EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 4.11.2008 
COM(2008) 702 final 
  
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION 
imposing a definitive anti-dum ping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty 
imposed on imports of monoso dium glutamate originating in the People’s Republic of 
China 
(presented by the Commission) 
 
EN 2   EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM   
1. Context of the proposal 
 Grounds for and objectives of the proposal  
This proposal concerns the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 
22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members 
of the European Community, as last  amended by Council Regulation (EC) 
No 2117/2005 of 21 December 2005 (‘the basic Regulation’). 
 General context 
This proposal is made in the context of th e implementation of the basic Regulation and 
is the result of an investigation which was carried out in line with the substantive and 
procedural requirements laid out in the basic Regulation. 
 Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 
Not applicable. 
 Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union 
Not applicable. 
2. Consultation of interested parties and impact assessment 
 Consultation of interested parties  
 Interested parties concerned by the proceeding have alre ady had the possibility to 
defend their interests during the investigation,  in line with the provisions of the basic 
Regulation. 
 Collection and use of expertise  
 There was no need for external expertise. 
 Impact assessment 
This proposal is the result of the im plementation of the basic Regulation. 
The basic Regulation does not foresee a ge neral impact assessment but contains an 
exhaustive list of conditions that have to be assessed. 
3. Legal elements of the proposal 
 Summary of the proposed action 
On 5 September 2007, the Commission in itiated an anti-dumping proceeding 
concerning imports of monosodium glutamate originating in the People’s Republic of 
China. 
The investigation found dumping of the produc t concerned, which caused injury to the 
Community industry. The investigation also  showed that there was no compelling 
Community interest aspect against the impos ition of definitive anti-dumping measures. 
On this basis, provisional measures were imposed by Co mmission Regulation (EC) No 
 
EN 3   EN 492/2008. The continuation of the investigation has confirmed the essential provisional 
findings. 
Therefore, it is suggested that the Council adopts the atta ched proposal for a 
Regulation in order to impose definitive measures. 
 Legal basis 
Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against 
dumped imports from countries not member s of the European Community, as last 
amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005 of 21 December 2005. 
 Subsidiarity principle 
The proposal falls under the ex clusive competence of the Co mmunity. The subsidiarity 
principle therefore does not apply. 
 Proportionality principle 
The proposal complies with the proportionality  principle because th e form of action is 
described in the above-mentioned basic Re gulation and leaves no scope for national 
decision. 
 Indication of how financial and admini strative burden falling upon the Community, 
national governments, regional a nd local authorities, economic  operators and citizens is 
minimized and proportionate to the object ive of the proposal is not applicable. 
 Choice of instruments  
 Proposed instrument: Regulation. 
 Other means would not be adequate because  the basic Regulation does not foresee 
alternative options. 
4. Budgetary implication 
 The proposal has no implication for the Community budget. 
 
 
EN 4   EN Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION 
imposing a definitive anti- dumping duty and collecting defi nitively the provisional duty 
imposed on imports of monoso dium glutamate originating in the People’s Republic of 
China 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty esta blishing the European Community,  
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection 
against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community1 (the 'basic 
Regulation'), and in particular Article 9 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal submitted by th e Commission after cons ulting the Advisory 
Committee, 
Whereas: 5. PROCEDURE 5.1. PROVISIONAL MEASURES (1) The Commission, by Regulation (EC) No 492/2008
2 (the 'provisional Regulation') 
imposed a provisional anti-dumping dut y on imports of monosodium glutamate 
('MSG') originating in the Peopl e's Republic of China ('PRC'). 
5.2. SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE (2) Subsequent to the disclosure  of the essential facts and c onsiderations on the basis of 
which it was decided to impose provisional  anti-dumping measures ('provisional 
disclosure'), several interested parties ma de written submissions making their views 
known on the provisional findings. The partie s who so requested were granted an 
opportunity to be heard. The Commission continued to seek and verify all information it deemed necessary for its definitive findings. 
(3) The Commission continued its  investigation with regard to Community interest 
aspects and carried out an analysis of  information provide d by some users and 
suppliers in the Community after the im position of the provisional anti-dumping 
measures. 
(4) The oral and written comments submitted by the interested parties were considered 
and, where appropriate, the provisional findings were modified accordingly.  
(5) All parties were informed of the essentia l facts and considerations on the basis of 
which it was intended to recommend the imposition of definitive anti-dumping measures on imports of MSG originating in  the PRC and the definitive collection of 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p.1 
2 OJ L 144, 4.6.2008, p. 14. 
 
