CHAPTER VSAFEGUARD MEASURES

Article 131.

Where a product is imported into the Union in such greatly increased quantities or on such terms or conditions as to cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to Union producers of like or directly competing products, the Commission, in order to safeguard the interests of the Union, may, acting at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, alter the import rules for that product by providing that it may be put into free circulation only on production of an import authorisation, the granting of which shall be governed by such provisions and subject to such limits as the Commission shall lay down.

The measures adopted shall be communicated forthwith to the Member States and shall take effect immediately.

The measures referred to in this Article shall apply to every product which is put into free circulation after their entry into force. In accordance with Article 15 they may be confined to one or more regions of the Union.

However, such measures shall not prevent the release for free circulation of products already on their way to the Union provided that the destination of such products cannot be changed and that those products which, under Articles 8 and 11, may be put into free circulation only on production of a surveillance document are in fact accompanied by such a document.

Where intervention by the Commission has been requested by a Member State, the Commission, acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 22(3), or, in cases of urgency, in accordance with Article 22(4), shall take a decision within a maximum of five working days of the date of receipt of such a request.

Article 141.

The Commission may, in particular in the situation referred to in Article 13(1), adopt appropriate safeguard measures acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 22(3).

Article 13(3) shall apply.

Article 15

Where, on the basis, in particular, of the factors referred to in Article 6, it emerges that the conditions laid down for the adoption of measures under Chapter IV and Article 13 are met in one or more regions of the Union, the Commission, after having examined alternative solutions, may exceptionally authorise the application of surveillance or safeguard measures limited to the region(s) concerned if it considers that such measures applied at that level are more appropriate than measures applied throughout the Union.

Those measures must be temporary and must disrupt the operation of the internal market as little as possible.

Those measures shall be adopted in accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 7 and 13 respectively.

Article 161.

While any surveillance or safeguard measure applied in accordance with Chapters IV and V is in operation, the Commission may, either at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative:

(a)

examine the effects of the measure;

(b)

ascertain whether the application of the measure is still necessary.

Where the Commission considers that the application of the measure is still necessary, it shall inform the Member States accordingly.

Where the Commission considers that any surveillance or safeguard measure referred to in Chapters IV and V should be revoked or amended, it shall, acting in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 22(3), revoke or amend the measure.

Where such a decision concerns regional surveillance measures, it shall apply from the sixth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.