Safeguard investigations initiation: public notice and information sharing ensure transparency and opportunity for interested parties to respond. The Director General must issue a public notice upon initiating a safeguard investigation specifying exporting countries, the article and import volume, initiation date, factual summary and reasons, address for representations and time-limits; copies of the notice and application are sent to the Ministry of Commerce, other Ministries, known exporters, exporting-country governments and other interested parties. The Director General may call for information from exporters, foreign producers and governments with a usual thirty-day deadline; documents are deemed received one week after dispatch. Industrial users and consumer organisations may supply information; oral presentations require subsequent written submission. Evidence is shared among parties and findings may be based on facts available if information is withheld.