the Act 2022 sets out the measures to protect the Domestic Industry in the form of antidumping measures in the case of dumping, countervailing measures in the case of subsidization, and safeguard measures in the event of a surge in imports.
Dumping occurs when goods are exported to Mauritius at a price that is below the "normal value" of the goods. The normal value is based on the domestic price of the goods in the country of export.
Dumping is a form of price differentiation between markets. It is not a prohibited practice under international trade agreements. However, remedial action may be taken where dumping causes (or threatens to cause) material injury to a Mauritian industry.
A subsidy is any financial assistance (or income or price support) paid by a foreign government that benefits an exporter of the goods to Mauritius, either directly or indirectly. If the effect of the subsidy causes (or threatens to cause) material injury to a Mauritian industry, remedial action in the form of countervailing measures may be taken.
Safeguard Measures are emergency actions that can be taken pursuant to the WTO Agreement on Safeguards in the event that increased imports have caused or threaten to cause serious injury to a Mauritian industry. These measures can be in the form of duty increases or quantitative restrictions, i.e quotas or tariff quotas.
Application for Anti-dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures should be made on the prescribed Questionnaires available on the links below. The Questionnaire requesting the initiation of anti-dumping/countervailing/safeguard investigation should be duly completed by an applicant.
A Guide to the completion of an Anti-dumping application and Anti-Subsidy Application have been designed to assist Mauritian producers in preparing a properly documented application that can be acted upon by the Investigating Authority (IA). These documents are available on the links provided in the section dedicated to anti-dumping and countervailing measures.
Application Questionnaire
| PDF & EXCEL FILES (link Files) | |
|---|---|
| Anti-Dumping Guide | AD_guide.pdf |
| A guide to complete an Anti-dumping application | Guide to complete anti-dumping application.pdf |
| Questionnaire for the Initiation of an Anti-dumping investigation | Questionnaire initiation of anti dumping investigation.pdf |
| Annex - Section C | AD_application_annex_C.xls |
| Annex - Section E | AD_application_annex_E.xls |
| Annex - Section F | AD_application_annex_F.xls |
|
Domestic Industry Questionnaire Questionnaire for domestic producers |
Questionnaire for domestic producers.pdf |
| Annexes for Domestic Industry Questionnaire | Domestic industry questionnaire annexesv1.xls |
|
Questionnaire for Foreign Producers/Exporters Questionnaire for producers/exporters |
Questionnaire for foreign producers-exporters.pdf |
| Annexes for the Questionnaire for Foreign Producers/Exporters | Questionnaire for foreign producers-exporters.xls |
|
Questionnaire for Importers
Questionnaire for importers |
Questionnaire for importers.pdf |
| Annexes for the Questionnaire for Importers | Importer_questionnaire_annexesv1.xls |
| PDF & EXCEL FILES (Link files) | |
|---|---|
| Anti-Subsidy Guide | CVD_guide |
| A guide to the completion of an anti-subsidy application | CVD application guide.pdf |
| Questionnaire requesting the initiation of a countervailing investigation concerning imports of product originating in or exported from | CVD_application_questionnaire.pdf |
| Application Annex Section C | CVD_application_annex_C.xls |
| Application Annex Section E | CVD_application_annex_E.xls |
| Application Annex Section F | CVD_application_annex_F.xls |
|
Domestic Industry Questionnaire Anti-subsidy questionnaire for domestic producers |
CVD_domestic_ind_questionnaire.pdf |
| Domestic Industry Questionnaire - Annexes | CVD_domestic_ind_questionnaire_annexes.xls |
|
Exporters Questionnaire Anti-subsidy questionnaire for producers/exporters |
CVD_exporter_questionnaire.pdf |
| Exporter Questionnaire Annexes | CVD_exporter_questionnaire_annexes.xls |
|
Importers Questionnaire
Anti-subsidy questionnaire for importers |
CVD_importer_questionnaire |
| Importer Questionnaire Annexes | CVD_importer_questionnaire_annexes.xls |
| PDF & EXCEL FILES (link Files) | |
|---|---|
| Questionnaire requesting the initiation of a Safeguard investigation | Application questionnaire initiation of safeguard investigation.pdf |
| Domestic Industry Questionnaire | Domestic industry injury questionnaire.pdf |
|
Importers' Questionnaire
Questionnaire for importers |
Importer questionnaire.pdf |
| Importers' Questionnaires/excel format | Importer Questionnaire Excel.xlsx |
The Investigating Authority (IA) set up under Section 7 of the Trade (Anti-dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures) Act 2022 is responsible for investigating any allegation or suspicion of dumping, subsidized imports, or increased imports. The IA falls under the aegis of the International Trade Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade.
The contact details of the Investigating authority are as follows:
Trade Remedies Investigating Authority
Director, Trade Policy
International Trade Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade
4th Floor, Medine Mews, La Chaussee Street, Port Louis
Tel: 260 2911/ 260 2909
Fax: 210 8145
