[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20318-20320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8733]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-802]


Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: In response to a petition for a changed circumstances review 
(``CCR'') of Grobest & I-Mei Industrial (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. (``Grobest 
& I-Mei''), the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is 
initiating a CCR of the antidumping duty order on frozen warmwater 
shrimp from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam''). We have 
preliminarily concluded that Viet I-Mei Frozen Foods Co., Ltd. (``Viet 
I-Mei'') is the successor-in-interest to Grobest & I-Mei, and, as a 
result, should be accorded the same treatment previously accorded to 
Grobest & I-Mei, with regard to the antidumping duty order on frozen 
warmwater shrimp from Vietnam. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Effective Date: April 12, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Toni Dach at (202) 482-1655, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the antidumping duty order on certain 
frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam on February 1, 2005. See Notice of 
Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 70 FR 5152 (February 1, 2005) (``VN 
Shrimp Order''). Grobest & I-Mei participated in a new shipper review; 
the second, third, fourth, and fifth administrative reviews of the VN 
Shrimp Order; and requested an administrative review for the sixth

[[Page 20319]]

administrative review of the VN Shrimp Order. On February 28, 2011, 
Viet I-Mei informed the Department that Grobest & I-Mei had ended their 
partnership, and petitioned the Department to conduct a CCR to confirm 
that Viet I-Mei is the successor-in-interest to Grobest & I-Mei, for 
purposes of determining antidumping duties due as a result of the VN 
Shrimp Order.

Scope of the Order

    The scope of the order includes certain frozen warmwater shrimp and 
prawns, whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or farm-raised (produced 
by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on or peeled, tail-on or 
tail-off,\1\ deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or otherwise 
processed in frozen form.
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    \1\ ``Tails'' in this context means the tail fan, which includes 
the telson and the uropods.
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    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope of this order, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''), are products which are 
processed from warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which 
are sold in any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species of 
warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are generally 
classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae family. Some 
examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater species include, but 
are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannemei), banana prawn 
(Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus chinensis), giant river 
prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), 
redspotted shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp 
(Penaeus subtilis), southern pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern 
rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris), southern white shrimp 
(Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris), western white 
shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), and Indian white prawn (Penaeus 
indicus).
    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices, or 
sauce are included in the scope of this order. In addition, food 
preparations, which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 
20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope 
of this order.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) Breaded shrimp and prawns (HTS 
subheading 1605.20.1020); (2) shrimp and prawns generally classified in 
the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as coldwater shrimp, in 
any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and prawns whether shell-on 
or peeled (HTS subheadings 0306.23.0020 and 0306.23.0040); (4) shrimp 
and prawns in prepared meals (HTS subheading 1605.20.0510); (5) dried 
shrimp and prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTS 
subheading 1605.20.1040); (7) certain dusted shrimp; and (8) certain 
battered shrimp. Dusted shrimp is a shrimp-based product: (1) That is 
produced from fresh (or thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) to 
which a ``dusting'' layer of rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent 
purity has been applied; (3) with the entire surface of the shrimp 
flesh thoroughly and evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the non-
shrimp content of the end product constituting between four and 10 
percent of the product's total weight after being dusted, but prior to 
being frozen; and (5) that is subjected to IQF freezing immediately 
after application of the dusting layer. Battered shrimp is a shrimp-
based product that, when dusted in accordance with the definition of 
dusting above, is coated with a wet viscous layer containing egg and/or 
milk, and pan-fried.
    The products covered by the order are currently classified under 
the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.13.0003, 0306.13.0006, 
0306.13.0009, 0306.13.0012, 0306.13.0015, 0306.13.0018, 0306.13.0021, 
0306.13.0024, 0306.13.0027, 0306.13.0040, 1605.20.1010 and 
1605.20.1030. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and 
for customs purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the 
written description of the scope of the order is dispositive.

