Commercial Information Circulars

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Ref : EIC 230/2/3/2/13

30 July 2008

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 390/2008

European Union (EU)* : Termination of the New Exporter Review Concerning the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of Tartaric Acid Originating in the Mainland of China

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 462/2007 of 30 November 2007, the Council of the EU has published a regulation to terminate the new exporter review concerning the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of tartaric acid originating in the Mainland of China. The regulation can be accessed through the following link :
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:200:0001:0003:EN:PDF.

DETAILS

2. On 30 November 2007, the European Commission (the Commission) initiated a new exporter review at the request of Fuyang Genebest Chemical Industry Co. Ltd (the applicant), which claimed that it has started exporting the product concerned to the EU only after the investigation period (1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004) on which the anti-dumping measures were based, and that it was not related to the Chinese exporting producers which are subject to the existing anti-dumping measures. The Commission examined the prima facie evidence submitted by the applicant and considered it sufficient to justify the initiation of the new exporter review. The anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of the product concerned supplied by the applicant was therefore repealed. At the same time, such imports were subject to registration for nine months from 1 December 2007, so that anti-dumping duties could be levied retroactively should the review result in a determination of dumping in respect of the applicant.

3. Based on the findings of the investigation, it was concluded that the applicant could not demonstrate that it met the criteria of being considered a new exporter. Moreover, in the absence of exports to the Community during the review investigation period, the Commission could not establish that the applicant's individual dumping margin was indeed different from the residual dumping margin established in the original investigation. In the light of the above, the Council decided that the new exporter review be terminated. The residual anti-dumping duty found during the original investigation, i.e. 34.9%, should consequently be maintained as far as the applicant is concerned. The anti-dumping duty applicable to the applicant shall be levied retroactively on imports registered since 1 December 2007.

BACKGROUND

4. Definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of tartaric acid originating in the Mainland of China has been imposed since 28 January 2006. The rate of duty is 34.9% of the net, free-at-Community-frontier price before duty (except for three companies with individual duty rates ranging from 0% to 10.1%).

ENQUIRIES

5. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5351.

Yours faithfully,

(TANG Yu Him)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.