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

12 December 2013

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 994/2013

European Union (EU) * : Initiation of a Countervailing Proceeding Concerning Imports of Certain Filament Glass Fibre Products Originating in the Mainland of China

The European Commission (the Commission) has issued a notice to announce the initiation of a countervailing proceeding on imports of certain filament glass fibre products 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:2013:362:0066:0075:EN:PDF.

DETAILS

2.Salient points are set out below-

(a) Date of Publication of the Notice	:	12 December 2013
(b) Product Coverage	:	Chopped glass fibre strands, of a length of not more than 50 mm; glass fibre rovings, excluding glass fibre rovings which are impregnated and coated and have a loss on ignition of more than 3% (as determined by the ISO Standard 1887); and mats made of glass fibre filaments excluding mats of glass wool, currently falling within CN codes 7019 11 00, ex 7019 12 00 and 7019 31 10. (These CN codes are given for information only.)
(c) Procedures	:	In view of the potentially large number of exporting producers in the Mainland of China involved in the proceeding and in order to complete the investigation within the statutory time limits, the Commission may apply sampling. To enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all exporting producers, or representatives acting on their behalf, are requested to make themselves known to the Commission by providing information on their company(ies) requested in Annex I to the notice, including, inter alia, their identities and contact details, turnover and sales volume, activities of their company/related companies and indication of agreement to their possible inclusion in the sample which will involve completing a questionnaire and accepting a visit at their premises to verify their responses. Such information should reach the Commission within 15 days from 12 December 2013, unless otherwise specified. All interested parties wishing to submit any other relevant information regarding the selection of the sample must do so within 21 days from 12 December 2013, unless otherwise specified. If a sample is necessary, the exporting producers may be selected based on the largest representative volume of exports to the Union which can reasonably be investigated within the time available. All known exporting producers, the authorities of the Mainland of China and associations of exporting producers will be notified by the Commission, via the authorities of the Mainland of China if appropriate, of the companies selected to be in the sample. All exporting producers selected to be in the sample and the authorities of the Mainland of China will have to submit a completed questionnaire within 37 days from the date of notification of the sample selection, unless otherwise specified. Companies that have agreed to their possible inclusion in the sample but are not selected will be considered to be cooperating ("non-sampled cooperating exporting producers"). Non-sampled cooperating exporting producers wishing to claim an individual subsidy margin must request a questionnaire and return it duly completed within 37 days from the date of notification of the sample selection, unless otherwise specified. Exporting producers claiming an individual subsidy margin should be aware that the Commission may nonetheless decide not to determine their individual subsidy margin if, for instance, the number of exporting producers is so large that such determination would be unduly burdensome and would prevent the timely completion of the investigation. To determine injury based on positive evidence and objective examination of, inter alia, the volume of the subsidised imports, and in view of the large number of Union producers involved in this proceeding, the Commission has decided to apply sampling, and provisionally selected a sample of Union producers. All interested parties wishing to submit any other relevant information regarding the selection of the sample must do so within 21 days from 12 December 2013, unless otherwise specified. All interested parties are invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence within 37 days from 12 December 2013, unless otherwise specified. All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation, the request must be submitted within 15 days from 12 December 2013. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within the specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties. Interested parties are required to make all submissions and requests in electronic format (non-confidential submissions via e-mail, confidential ones on CD-R/DVD), and must indicate their name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers. However, any powers of attorney, signed certifications, and any updates thereof, accompanying questionnaire replies must be submitted on paper, i.e. by post or by hand, at the address below. If an interested party cannot provide its submissions and requests in electronic format, it must immediately contact the Commission. For further information concerning correspondence with the Commission, interested parties may consult the relevant web page on the website of the Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade): http://ec.europa.eu/trade/tackling-unfair-trade/trade-defence. Commission address for correspondence: European Commission Directorate-General for Trade Directorate H Office: N105 08/020 1049 Brussels Belgium Fax +32 2299 3704 E-mail for submissions related to the subsidy side of the investigation (exporting producers in the Mainland of China) : trade-as-fgf-subsidy@ec.europa.eu E-mail for submissions related to the injury side of the investigation (Union producers, importers, users) : trade-as-fgf-injury@ec.europa.eu Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer of DG Trade, who acts as an interface between the interested parties and the Commission investigation services through reviewing requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and requests by third parties to be heard. The Hearing Officer may organise a hearing with an individual interested party and mediate to ensure that the interested parties' rights of defence are being fully exercised. A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation, the request must be submitted within 15 days from 12 December 2013. For further information and contact details, interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on DG Trade's website: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/degucht/contact/hearing-officer/.
(d) Investigation Schedule	:	Provisional measures may be imposed no later than nine months from 12 December 2013. Investigation will be concluded within 13 months from 12 December 2013.

BACKGROUND

3.The Commission initiated the countervailing proceeding on the basis of a complaint lodged on 28 October 2013 by European Glass Fibre Producers Association (the complainant) on behalf of producers representing more than 25% of the total Union production of certain filament glass fibre products. The prima facie evidence provided by the complainant is said to have showed that the producers of the concerned product from the Mainland of China have benefited from a number of subsidies granted by the Government of the Mainland of China and that imports of the product under investigation from the Mainland of China have increased overall in absolute terms and have increased in terms of market share. The import volume and the prices of the product under investigation are said to have, among other consequences, a negative impact on the level of prices charged and the market share held by the Union industry, resulting in substantial adverse effects on the overall performance, the financial situation and the employment situation of the Union industry.

4.The Commission has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain continuous filament glass fibre products originating in the Mainland of China since 16 March 2011. For details, please refer to the Commercial Information Circular No. 168/2011 of 15 March 2011.

ENQUIRIES

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

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Stella CHAN)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

*The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, 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.