RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/ADP/AHG/W/26
13October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4425)
Original: English Committee onAnti-Dumping Practices
Ad-Hoc Group onImplementation
TIMELINE, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND LESSER
DUTY RULE (PARAGRAPH 3OFWTO/AIR/643)
Information Provided bytheUnited States
Thefollowing communication, received on7October 1997, hasbeen received from the
Permanent Mission oftheUnited States.
_______________
Timeline ofevents inUnited States anti-dumping investigations before theUSInternational Trade
Commission1
Event Timing
Petition filed Day0
ITCinstitutes investigation Upon filing ofthepetition orassoon
astheDOC initiates investigation.
ITCpublishes institution notice Assoonaspracticable afterinstituting
theinvestigation.
"Preliminary Phase" questionnaires due Day18
Conference Day21
Postconference briefs Day25
ITC"Preliminary Phase" staffreport Day39
ITCpreliminary determination (results ofvoteby
Commissioners arereleased andpublished inFederal
Register)Day45
ITCreleases views oftheCommission on
preliminary determination (written opinion
summarizing bases ofvotebyCommissioners is
released tothepublic)Day52
1Information requested istoinclude atleastthefollowing elements: application (petition), initiation,
preliminary determination, hearing(s), written submission(s) fromparties, disclosure ofessential facts,
finaldetermination, andpublic notice ofdeterminationsG/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page2
Event Timing
ITCissues "Final Phase" notice ofscheduling
(containing notice ofhearing anddates ofwritten
submissions)Upon receipt ofletter oftransmittal
from DOC oronpublication dateof
DOC notice ofpreliminary
determination -whichever comes first.
"Final Phase" questionnaires due2Day201
Prehearing staffreport issues (placed onpublic
record)Day230
ITCprehearing brief
(4daysbefore hearing)Day237
Submit testimony ofwitnesses toappear athearing
(3daysbefore hearing)Day240
ITChearing Day243
ITCposthearing brief/statements bynon-parties Day251
"Final Phase" staffreport Day265
Final dayforsubmitting information tothe
administrative recordDay272
Parties provided finalopportunity tocomment on
disclosed informationDay274
ITCreleases finaldetermination andviews ofthe
Commission onfinaldeterminationDay286
TimelineofeventsinUnitedStatesanti-dumpinginvestigationsbeforetheUSDepartmentofCommerce3
Event Timing
Petition filed Day0
DOC initiates investigation Day20
(Ifextended) Day404
2Thedaysexpressed onthispageareapproximations, although theyrepresent deadlines normally
maintained ina"typical" ITCinvestigation. Theyaresubject tochange based onthepossible extension
ofaninvestigation bytheUSDepartment ofCommerce. Thedeadlines alsoreflect flexibility maintained
bytheITCinorder toaccommodate theschedules oftheITCandparties toinvestigations.
3Information requested istoinclude atleastthefollowing elements: application (petition), initiation,
preliminary determination, hearing(s), written submission(s) fromparties, disclosure ofessential facts,
finaldetermination, andpublic notice ofdeterminations. Unless otherwise provided, daysindicated
arethose ininvestigations inwhich neither thepreliminary northefinaldetermination areextended
orconsidered extraordinarily complicated.
