Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:1998:158
Date: 1998-07-08
Language of the case: German
Court formation: First Chamber, Extended Composition
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Dumping;External relations;Commercial policy
Concepts: Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
Common commercial policy — Protection against dumping — Review procedure — Period of 
application of anti-dumping duties — Council's discretion 
(Counal Regulations No 2423/88, Art. 15(1), (2), (3) and (4), and Nos 535/87 and 3283/94) 
In the light of the wording, historical origin, 
structure and purpose of basic anti-dumping 
Regulation N o 2423/88, Article 15(1) thereof 
must be construed as allowing the Council a 
discretionary power to fix at less than five 
years the period of application of definitive 
anti-dumping duties adopted following a 
procedure for the review of the measures ini­
tially adopted if, owing to special circum­
stances, such a limitation best serves to pro­
tect the differing interests of the parties to 
the procedure and maintain the equilibrium 
II - 2679 
SUMMARY — CASE T-232/95 
between those interests which the basic regu­
lation seeks to establish. 
Where the unusual length of the review 
affects the legal situation of the parties to the 
procedure to the detriment of the undertak­
ings subject to the anti-dumping measures, it 
constitutes a factor capable of justifying limi­
tation of the period during which definitive 
anti-dumping measures adopted following 
that procedure are to apply. 
In those circumstances, the Council did not 
exceed the limits of its discretion in deciding 
that in view of the length of the review pro­
cedure a period of application of two years 
for Regulation N o 2380/95 imposing a 
definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of 
plain paper photocopiers originating in Japan 
was reasonable. 
Moreover, limiting the period of operation of 
Regulation No 2380/95 to two years did not 
impair the rights available to the Community 
industry in order to combat absorption or 
circumvention of the anti-dumping duty. 
Regulation N o 3283/94 on protection against 
dumped imports from countries not mem­
bers of the European Community does not 
permit the adoption of definitive anti­
dumping measures for a period exceeding 
five years and it is therefore inevitable that, 
after three years at the most, the definitive 
anti-dumping measures will lapse within two 
years or less if no application for review is 
made. It follows that even if it is difficult in 
practice for the Community industry to avail 
itself of the procedures which are designed 
to protect it against attempts to absorb and/ 
or circumvent the anti-dumping duty when 
the anti-dumping measures are to lapse 
within two years, that situation is dictated by 
the rules established by the basic regulation. 
II - 2680