[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 88 (Friday, May 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26179-26181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11306]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-475-818, C-475-819]


Certain Pasta From Italy: Notice of Initiation of Anti-
Circumvention Inquiry on the Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is self-initiating 
an anti-circumvention inquiry to determine whether an Italian producer 
of pasta is circumventing the antidumping and countervailing duty 
orders on certain pasta from Italy, issued July 24, 1996.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 5, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brinkmann or Jarrod Goldfeder, 
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-4126 or (202) 482-2305, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are 
references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective 
date of the amendments

[[Page 26180]]

made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act), by the Uruguay Round 
Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations 
to the Department's regulations refer to the regulations codified at 19 
CFR part 351 (April 1999).

Scope of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders

    Imports covered by these orders are shipments of certain non-egg 
dry pasta in packages of five pounds (2.27 kilograms) or less, whether 
or not enriched or fortified or containing milk or other optional 
ingredients such as chopped vegetables, vegetable purees, milk, gluten, 
diastases, vitamins, coloring and flavorings, and up to two percent egg 
white. The pasta covered by this scope is typically sold in the retail 
market, in fiberboard or cardboard cartons, or polyethylene or 
polypropylene bags of varying dimensions.
    Excluded from the scope are refrigerated, frozen, or canned pastas, 
as well as all forms of egg pasta, with the exception of non-egg dry 
pasta containing up to two percent egg white. Also excluded are imports 
of organic pasta from Italy that are accompanied by the appropriate 
certificate issued by the Instituto Mediterraneo Di Certificazione 
(IMC), by Bioagricoop Scrl, by QC&I International Services, by Ecocert 
Italia or by Consorzio per il Controllo dei Prodotti Biologici.
    The merchandise subject to review is currently classifiable under 
item 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise subject to 
these orders is dispositive.

Scope Rulings

    The Department has issued the following scope rulings to date:
    (1) On August 25, 1997, the Department issued a scope ruling that 
multicolored pasta, imported in kitchen display bottles of decorative 
glass that are sealed with cork or paraffin and bound with raffia, is 
excluded from the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty 
orders. See Memorandum from Edward Easton to Richard Moreland, dated 
August 25, 1997, on file in the Central Records Unit (CRU) of the main 
Commerce Building, Room B-099.
    (2) On July 30, 1998, the Department issued a scope ruling, finding 
that multipacks consisting of six one-pound packages of pasta that are 
shrink-wrapped into a single package are within the scope of the 
antidumping and countervailing duty orders. See letter from Susan H. 
Kuhbach, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration, 
to Barbara P. Sidari, Vice President, Joseph A. Sidari Company, Inc., 
dated July 30, 1998, on file in the CRU.
    (3) On October 23, 1997, the petitioners filed a request that the 
Department initiate an anti-circumvention investigation against 
Barilla, an Italian producer and exporter of pasta. On October 5, 1998, 
the Department issued a final determination that, pursuant to section 
781(a) of the Act, Barilla was circumventing the antidumping duty order 
by exporting bulk pasta from Italy which it subsequently repackaged in 
the United States into packages of five pounds or less for sale in the 
United States. See Anti-circumvention Inquiry of the Antidumping Duty 
Order on Certain Pasta from Italy: Affirmative Final Determination of 
Circumvention of the Antidumping Duty Order, 63 FR 54672 (October 13, 
1998) (Barilla Circumvention Inquiry).
    (4) On October 26, 1998, the Department self-initiated a scope 
inquiry to determine whether a package weighing over five pounds as a 
result of allowable industry tolerances may be within the scope of the 
antidumping and countervailing duty orders. On May 24, 1999 we issued a 
final scope ruling finding that, effective October 26, 1998, pasta in 
packages weighing up to (and including) five pounds four ounces, and so 
labeled, is within the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty 
orders. See Memorandum from John Brinkmann to Richard Moreland, dated 
May 24, 1999, on file in the CRU.

Background

    On August 30, 1999, we issued an antidumping questionnaire to 
Pastificio Fratelli Pagani S.p.A. (Pagani) for the third administrative 
review of the antidumping duty order, covering the period July 1, 1998, 
through June 30, 1999. In its October 1, 1999 questionnaire response, 
Pagani stated that it ``exported sacks of nonsubject bulk pasta for 
repackaging after importation.'' Based on a supplemental questionnaire 
issued to Pagani on January 24, 2000, Pagani provided more detail 
regarding its repackaging operation.

Scope of the Anti-Circumvention Inquiry

    The product subject to this anti-circumvention inquiry is certain 
pasta produced in Italy, by Pagani, and exported to the United States 
in packages of greater than five pounds (2.27 kilograms) that meets all 
the requirements for the merchandise subject to the antidumping and 
countervailing duty orders, with the exception of packaging size, and 
which is repackaged into packages of five pounds (2.27 kilograms) or 
less after entry into the United States.

Initiation of Anti-Circumvention Proceeding

    In accordance with section 781(a) of the Act, the Department may 
include merchandise completed or assembled in the United States within 
the scope of an existing order when the following four conditions are 
met: (A) The merchandise sold in the United States is of the same class 
or kind as any other merchandise that is the subject of an antidumping 
or countervailing duty order; (B) such merchandise sold in the United 
States is completed or assembled in the United States from parts or 
components produced in the foreign country with respect to which such 
order applies; (C) the process of assembly or completion in the United 
States is minor or insignificant; and (D) the value of the parts or 
components produced in the foreign country to which the antidumping and 
countervailing duty order apply is a significant portion of the total 
value of the merchandise sold in the United States.
    In determining whether to include parts or components in an order, 
the Act states at section 781(a)(3) that the Department must take into 
account: (1) The pattern of trade, including sourcing patterns; (2) 
whether the manufacturer or exporter of the parts or components is 
affiliated with the person who assembles or completes the merchandise 
sold in the United States; and (3) whether imports into the United 
States of the parts or components produced in such foreign country have 
increased after the initiation of the investigation which resulted in 
the issuance of such order or finding.
    Based upon our review of the information submitted in the context 
of the third administrative review with respect to the preceding 
criteria, we find that the all of the elements that warrant an anti-
circumvention inquiry are present (see Memorandum from Holly A. Kuga to 
Troy H. Cribb, ``Initiation of Anti-circumvention Inquiry of the 
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders on Certain Pasta from 
Italy,'' dated April 21, 2000, on file in the CRU. This information 
indicates that there is reason to believe that Pagani's repackaging 
operation in the United States has allowed it to evade

[[Page 26181]]

antidumping and countervailing duties on its sales of subject pasta in 
the United States. Therefore, we are self-initiating an anti-
circumvention inquiry to determine whether Pagani's importation of 
pasta in bulk and subsequent repackaging in the United States 
constitutes circumvention, with respect to the antidumping and 
countervailing duty orders on pasta from Italy pursuant to section 
781(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.225(b).
    We intend to notify the International Trade Commission in the event 
of an affirmative preliminary determination of circumvention, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(f)(7).
    The Department will not order the suspension of liquidation at this 
time. However, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.225(l)(2), the Department 
will instruct the U.S. Customs Service to suspend liquidation in the 
event of an affirmative preliminary determination of circumvention. 
Although interested parties may comment prior to the preliminary 
determination, the Department will establish a formal schedule for 
submission of final comments after the preliminary determination.
    This notice is issued and published pursuant to section 781 of the 
Act (19 U.S.C. 1677j) and 19 CFR 351.225.

    Dated: April 27, 2000.
Troy H. Cribb,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-11306 Filed 5-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P