Commercial Information Circular

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

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

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

17 May 2019

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 380/2019

European Union (EU)* : Initiation of anti-subsidy proceeding on certain woven and/or stitched glass fibre fabrics originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China

The European Commission (the Commission) has published a notice initiating an anti-subsidy proceeding concerning imports of certain woven and/or stitched glass fibre fabrics originating in, inter alia, the Mainland of China on the basis of a complaint lodged on 1 April 2019 by Tech-Fab Europe on behalf of EU producers representing more than 25% of the total production of certain woven and/or stitched glass fibre fabrics in the EU. The notice is available at:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52019XC0516(02)&from=EN.

2.The product under investigation is fabrics of woven and/or stitched continuous filament glass fibre rovings or yarns, currently falling within CN code ex 7019 39 00, ex 7019 40 00, ex 7019 59 00 and ex 7019 90 00 (TARIC codes 7019 39 00 80, 7019 40 00 80, 7019 59 00 80 and 7019 90 00 80). Please refer to the notice for the detailed product description. All interested parties wishing to submit information on the product scope must do so within 10 days from 16 May 2019.

3.To enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all exporting producers in the Mainland of China, or representatives acting on their behalf are requested to provide the Commission with the information requested in Annex I to the notice within 7 days from 16 May 2019. All exporting producers selected to be in the sample will have to submit a completed questionnaire within 30 days from the date of notification of the sample selection, unless otherwise specified. Non-sampled cooperating^# exporting producers wishing to claim an individual subsidy amount must fill in the questionnaire in the notice and return it duly completed within the same deadline.

4.All interested parties wishing to comment on the complaint or aspects regarding the initiation of the investigation must do so within 37 days from 16 May 2019. They may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. A request for hearing with or intervention of the Hearing Officer, who reports directly to the Commissioner for Trade of the EU, may also be made. Hearing requests should be made in writing, specifying the reasons for the request, within 15 days from 16 May 2019. Please refer to the notice for further deadlines and details.

5.For traders involved in the exports of the subject product from the Guangdong Province, please contact Li Xuefei, Director of Trade Remedy Division under the Fair Trade Bureau of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, at 8620 3881 6201. The Division is responsible for, among others, guiding and coordinating enterprises in Guangdong Province in responding to trade defence investigations against products from the province. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5684.

Yours faithfully,

(Manus LUI)
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.

^# 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.