EN 5   EN the amounts secured by way of the provisional  duty. They were also granted a period 
within which they could make representa tions subsequent to this disclosure. 
(6) It is recalled that the investigation of dumping and injury covered the period from 1 
July 2006 to 30 June 2007 ('investigation peri od' or 'IP'). With respect to the trends 
relevant for the injury assessment, the Co mmission analysed data covering the period 
from April 2004 to the end of the IP ('period considered'). 
6. PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT (7) In the absence of any comments con cerning the product concerned and the like 
product, recitals (12) to (14) of the provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. 
7. DUMPING 7.1. Application of Article 18  of the basic Regulation 
(8) In the absence of any comments concerning the application of Article 18 of the basic 
Regulation to one exporting producer in th e  P R C ,  r e c i t a l s  ( 1 5 )  t o  ( 1 8 )  o f  t h e  
provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
7.2. Market economy treatment ('MET')  (9) Following the provisional disclosure, the two Chinese exporting producers which were 
not granted MET contested the provisional findings.  
(10) In the case of the first company it wa s submitted that, in its opinion, International 
Accounting Standard (IAS) only required the pr eparation of consolidated accounts and 
did not require the consolidated accounts  to be audited in line with IAS. 
(11) In this regard, it should be  recalled that, desp ite several requests, this company did not 
provide the relevant consolidated financial statements, including the auditors' report 
neither in its MET claim form nor during th e on-spot visit in the PRC. The IAS state 
and explain internationally agreed accounti ng principles and provide guidance as to 
how they should be applied. Performing an audit of accounting records in line with 
IAS means that the audit en sures that the accounting records were prepared and 
presented in line with IAS and that they co mply therewith. In case of a breach of such 
principles, the audit report should menti on the impact of the non-compliance and the 
reasons why IAS principles we re not applied. IAS 27, in par ticular, clearly states the 
conditions under which firms should prepare and present their consolidated accounts. The company does not contest that these conditi ons were applicable to it in the context 
of the MET investigation.  
(12) Article 2(7)(c) second i ndent of the basic Regulation clearly provides that firms 
applying for MET should have basic accoun ting records which are independently 
audited in line with IAS and applied for all purposes. It thus seems clear that accounts 
should not only be prepared bu t also audited in line with IA S. The absence of an audit 
in line with IAS does not allow the Comm ission to establish whether or not the 
accounts were prepared in line with IAS. On this basis alone it could not be concluded 
that criterion two was fulfilled. 
(13) The same exporting producer further claime d that in its view the offsetting of revenues 
and expenses was not of material nature  and that the non-disclosure could not 
influence the economic decision of users take n on the basis of the financial statements. 
Therefore there was no violation of IAS. 
(14) This claim however seems to contradict th e first one that account s should be prepared 
but not audited in line with IAS. If this were the case, the firms themselves, and not 
 
