Safeguard measures are emergency actions that can give domestic producers of similar goods time to adjust to changed competitive conditions.
Safeguard actions may involve:
Safeguard measures can apply for up to 4 years. They can extend by 4 years.
Australian industries experiencing or facing imminent serious injury from an increase in imported goods can ask the government to consider undertaking a safeguard inquiry.
If the government decides to go ahead, it will refer the inquiry to the Australian Trade Remedies Commission (ATRC).
Find out how to write to the minister to request an inquiry.
The Commissioner of the ATRC conducts safeguard inquiries and can recommend measures that the government can take.
It does this in line with:
Read about what the commissioner investigates in a safeguard inquiry.
The ATRC will publish a trade remedies notice (TRN) outlining the inquiry and its terms of reference.
Any person or organisation can submit information to the inquiry. This includes producers, industry associations and unions.
The ATRC may hold hearings and ask people to provide more information.
The commissioner may issue a draft report. It may recommend provisional measures to impose for up to 200 days. It will be publicly available.
The commissioner will present a final report on the outcome of the inquiry. The minister will table this report in Parliament. It will be publicly available.
For help requesting a safeguard inquiry, contact our team at trade.remedies@industry.gov.au.
For more information on the inquiry process, contact the ATRC team at clientsupport@adcommission.gov.au or call 13 28 46 or +61 2 6213 6000 between 9 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday.
If you’re a small to medium enterprise you can get help navigating the trade remedies system from the International Trade Remedies Advisory Service.
