Commercial Information Circular

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

Ref.: CR EIC 230/2/1/1/2

31 October 2016

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 822/2016

European Union (EU)* : Initiation of a Partial Interim Review of the Anti-dumping Measures on Imports of High Tenacity Yarn of Polyesters Originating in the Mainland of China

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 677/2016 of 19 August 2016, the European Commission ("the EC") has published a notice to initiate a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures on imports of high tenacity yarn of polyesters originating in the Mainland of China. The notice can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016XC1018(02)&from=EN

DETAILS

Grounds for the Review

2.The partial interim review is limited to the examination of the product scope. It is to clarify whether certain product types, i.e. greige sewing thread yarns, fall within the scope of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of high tenacity yarn of polyester originating in the Mainland of China. The EC considers that the applicant has provided prima facie evidence demonstrating that the basic physical and technical characteristics of the products to be excluded significantly differ from those of the product under review. The need to review the current anti-dumping measures as far as the scope of the product concerned is therefore substantiated.

Review Procedure

3.Salient points of the partial interim review are set out below -

(a) Date of Publication of the Notice	:	18 October 2016
(b) Applicant	:	Taylor Wessing on behalf of American & Efird (A&E Europe)
(c) Product under review	:	High tenacity yarn of polyesters (other than sewing thread), not put up for retail sale, including monofilament of less than 67 decitex, originating in the Mainland of China, currently falling within Combined Nomenclature (CN) code 5402 20 00.
(d) Procedures	:
(i) Questionnaire and written submissions	:	In order to obtain information it deems necessary for its investigation, the EC will send a questionnaire to the applicant as an importer, and to those interested parties that have come forward. All interested parties are invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence to the EC within 37 days from 18 October 2016, unless otherwise specified.
(ii) Hearing by the Investigation Services	:	All interested parties may request to be heard by the EC 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 18 October 2016. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within the specific deadlines set by the EC in its communication with the parties.
(iii) Correspondence	:	Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests by email 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. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the EC including principles that apply to submissions by e-mail, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to the document 'CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES' published on the website of the Directorate-General for Trade: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf. Commission address for correspondence: European Commission Directorate-General for Trade Directorate H Office: CHAR 04/039 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel BELGIQUE/BELGIË Email: TRADE-R653-HTY-PRODUCT-SCOPE@ec.europa.eu
(iv) Hearing Officer	:	Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer in trade proceedings. The Hearing Officer reviews 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 18 October 2016. For further information and contact details, interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on Directorate-General for Trade's website: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/trade-policy-and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/.
(e) Investigation Schedule	:	The investigation will be concluded within 15 months from 18 October 2016.

BACKGROUND

4.In accordance with Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1105/2010 of 29 November 2010, definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of high tenacity yarn of polyesters originating in the Mainland of China has been imposed since 2 December 2010. The duty rate is set at 9.8% of the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty (except for 13 ‍companies with individual duty rates ranging from 0% to 9.8%). Subsequently, the EC has initiated an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures which is scheduled to be completed within 15 months from 28 November 2015, the prevailing definitive anti-dumping duty shall remain in force until further notice. For details, please refer to the Commercial Information Circular No. 1170/2015 of 9 December 2015:
http://www.tid.gov.hk/english/aboutus/tradecircular/cic/eu/2015/ci11702015.html

ENQUIRIES

5.For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5767.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Mandy WONG)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU member countries are 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 "Regulatory 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. It is available at: http://economists-pick-research.hktdc.com/business-news/subindex/en/Regulatory-Alert-EU/1X2ZT68A/1/0.htm.