EN 6   EN competent and independent auditors as re quired in Article 2( 7)(c), would assess 
whether or not offsetting might not be forbidden, if revenues and expenses were not of material nature, if such o ffsetting could not influence th e economic decision of users 
and if such offsetting detracts from the ab ility of users to understand the transactions 
undertaken.  
(15) Moreover, while it has to be accepted that the notion "materiality" leaves room for 
interpretation, paragraph 30 of  IAS 1 provides that an ite m that is not sufficiently 
material to warrant separate presentation on the face of the financial statements may 
nevertheless be sufficient material that it should be presented separately in the notes. Therefore, in view of the fact that the o ffsetting was not mentioned in the audit report 
nor in the notes to the financial statements  of the company it is confirmed that the 
accounts of the company were not audited in line with IAS.  
(16) In addition, the offsetting in qu estion were those found by the Commission 
investigators. Only an in-depth audit would have revealed if there were no other cases 
where accounts were not prepared and audited in line with IAS. In the absence of such 
an audit, the Commission does not have the ma terial time, nor is it the purpose of the 
on-spot visit, to audit the accounts and the presentation of  the accounts of the 
companies. Therefore, findings of the Commi ssion which point to the fact that firms, 
claiming MET, fail to meet the requirement  of the basic Regulations to prepare 
accounting records and ensure that the accounts  are prepared and audited in line with 
IAS leads to the conclusion that criterion two is not fulfilled.  
(17) Finally, the same compa ny disagreed with the conclusi on that a negative working 
capital together with interest–free borrowi ngs has to be considered as a distortion 
carried over from the former non-market  economy system but rather a sign of 
managerial efficiency. 
(18) It should firstly be noted that the findings relating to the negative working capital were 
subsidiary findings and were not the main  ones leading to the conclusion that the 
applicant did not fulfil the MET criterion.  Secondly, a negative working capital alone 
can be a sign of managerial  efficiency but only in a bus iness with low inventory and 
low accounts receivable, which basically can only be found in enterprises operating on 
an almost cash-only basis, such as departme nt stores and superm arkets. The analysis 
of the situation of this Chinese exporting producer, however, was completely different. 
A negative working capital has to be consider ed rather as a sign that a company may 
be facing bankruptcy or serious financial trouble. Under such circumstances, being 
able to receive huge amounts of "trade cred its" without any financial cost would be 
highly unlikely in market economy conditions. Therefore, the significant interest-free 
borrowings of the company which represented a significant share of its total short term 
liabilities (the latter representing 80% of total liabilities) and which resulted to a 
significant level of negative working capital ha s to be considered as not in line with 
market economy behaviour.  
(19) In the case of the second company, no new arguments were provided which alter the 
provisional findings on MET. In  particular, it has been conf irmed that the influence of 
the State-owned shareholder on the decisi on making process of the company was 
disproportionately high and that  the State agreed to reduce the established value of the 
land use rights by 50% without any compen sation. It was also confirmed that the 
accounts of the company were not audited in line with IAS.  
(20) In the absence of any other comments conc erning MET, recitals (19) to (26) of the 
provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
 
EN 7   EN 7.3. Individual treatment ('IT') 
(21) One interested party claimed that anti-competitive practices and State interference 
would encourage circumvention of the meas ures and therefore none of the Chinese 
producers should be granted IT. 
(22) However, this interested party did not pr ovide any evidence as to how such allegedly 
anti-competitive practices and alleged State interference would permit circumvention of measures. Moreover, the investigati on revealed that any theoretical State 
interference would be only possible via th e China Fermentation Industry Association 
of which both exporting producers are me mbers. However, all decisions and 
recommendations taken by this Association were of a non-binding nature. Therefore, 
this claim had to be rejected. 
(23) In the absence of any othe r comments with regard to IT, recitals (27) to (29) of the 
provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
7.4. Normal value 7.4.1. Analogue country (24) One interested party contested the choi ce made by the Commission to use Thailand as 
analogue country and, in  particular, the producer Ajinom oto Thailand, which is related 
to the Community producer. However, the ar guments and remarks by this party were 
submitted after the specific time limit set for submitting comments
3, but more 
importantly they were provided without any substantiation. Therefore, these comments 
had to be disregarded. 
(25) In the absence of any other comments con cerning the analogue country, recitals (30) to 
(34) of the provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
7.4.2. Methodology applied for the determination of normal value  (26) One Chinese exporting producer claimed that  an adjustment for the differences in the 
costs of raw material should be made. In pa rticular this exporti ng producer alleged that 
MSG produced from molasses as it is th e case in the analogue country was more 
costly than MSG produced from corn or rice starch.  
(27) However, it appeared that the Chinese exporting producer significantly overstated the 
ratio between the input of mo lasses and the output of MSG in comparison of what was 
found and verified at the co-operating produ cer in the analogue country. Accordingly, 
the claim that it was more costly to pr oduce MSG in the analogue country had to be 
rejected. 
(28) In the absence of any other comment s concerning the methodology applied for the 
determination of normal value, recital (35)  of the provisional Regulation is hereby 
confirmed.  
7.5. Export price (29) In the absence of any comments concer ning the export price, which would alter the 
findings at the provisional stage, recitals (3 6) to (37) of the provisional Regulation are 
hereby confirmed.  
7.6. Comparison  
                                                