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(the ``Act''), and 19 CFR 351.216, the Department will conduct a CCR 
upon receipt of information concerning, or a request from an interested 
party for a review of, an antidumping duty order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. The 
information submitted by Viet I-Mei supporting its claim that Viet I-
Mei is the successor-in-interest to Grobest & I-Mei, demonstrates 
changed circumstances sufficient to warrant such a review. See 19 CFR 
351.216(d); see also Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Carbon and Certain Alloy 
Steel Wire Rod From Mexico, 75 FR 67685 (November 3, 2010).
    In accordance with the above-referenced regulation, the Department 
is initiating a CCR to determine whether Viet I-Mei is the successor-
in-interest to Grobest & I-Mei. In determining whether one company is 
the successor-in-interest to another, the Department examines a number 
of factors including, but not limited to, changes in management, 
production facilities, supplier relationships, and customer base. See 
Industrial Phosphoric Acid From Israel; Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944 (February 14, 1994). 
Although no single factor will necessarily provide a dispositive 
indication of succession, generally, the Department will consider one 
company to be a successor-in-interest to another company if its 
resulting operation is similar to that of its predecessor. See Brass 
Sheet and Strip From Canada; Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992). Thus, if the 
evidence demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of 
the subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same business 
entity as the prior company, the Department will assign the new company 
the cash-deposit rate of its predecessor. Id.; Notice of Final Results 
of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan, 67 FR 58 (January 2, 2002); see also 
Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France: Final Results of Changed-
Circumstances Review, 75 FR 34688 (June 18, 2010) (the Department found 
successorship where the company changed its ownership structure, but 
made only minor changes to its operations, management, supplier 
relationships, and customer base).
    In its February 28, 2011, submission, Viet I-Mei provided 
information to demonstrate that it is the successor-in-interest to 
Grobest & I-Mei. With respect to management prior to and following the 
name change, the submission indicates that the Deputy General Manager 
of Grobest & I-Mei is now the General Manager of Viet I-Mei, and three 
out of five additional senior managers have retained their management 
positions. Additionally, Viet I-Mei's submission shows only minor 
changes to the organizational structure of Viet I-Mei from the 
structure of Grobest & I-Mei. Specifically, the majority of departments 
in Viet I-Mei are identical to the departments in Grobest & I-Mei. 
Thus, the majority of Viet I-Mei's

[[Page 20320]]

managers remain in positions identical to those they held in Grobest & 
I-Mei. See Attachment 3 of Viet I-Mei's February 28, 2011, submission.
    In addition, the submission indicates that the production 
facilities for Viet I-Mei and Grobest & I-Mei are identical. Following 
the name and investment changes, Viet I-Mei retained the same address 
and assets as Grobest & I-Mei. See Attachments 2 and 4 of Viet I-Mei's 
February 28, 2011, submission.
    In its March 18, 2011, submission, Viet I-Mei identifies Grobest & 
I-Mei's raw materials suppliers and Viet I-Mei's raw materials 
suppliers, showing that Viet I-Mei's raw material suppliers are 
identical to Grobest & I-Mei's. Additionally, Viet I-Mei provides 
representative invoice samples from raw material suppliers to Grobest & 
I-Mei and Viet I-Mei. See Attachments 1 and 2 of Viet I-Mei's March 18, 
2011, submission.
    Further, Viet I-Mei addressed changes to its customer base by 
providing customer lists and representative invoices and packing lists. 
The lists show that the customers of Viet I-Mei were customers of 
Grobest & I-Mei. See Attachments 3, 4, and 5 of Viet I-Mei's March18, 
2011, submission.
    Given the few changes noted above, we have preliminarily determined 
that no major changes have occurred with respect to Viet I-Mei's 
management, production facilities, suppliers, or customer base as a 
result of the dissolution of the partnership of Grobest & I-Mei.
    When it concludes that expedited action is warranted, the 
Department may publish the notice of initiation and preliminary results 
for a CCR concurrently. See 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii); see also 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review: Canned Pineapple Fruit From Thailand, 69 FR 30878 
(June 1, 2004). We have determined that expedition of this CCR is 
warranted because we have the information necessary to make a 
preliminary finding already on the record. See Ball Bearings and Parts 
Thereof from Japan: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed-
Circumstances Review, 71 FR 14679 (March 23, 2006). In this case, we 
preliminarily find that Viet I-Mei is the successor-in-interest to 
Grobest & I-Mei and, as such, is entitled to Grobest & I-Mei's cash-
deposit rate with respect to entries of subject merchandise.
    Should our final results remain the same as these preliminary 
results, effective the date of publication of the final results, we 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to assign entries of 
merchandise produced or exported by Viet I-Mei the antidumping duty 
cash-deposit rate applicable to Grobest & I-Mei.

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 14 days of 
publication of this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 28 days after the date of publication of this 
notice or the first working day thereafter. Interested parties may 
submit case briefs and/or written comments no later than 14 days after 
the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals 
to written comments, which must be limited to issues raised in such 
briefs or comments, may be filed not later than 21 days after the date 
of publication of this notice. Parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs in this CCR are requested to submit with each argument 
(1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument 
with an electronic version included. Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), 
we will issue the final results of this CCR no later than 270 days 
after the date on which this review was initiated or within 45 days of 
publication of these preliminary results if all parties agree to our 
preliminary finding.
    We are issuing and publishing this initiation and preliminary 
results notice in accordance with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of 
the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 351.221(c)(3).

    Dated: March 31, 2011.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-8733 Filed 4-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P