4Ifinitiation oftheinvestigation isextended untilday40,add20daystoeachsucceeding daylisted
inthetimeline thereafter.G/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page3
Event Timing
DOC publishes initiation notice (normally within 7daysofdecision to
initiateDay27
Response duetoDOC questionnaire Section A(requesting general
information ontheinvestigated company 'sstructure, business,
merchandise, quantity andvalue ofsales)Day71
Response duetoDOC questionnaire Sections B-E(requesting specific
information onsalestransactions intheUSandcomparison market in
order tocompare theUSprice andnormal value (orconstructed
value) ofthemerchandise under investigation. Dataoncostof
production mayalsoberequested atthistime.Day87
DOC preliminary determination
(Ifextraordinarily complicated)Day160
Day210
DOC publishes preliminary determination (normally within 7daysof
determination).Day167
Disclosure ofpreliminary calculations (normally within 5daysof
public announcement ofdetermination).Day172
Lastdateonwhich tosubmit factual information toDOC Day181
Verification Day188
Request forahearing due(30daysfrom dateofpublication of
preliminary determination)Day197
DOC casebriefs (50daysafterpublication ofpreliminary
determinationDay217
DOC rebuttal briefs (within 5daysoffiling ofcasebrief) Day222
DOC hearing (2daysaftersubmission ofrebuttal briefs) Day224
DOC finaldetermination Day235
(Ifpreliminary wasextended butfinalisnotextended)
(Ifpreliminary wasnotextended butfinalisextended)Day285
Day295
(Ifbothpreliminary andfinalareextended) Day302
Disclosure offinalcalculations Day240
Comments onMinisterial errors Day245
Publication offinaldetermination (normally within 7daysof
determination)Day250
Replies tocomments onMinisterial errors Day250
DOC issues anti-dumping order Day287G/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page4
Statutory timeframe foranti-dumping investigations
Event Timing
Petition filed Day0
Initiation 20daysfrom petition
ITCpreliminary determination 45daysfrom petition
DOC preliminary 140days* from initiation
DOC finaldetermination 215days* from initiation
ITCfinaldetermination 45daysfrom DOC final
*These dates maybeextended under certain circumstances.
Stages ofananti-dumping investigation
Event Stages
Initiation Petition analyzed
Publication ofInitiation notice
ITCpreliminary determination Questionnaire issued torespondents
Questionnaire response analyzed
DOC preliminary Publication ofpreliminary
determination
Disclosure ofpreliminary calculations
toparties
Verification ofquestionnaire responses
Case briefs andpublic hearing
DOC finaldetermination Publication offinaldetermination
Disclosure offinalcalculations to
parties
ITCfinaldetermination Anti-dumping dutyorder issuedG/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page5STATUTORY TIME FRAME FOR
ANTI-DUMPING INVESTIGATIONS
ITC DOC DOC ITC
Petition Initiation Preliminary Preliminary Final Final
Determination Determination Determination Determination
20days 45days 140days* 215days* 45days
from from from from from
Petition Petition Initiation Initiation DOC Final
*These dates maybeextended under certain circumstances.G/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page6STAGES OFAN
ANTI-DUMPING INVESTIGATION
ITC DOC DOC ITC
Initiation Preliminary Preliminary Final Final
Determination Determination Determination Determination
Petition Questionnaire Publication of Publication Anti-dumping
analyzed issued to preliminary offinal dutyorder
respondents determination determination issued
Publication Questionnaire Disclosure of Disclosure of
ofinitiation responses preliminary final
notice analyzed calculations calculations
toparties toparties
Verification of
questionnaire
responses
Case briefs
andpublic
hearingG/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page7
INFORMATION CONSIDERED "CONFIDENTIAL"
Under theUSanti-dumping dutylaw,apetition alleging "dumping" must befiledwithtwo
separate agencies oftheUSGovernment onthesame day: theUSDepartment ofCommerce (the
Commerce Department ortheDepartment) andtheUSInternational Trade Commission (the
Commission).Eachagencypursuesitsown,separateinvestigation.TheDepartmentinvestigateswhether
saleshavebeenmade atlessthanfairvalue andcompares theprices ofidentical orsimilar merchandise
soldintheUSmarket withthatsoldinthecomparison market, while theCommission investigates
whether adomestic industry intheUnited States ismaterially injured, threatened withmaterial injury,
ortheestablishment ofanindustry ismaterially retarded byreason ofimports soldatlessthanfair
value. Each agency hasitsowndefinition of"confidential information". Adescription ofthetypes
ofinformation which eachagency considers tobe"confidential" isprovided below.
USDepartment ofCommerce
TheCommerce Department usestheterm "business proprietary information" todescribe
information thatis"confidential" within themeaning ofArticle 6.5oftheAgreement onImplementation
ofArticle VIoftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994(Anti-Dumping Agreement). Such
information isnotreleased tothepublic but,instead, onlytorepresentatives ofparties totheproceedings
which maybegranted access tothemunder anadministrative protective order (APO). TheDepartment
doesnotutilize theterm "confidential" todescribe suchinformation but,instead, refers tosuch
information asbeing "business proprietary". Thereason forthisisthat,inUSsecurity classification
parlance, theterm"confidential" isusedtorefer toUSGovernment information thedissemination
ofwhich isrestricted inorder toprotect thenational security oftheUnited States.