 
3 Point 6 (c) of the Notice of Initiation, OJ C 206, 5.9.2007, p .23. 
 
EN 8   EN (30) In the absence of any other comments con cerning the comparison, recitals (38) to (39) 
of the provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
7.7. Dumping margins (31) For the companies granted IT, the weight ed average normal value was compared with 
the weighted average export pr ice of the corresponding type  of the product concerned, 
as provided for in Articles 2(11) and (12) of the basic Regulation. 
(32) On this basis, the definitive dumping ma rgins expressed as a percentage of the CIF 
Community frontier price, duty unpaid, are: 
– Fujian Province Jianyang Wuyi MSG Co., Ltd.: 36,5% 
– Hebei Meihua MSG Group Co., Ltd., and Tongliao Meihua Bio-Tech 
Co., Ltd.: 33,8 % 
(33) The basis for establishing the country-wid e dumping margin was set out in recital (42) 
of the provisional Regulation, which, in th e absence of any comments, is hereby 
confirmed. On this basis the country-wide level of dumping was established at 39,7% 
of the CIF Community frontier price, duty unpaid. 
8. INJURY 8.1. Definition of the Community industry 
(34) In the absence of any comments concerni ng the definition of th e Community industry, 
recitals (44) to (46) of the provi sional Regulation are hereby confirmed.  
8.2. Community consumption (35) In the absence of any comments concerning the Commun ity consumption, recital (47) 
of the provisional Regulation is hereby confirmed. 
8.3. Imports into the Community from the PRC (36) Following the provisional disclosure, one  of the Community importers claimed that 
the Commission findings with regard to the fluctuation of the Ch inese export price in 
the period considered were distorted due to using financial years rather than calendar 
years. The period under consideration st arted on 1 April 2004 whereas the use of 
calendar years would have meant starting this period on 1 January 2004. According to 
the data presented by the company, this cha nge in the starting point would show a 12% 
increase in Chinese export prices between the calendar year 2004 and IP in contrast to 
the slight decrease reported in recital (50) of the provision al Regulation. However, it 
should be noted that data presented by the importer was based on its total purchasing 
prices which obviously covered only part of the Chinese exports  to the Community. 
Having examined the data with regard to the average prices of all imports of MSG from the PRC, based on Eurostat, it was found that the relevant Chinese prices 
increased by only 0,5% from January 2004 to the end of the IP and not by 12% as claimed by the importer. The difference in price trends between that found for the period considered (a decrease of 2%) and that found for the period from January 2004 
to the end of the IP (an increase of 0,5%) is  not such as to alte r the conclusions drawn 
in regard to the effect of  these prices on the situati on of the Community industry. 
Therefore this claim had to be rejected.  
(37) In the absence of any other comments with  regard to imports into the Community from 
the PRC, recitals (48) to (52) of the provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. 
8.4. Economic situation of the Community Industry  
 
