WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/Q1/EST/1
G/SCM/Q1/EST/1
3 October 2003
(03-5220)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing MeasuresOriginal:  English
NOTIFICATIONS OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 18.5 AND ARTICLE 32.6 OF THE AGREEMENTS
Questions posed by the UNITED STATES
Regarding the Notification of ESTONIA1
The following communication, 2 October 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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1. Section 11(2) of the Anti-Dumping Act (the “Act”) permits a comparison of a weighted
average normal value with prices of individual export  transactions to Estonia if certain conditions are
met, including that “the comparison of a constructed export price with a constructed normal value
would not reflect the dumping margin”.  Please clarify the meaning of the term “constructed normal
value,” and please explain how this condition satisfies the requirements of Article 2.4.2 of the AD
Agreement, which  requires, inter alia , an “explanation . . . as to why such differences cannot be taken
into account appropriately by the use of a weighted average-to-weighted average or transaction-to-
transaction comparison”.
2.(a) Section 6(16) of the Anti-Dumping Act ("the Act") defines the term "interested party" to
encompass "the Estonian producers who filed a complaint. . ".  Are domestic producers of the
like product who did not join in filing the compla int also considered to be interested parties?
If not, how is the Act consistent with Articl e 6.11(iii) of the Antidumping (AD) Agreement,
which indicates that any "producer of the like product in the importing Member" is to beconsidered an interested party?
(b) Section 6(16) of the Act lists foreign exporters as "interested parties", but does not reference
foreign producers of the product under investigation.  Article 6.11(i) of the AD Agreement
states that both exporters and foreign producers of the product under investigation areconsidered interested parties.  How does Estonian law implement this provision?
3. Section 17(1)(2) of the Act states that the Estonian authority, in making material injury
determinations, shall consider "whether the dumped imports significantly affect the market prices of
the like product in Estonia or whether the effect of such imports is to prevent price increases, whichotherwise would have occurred, to a significant degr ee. . . ".  Article 3.2 of the AD Agreement states
that, in addition to these considerations, in evaluating the effect of dumped imports on prices, an
authority must also consider whether there has been significant price undercutting and whether
imports serve to depress prices to a significant degree
                                                     
1 G/ADP/N/1/EST/2 (6 June 2003)G/ADP/Q1/EST/1
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(a) How does the Estonian law, which does not address price undercutting or price depression,
implement these provisions of Article 3.2?
(b) Given that the Act does not address price undercutting or price depression, what is the
meaning of the phrase "significantly affect the market price" used in Section 17(1)(2)?
4. Sections 17(1)(2) and 17(1)(3) of the Act list various factors that the Estonian authority is to
consider in determining the impact of dumped imports on Estonian producers.  These list includes
some, but not all, of the impact factors specified in Article 3.4 of the AD Agreement.  Factors listed in
Article 3.4 that are not mentioned in Section 17 of the Act include utilization of capacity and the
magnitude of the margin of dumping.  In light of  this, please explain how Estonian law implements
the requirements of Article 3.4 of the AD Agreement.
5. Does Estonian law permit regional industry analysis pursuant to Article 4.1(ii) of the AD
Agreement?
6. Section 25(2) of the Act states that "[t]he list of information to be included in the notice of
initiation of an investigation proceeding shall be established by a regulation of the Minister of
Economic Affairs".  Has this regulation been adopted?  Has it been notified to the Committee?  Please
confirm that this list will include all information required in Article 12.1.1 of the AD Agreement.
7. Does Estonia permit disclosure of confidential information under protective order pursuant to
Article 6.5 of the AD Agreement?
8. Section 30(2) of the Act states that the Ministry of Economic Affairs ("Ministry") will
respond to an interested party that has requested examination of non-confidential information not laterthan one month prior to submitting the report on imposition of antidumping duties. Will the interested
party have the opportunity to make written submissions to the Ministry based on the information
made available for inspection?  If so, how much time after the Ministry makes the information
available for examination will the party have to make such submissions?  If not, how does Estonia
implement the last sentence of Article 6.4 of the AD Agreement, which instructs authorities whenever
practicable to provide timely opportunities for interested parties to prepare presentations based on the
non-confidential information made available for inspection?
