Certain tube or pipe fittings (other than cast fittings, flanges and threaded fittings), of iron or steel (not including stainless steel) with a greatest external diameter not exceeding 609.6 mm, of a kind used for butt-welding or other purposes, originating in the Mainland of China, currently falling within CN codes ex 7307 93 11, ex 7307 93 19 and ex 7307 99 80.

In view of the potentially large number of exporting producers in the Mainland of China involved in this expiry review 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, including the ones who did not cooperate in the investigation leading to the measures subject to the present review, are requested to provide information requested in Annex I to the notice, including their identities and contact details, turnover and sales volume, activities of their companies/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 in order to verify their responses. Such information should reach the Commission within 15 days from 3 September 2014, 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 3 September 2014, 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 of the companies selected to be in the sample. All exporting producers selected to be in the sample and any known association of exporting producers 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 to be in the sample will be considered to be cooperating ('non-sampled cooperating exporting producers').

In the original Regulation imposing the duties, Thailand was used as analogue country. Due to a lack of cooperation from Thai producers, the United States of America was used as a market economy third country for the purpose of establishing normal value in respect of the country concerned in the previous expiry review. For the purpose of the current investigation, the Commission envisages using the Republic of Korea as analogue country. Interested parties are invited to comment on the appropriateness of this choice within 10 days from 3 September 2014. According to the information available to the Commission, other market economy suppliers of the Union may be located in, inter alia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Israel and India. The Commission will examine whether there is production and sales of the concerned product in those and other market economy third countries for which there are indications that production of the concerned product is taking place.

Subject to the provisions of the notice, all interested parties are invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence to the Commission within 37 days from 3 September 2014, unless otherwise specified.

All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard must be made in writing and must 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 3 September 2014. 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 invited to make all submissions and requests by e-mail including scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets, with the exception of voluminous replies which shall be submitted on a CD-ROM or DVD by hand or by registered mail. By using e-mail, interested parties express their agreement with the rules applicable to electronic submissions contained in the document 'CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES' published on the website of the Directorate - General for Trade (DG Trade): http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf. They must indicate their name, address, telephone and a valid e-mail address and should ensure that the provided e-mail address is a functioning official business e-mail which is checked on a daily basis. Once contact details are provided, the Commission will communicate with interested parties by e-mail only, unless they explicitly request to receive all documents from the Commission by another means of communication or unless the nature of the document to be sent requires the use of a registered mail. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the Commission including principles that apply to submissions by e-mail, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to in the notice .

Commission address for correspondence:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate H
Office: CHAR 04/039
1049 Brussels
Belgium

E-mail:

Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer for 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 3 September 2014. 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/.