EN 9   EN (38) Certain interested parties questioned the analysis of the tr ends of the injury indicators. 
They claimed that the use of 12-month peri ods running in line with the complainant's 
financial year rather than calendar y ears effectively shortened the period under 
consideration to three years as the financial year 2007 is, to a big extent, overlapping 
with the IP. These parties claimed that in or der to make a proper a ppraisal of the trends 
of the injury indicators, the period consid ered should be prolonged to cover the full 
calendar year 2004. In this rega rd, it should be pointed out  that the basic Regulation 
does not provide for a strict timeline regarding the definition of the period considered. Furthermore, the WTO Recommendation concer ning the periods of data collection for 
anti-dumping investigations provides that " As a general rule,[…]the period of data 
collection for injury inves tigations normally should be  at least three years[…]. "
4 
Nevertheless, a comparative analysis of th e basic injury indicators on a calendar year 
basis was made, i.e. assuming a period considered of 2004, 2005, 2006 and the IP, in 
order to verify if different conclusi ons would be drawn as regards injury.  This analysis 
has shown that the trends of the main inju ry indicators do not change significantly. 
Although certain trends such as the decrea ses in production and sales volumes would 
be less pronounced as compared to the conclusions in the pr ovisional Regulation, 
other findings relating to the negative pr ofitability of the Community industry, the 
huge increase of imports from the PRC and the severe price undercutting would 
remain unchanged. Furthermore, it should be noted that the period considered serves 
as an indicator of the evolution of the Community industry's situation to determine 
whether it can be considered to be sufferi ng material injury during the IP. In these 
circumstances, the argument of the partie s is rejected on the ground that the injury 
picture would have continued to show materi al injury even if the period considered 
was extended by the first trimester of 2004.  
(39) Additionally, the complainant commente d on the wording of recital (60) of the 
provisional Regulation. The complainant pointed  out that the senten ce "the acquisition 
of Orsan SA by Ajinomoto Foods Europe" wa s not correct as Or san SA was acquired 
by the Ajinomoto Group and subsequently  renamed Ajinomoto Foods Europe.  
(40) Based on the above facts and consider ations, the conclusion that the Community 
industry suffered material injury, as set out in  recitals (70) to ( 72) of the provisional 
Regulation, is hereby confirmed. 
9. CAUSATION 9.1. Effects of dumped imports  (41) One interested party claimed that dur ing the period considered there was no 
coincidence in time between the negative trend in profitability observed for the 
Community industry and the development in the import volumes from the PRC. Accordingly, it was claimed that imports fr om the PRC could not have caused injury 
to the Community industry. Although this ma tter was explained in detail in recitals 
(60) and (61) of the provisi onal Regulation, it is further not ed that, in accordance with 
Article 3(6) of the basic Regulation, it is  not just the volume s of dumped imports 
which may be a relevant factor in asse ssing whether dumped imports have been the 
cause of material injury to the Community industry, but also, in the alternative, the 
prices of these imports. In recital (76) of the provisional Regulation it was concluded 
that "[…] the low priced dumped imports from the PRC which significantly undercut 
                                                