Asofthisdate, theDepartment isinthelatter stages ofrevising itsregulations simplifying
itsprocedures protecting business proprietary information ("BPI"). Thenewregulations areexpected
tobeimplementedinthenearfuture.Undertheseregulations,theDepartmentrecognizesfourcategories
ofinformation relevant toananti-dumping proceeding: public, business proprietary, privileged (such
asattorney-client privileged), andclassified information (meaning information protected forpurposes
ofnational security). Ingeneral, public information isinformation which ismade available tothepublic,
whereas business proprietary information issubmitted byprivate parties totheproceedings andmay
bedisclosed (ifatall)onlytoauthorized applicants under avalid APO.5Unlike business proprietary
information, privileged andclassified information cannot bereleased evenunder anAPO.
Business Proprietary Information Releasable Under APO
TheDepartment generally considers thefollowing factual information tobebusiness proprietary
information, ifitissodesignated bythesubmitter: (1)business ortradesecrets concerning thenature
ofaproduct orproduction process; (2)production costs (butnottheidentity oftheproduction
components, e.g.,partsandequipment, unless aparticular component isatradesecret); (3)distribution
costs(butnotchannels ofdistribution); (4)terms ofsale(butnotterms ofsaleoffered tothepublic);
(5)prices ofindividual sales, likely sales, orotheroffers; (6)names ofparticular customers, distributors
orsuppliers6;(7)thedumping margin onindividual sales; (8)thenames ofparticular persons from
5Thesubmitter oftheproprietary information mustalsofilearedacted or"public" version ofthe
same document withtheDepartment forpublic review.
6Butnotthedestination ofthesaleorthedesignation ofthetypeofcustomer, distributor, orsupplier,
unless thedestination ordesignation would reveal thename ofthecustomer.G/ADP/AHG/W/26
Page8
whombusinessproprietaryinformationwasobtained;(9)thepositionofadomesticproducerorworkers
regarding support forapetition; and(10)anyother specific business information which, ifreleased
tothepublic, would cause substantial harm tothecompetitive position ofthesubmitter.
Information NotReleasable Under APO
Incontrast toinformation thatmaybereleased under APO, there aresome categories of
informationwhichtheDepartmentconsidersprivileged(again,informationprotectedbytheattorney-client
privilege orinformation submitted byaninformant) orclassified (relating tomilitary secrets) thatmay
notbedisclosed under anAPO. Moreover, insome extraordinary circumstances, business proprietary
information mayalsobewithheld from disclosure under APO based onadetermination bythe
Department thatthere isaclear andcompelling needtowithhold suchinformation.
USInternational Trade Commission
Like theCommerce Department, theCommission usestheterm "business proprietary
information" todescribe confidential orprotected information. TheCommission considers business
proprietary information, byregulation, tobethat"which concerns orrelates tothetrade secrets,
processes, operations, styleofworks, orapparatus, ortotheproduction, sales, shipments, purchases,
transfers, identification ofcustomers, inventories, oramount orsource ofanyincome, profits, losses,
orexpendituresofanyperson,firm,partnership,corporation,orotherorganization,orotherinformation
ofcommercial value, thedisclosure ofwhich islikely tohave theeffect ofeither impairing the
Commission 'sability toobtain suchinformation asisnecessary toperform itsstatutory functions, or
causing substantial harm tothecompetitive position oftheperson, firm, partnership, corporation, or
other organization fromwhich theinformation wasobtained".7TheCommission willrelease business
proprietaryinformationtospecifiedrepresentativesofinterestedpartieswhoarepartiestotheproceeding
andhaveapplied forandreceived access tosuchinformation under anAPO issued bytheagency.
TheCommission willagree torelease suchinformation under protective order, unless theinformation
isprivileged, classified, orspecific information ofatypethatmustbewithheld fromdisclosure based
onaclear andcompelling need.8
7See19C.F.R. 201.6(a)
8See19C.F.R. 207.7(g)(1)