TRADE: Commission ensures continuation of trade defence procedures despite the limitations imposed by COVID-19 outbreak

The Commission published today adaptation measures for the handling of trade defence investigations to make sure that economic damages for European companies related to unfair trade remain adequately addressed in the times of the COVID-19 outbreak. These measures will allow the Commission to pursue its trade defence activity on a sound factual basis and within the mandatory legal deadlines. The current exceptional circumstances prevent Commission staff from carrying out their verification visits at the premises of the companies concerned and may affect the respect of procedural deadlines by the interested parties. The measures include relying to a stronger extent on written submissions and granting, when justified, some additional flexibility to companies as regards submission deadlines. As soon as the sanitary situation allows, the Commission will be ready to review on its own initiative any trade defence measures adopted based on data that could not be fully verified because of the COVID-19 circumstances and to adjust them if appropriate.