Commercial Information Circulars
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e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk
Ref : EIC 230/2/3/2/13
26 February 2015
Dear Sirs,
Commercial Information Circular No. 149/2015
European Union (EU)* : Initiation of an Expiry Review of the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of Certain Ring Binder Mechanisms Originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China
Further to the Commercial Information Circular No. 516/2014 of 30 May 2014, the European Commission has published a notice to initiate an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures imposed on imports of certain ring binder mechanisms originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China. The notice can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:JOC_2015_067_R_0009.
DETAILS
Ground for the Review
2.The expiry review is initiated at the request lodged on 26 November 2014 by Ring Alliance Ringbuchtechnik GmbH ('the applicant') representing more than 25% of the total Union production of ring binder mechanisms.
3.According to the Commission, the applicant had provided prima facie evidence that, inter alia, should the measures be allowed to lapse, the current import level of the concerned product from the Mainland of China to the Union is likely to increase significantly due to the available spare production capacities of the exporting producers in the country concerned and the high undercutting margins found based on Chinese export prices of ring binder mechanisms when sold for export to the Union or to non EU countries. It was also alleged that any substantial increase of imports at dumped prices from the Mainland of China would be likely to cause further injury to the Union industry should measures be allowed to lapse.
Review Procedures
4.Salient points of the expiry review are set out below-
| (a) Date of Publication of the Notice of Initiation | : | 25 February 2015 |
| (b) Product Coverage | : |
Certain ring binder mechanisms, currently falling within CN code ex 8305 10 00. It consists of two steel sheets or wires with at least four half-rings made of steel wire fixed on them and which are kept together by a steel cover. They can be opened either by pulling the half rings or with a small steel trigger mechanism fixed to the ring binder mechanism.
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| (c) Procedures | : |
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 25 February 2015, 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 25 February 2015, 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 previous investigation, the Union industry prices were used for the purpose of establishing normal value in respect of the Mainland of China. According to the information available to the Commission, other market economy suppliers of the Union may be located in, inter alia, Thailand, India and Cambodia. The Commission will examine whether there is production and sales of the concerned product in those market economy third countries for which there are indications that production of the concerned product is taking place. Should establishing normal value for the purpose of the current investigation not be possible on this basis, the Commission envisages using the prices paid or payable in the Union. Interested parties are invited to comment on the appropriateness of this choice within 10 days from 25 February 2015.
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 25 February 2015, 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 25 February 2015. 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 25 February 2015. 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/trade/trade-policy- and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/. |
| (d) Investigation Schedule | : |
The investigation will be concluded within 15 months from 25 February 2015. |
BACKGROUND
5.Definitive anti-dumping duty on certain ring binder mechanisms originating in the Mainland of China has been imposed since 25 January 1997. Consequent to an expiry review, the definitive anti-dumping duty was extended for four years from 5 December 2004. Based on the findings of two separate circumvention investigations, the definitive anti-dumping duty was also extended to imports of the same products consigned from Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, whether declared as originating in Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic or not.
6.Following another expiry review initiated in December 2008, the definitive anti-dumping duty, as referred to in the preceding paragraph, has been maintained for another five-year period with effect from 27 February 2010. The current duty rate for mechanisms with 17 and 23 rings is the differences between the minimum import price of EUR 325 per 1,000 pieces and the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty. As for mechanisms other than those with 17 or 23 rings, the current duty rate is 78.8% of the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty (except for one company with an individual duty rate at 51.2%).
ENQUIRIES
7.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.
| 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. |
| Note 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 can be accessed through http://economists-pick-research.hktdc.com/business-news/subindex/en/Business -Alert-EU/1X2ZT68A/1/0.htm. |