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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city
MY COLOUR

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

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

11 November 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 572/2009

European Union (EU) * : Initiation of an Expiry Review and a Partial Interim Review of the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of Okoumé Plywood Originating in the Mainland of China

Further to the Commercial Information Circular No. 264/2009 of 19 May 2009, the European Commission (the Commission) has published a notice to initiate an expiry review and a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of okoumé plywood originating in the Mainland of China. The notice can be accessed through the following link : 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:270:0024:0029:EN:PDF.

DETAILS

Ground for the Expiry Review

  1.  
  2. The expiry review is initiated at the request of the European Federation of the Plywood Industry on behalf of producers representing a major proportion, in this case more than 40 %, of the total Community production of okoumé plywood. The request is based on the grounds that the expiry of the measures would be likely to result in a continuation or recurrence of dumping and recurrence of injury to the Community industry. 

Ground for the Partial Interim Review

  1. A number of French producers of okoumé plywood are subject to a French court proceeding into alleged anti-competitive behaviour. It cannot be excluded that that could have distorted the injury assessment in the original investigation. Therefore, the Commission has decided on its own initiative to initiate an interim review to re-examine the injury situation of the Community industry in particular in comparison to the situation which prevailed in the investigation period of the original investigation. 

Review Procedures

  1. Salient points of the expiry review and the partial interim review are set out below-
(a) Date of Publication of the Notice of Initiation  : 11 November 2009
(b) Product Coverage : Plywood consisting solely of sheets of wood, each ply not exceeding 6 mm thickness, with at least one outer ply of okoumé not coated by a permanent film of other materials, currently falling within CN code ex 4412 31 10. 
(c) Procedures : In view of the apparent large number of parties involved in the proceeding, the Commission may apply sampling. To enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all exporters/producers, or representatives acting on their behalf should make themselves known to the Commission and provide information requested in paragraph 5.1 (a) (i) of the notice in question, including contact details, turnover, activities of their company/related companies, production, and indication of agreement for being included in the sample which implies replying to a questionnaire and accepting an on-the-spot investigation. Such information should reach the Commission within 15 days from 11 November 2009. All interested parties wishing to submit any relevant information regarding the selection of the sample must do so within 21 days from 11 November 2009. The Commission intends to make the final selection of the samples after having consulted the parties concerned that have expressed their willingness to be included in the sample.

In order to obtain necessary information for the investigation, the Commission will send questionnaires to, among others, the sampled Community industry, any association of producers in the Community, sampled exporters/producers in the Mainland of China, any association of exporters/producers, sampled importers, any association of importers, and the authorities of the Mainland of China.

If sampling is applied, sampled parties must reply to the questionnaires within 37 days from the date of the notification of their inclusion in the sample.

All interested parties should request a questionnaire or other claim forms within 15 days from 11 November 2009.

All interested parties, if their representations are to be taken into account, must make themselves known by contacting the Commission, present their views and submit questionnaire replies or any other information within 40 days from 11 November 2009, unless otherwise specified. They may also apply to be heard by the Commission within 40 days from 11 November 2009.

It is envisaged to choose Turkey as a market economy country for the purpose of establishing normal value in respect of the Mainland of China. Interested parties are invited to comment on the appropriateness of this choice within 10 days from 11 November 2009.

All correspondence must be made in writing (not in electronic format, unless otherwise specified) indicating the name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the interested party and should be sent to the following address :

European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate H
Office: N-105 04/92
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Fax (32-2) 295 65 05

If interested parties consider that they are encountering difficulties in the exercise of their rights of defence, they may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer, who offers, where necessary, mediation on procedural matters affecting the protection of their interests in this proceeding, in particular, with regard to issues concerning access to the file, confidentiality, extension of time limits and the treatment of written and/or oral submission of views. For further information and contact details, interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on the website of DG Trade (http://ec.europa.eu/trade).
(d) Investigation Schedule  : Investigation will be concluded within 15 months from 11 November 2009.

BACKGROUND

  1. Definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of okoumé plywood originating in the Mainland of China has been imposed since 13 November 2004 at a rate of 66.7% of the net, free-at-Community-frontier price before duty (except for four companies with individual duty ranging from 6.5% to 23.5%). 

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5684.

Yours faithfully,

(Alex LI)

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.



Note ：

  • (1) While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.
  • (2)The biweekly newsletter "Business Alert - EU" of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council provides up-to-date information on the latest developments in EU trade policy and trade regulations. The newsletter is available for free e-subscription and can be accessed through
    http://www.tdctrade.com/alert/eualert.htm.