9. How does Estonia implement Article 6.9 of the AD Agreement, requiring that interested
parties be informed of the essential facts under consideration in sufficient time for them to defend
their interests?
10. How does Estonia implement the provisions of Article 12.2.1 of the AD Agreement requiring
a public notice of imposition of provisional duties and specifying the contents of that notice?  Is the
interim report that the Ministry prepares pursuant to Section 35(2) of the Act concerning imposition of
provisional duties made available to the parties to the investigation?  Is it released to the public?
11. How does Estonia implement the provisions of Article 12.2.2 of the AD Agreement requiring
public notice of imposition of a definitive duty and specifying the contents of that notice?  Is the final
report of the investigation that the Ministry prepares pursuant to Section 48(1) of the Act made
available to the parties?  Is it released to the public?
12. Where and when is the regulation referenced in Section 48(2) of the Act imposing
antidumping duties on a particular product published?  What are the contents of this regulation?G/ADP/Q1/EST/1
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13. Section 17(3) of the Act states that "Where producers are still in the process of recovering
from the effects of past dumping or subsidization, special circumstances of the producers shall be
taken into consideration."  How will this provision be applied in determining material injury?
14. Section 26(2) of the Act states that “An investigation shall cover a period of not less
than one year immediately prior to the initiation of the proceeding.”  However, data for the 12 months
immediately prior to the initiation may not be readily available.  In that situation, does the Ministry
have discretion to determine what constitutes the period to be investigated?
15. Please confirm that, consistent with Article 6.3 of the AD Agreement, information submitted
in writing under section 28(3) of the Act (that was previously presented orally at a meeting) will bemade publicly available.
16. Please explain how the procedures for parties to obtain documents submitted during the
course of the investigation (described in Section 30(1) of the Act) are consistent with Art. 6.2 of the
AD Agreement, which provides that parties shall have a full opportunity for the defense of theirinterests.  Does the Ministry have the author ity to decline to disclose information which is
inconsistent with the information it uses in the investigation?  Please define "internal documents of
the Ministry" that shall not be disclosed.
17. Please clarify in what situations the Ministry would find it not "necessary" to conduct on-the-
spot investigations of parties, under Section 32(1) of  the Act.  Does Section  32(1) of the Act imply
that on-site verifications will be the exception rather than the norm?   Please explain what are the
"rights and obligations" of the representative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs conducting an
inspection, mentioned in Section 32(4) of the Act.
18. Regarding Section 47(3) of the Act, please clarify whether immediate termination will occur
if either the volume of imports is negligible or
 the dumping margin is de minimis , as provided for in
Art. 5.8 of the AD Agreement.
19. Section 48(5) of the Act establishes the maximum anti-dumping duty to be applied to imports
from foreign exporters which have made themselves known but were not included in the examination
because sampling was used. This provision states th at “zero and de minimis dumping margins shall be
disregarded for sampling purposes.”  Please clarify the meaning of this provision.  To what extent will
such margins be disregarded beyond what is provided for in Article 9.4 of the AD Agreement?  What
will be the maximum anti-dumping duty applied to imports from foreign exporters that were not
known to the Ministry?
20. If an anti-dumping duty is extended for five years following an expiry review, pursuant to
Section 55(3) of the Act, may interim reviews be conducted at the request of an interested party
during the additional five years?
21. Please clarify that the court in which an anti-dumping decision may be appealed, pursuant to
Section 68 (1) of the Act, is independent of the administering authority, consistent with Article 13 of
the AD Agreement.  Regarding Section 68(2) of th e Act, please clarify whether anti-dumping duties
will be refunded if a court reverses the Ministry's anti-dumping decision.  If so, will interest be paid
on the amount of those duties?
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