 
4 G/ADP/6 of 16 May 2000 
 
EN 10   EN the prices of the Community industry dur ing the IP, and which also significantly 
increased in volume, have had a determinin g role in the injury suffered by the 
Community industry ". Given the development of volumes and prices of dumped 
imports during the period considered, it is considered that this claim should be 
rejected.  
(42) Another interested party cl aimed that the increase in imports of MSG from the PRC in 
the period considered did not affect the s ituation of the Community industry as these 
imports were mainly replacing imports from other sources.  
(43) In this respect it is r ecalled that, even though the Chinese imports of MSG did indeed 
replace imports from other coun tries to a certain extend, as explained in recital (57) of 
the provisional Regulation, low-priced dum ped imports from the PRC consistently 
managed to gain market share also at th e expenses of the Community industry even 
when Community consumption was decreasing. In addition, this claim is not supported by the findings of this investiga tion which showed that the surge of low-
priced dumped imports from the PRC that  significantly undercut the price of the 
Community industry led to a situation of material injury suffered by the Community 
industry during the period considered. On that  basis, this claim should be rejected.  
(44) In the absence of any othe r comments in this regard, recitals (74) to (76) of the 
provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. 
9.2. Effects of other factors (45) Various interested parties reiterated th e claims put forward before the imposition of 
the provisional measures that the material  injury suffered by the Community industry 
was caused by factors other than the dumpe d imports. These claims, with regard 
specifically to the restructuring costs a nd increasing costs of raw materials which 
allegedly affected the Community industry, were already duly addressed in recitals 
(60) and (61) of the provisional Regulation.  
(46) One interested party reiterated claims  made before the imposition of the provisional 
measures that any material injury suffe red by the Community industry may also be 
caused by exports of MSG from the PRC made by companies related to the 
Community industry. Additionally, this party claimed that the complainant misled the 
Commission by not disclosing the existence of  related companies in the PRC and by 
hiding the fact that thes e related companies in Ch ina exported MSG to the 
Community. On that basis, this party c onsidered that Article 18 of the basic 
Regulation should be applied to the compla inant. The same party further claimed a 
breach of its rights of defence because the versions of the complaint and the questionnaire reply of the complainant fo r inspection by interested parties ('open 
version') did not disclose the fact that the complainant has related companies in the PRC that were involved in the MSG business.  
(47) As already explained in recital (94) of the provisional Regulation, the question of the 
exports of MSG to the Community by one prod ucer in the PRC known to be related to 
the Community industry was not considered to  be relevant due to their insignificant 
volume. It should be stressed also that the complainant did not  provide misleading 
information to the Commission in regard to  its related companies in the PRC. This 
information was reported in the confidential versions of the complaint and of the complainant's questionnaire reply. It is a fact  that this information was not originally 
included in the open version of the comp laint or in the open version of the 
complainant's questionnaire reply. However,  the complainant provided open versions 
 
EN 11   EN including information on its related compan ies in the PRC subsequently during the 
procedure. In these circumstances, it is c onsidered that no breach of the right of 
defence of parties took place. Furthermor e, no convincing evidence was presented 
which could support the claim that Ajinomot o Group was aware of th e alleged indirect 
export activity of one of its re lated Chinese companies. Theref ore, it is considered that 
the application of Article 18 of the basic Re gulation is not warranted  in this situation 
and the claim is rejected.  
(48) One of the interested parties reiterated the claims put forward before the imposition of 
the provisional measures as to the impact of the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Euro on the price undercutting calcu lations and export pe rformance of the 
Community industry. However,  no additional information or evidence was provided 
that would alter the co nclusions reached in recitals ( 84) to (90) of the provisional 
Regulation which are hereby confirmed.  
(49) One interested party reiterated its clai m made before the imposition of the provisional 
measures regarding the impact of the Aji nomoto Group's global strategy, in particular 
exports to the EU market by Ajinomoto-ow ned producers of MSG in third countries, 
and the impact of these on the complainant's profits and stock level. In recital (92) of 
the provisional Regulation it was stated th at sales of MSG on the Community market 
originating from exporters re lated to the Community industry in countries outside the 
Community were constantly and significan tly decreasing over the period considered. 
As a consequence, it was concluded in recital (95) of that regulation that the imports of 
the Community industry from related pa rties outside the Community have not 
contributed to the material injury found. This party has not pr ovided any additional 
information or evidence that  would alter this conclusi on which is hereby confirmed.  
9.3. Conclusion on causation (50) Given the above analysis which has properl y distinguished and separated the effects of 
all other known factors on the situation of the Community industry from the injurious 
effects of the dumped imports, it is hereby co nfirmed that these other factors as such 
do not reverse the fact that the material in jury found must be attributed to the dumped 
imports.  
(51) Given the above, it is c oncluded that the dumped imports of MSG originating in the 
PRC have caused material injury to the Community industry with in the meaning of 
Article 3(6) of th e basic Regulation. 
(52) In the absence of other comments in this respect, the conclusions in recitals (99) to 
(100) of the provisional Re gulation are hereby confirmed. 
10. COMMUNITY INTEREST 10.1. Interest of the Community industry (53) In the absence of any other comments in this particular regard, the findings set out in 
recitals (103) to (106) of  the provisional Regulati on are hereby confirmed. 
10.2. Interest of the importers (54) One importer claimed that the negative impact of the anti-dumping measures may 
have on its economic situation was underestim ated in recital (108)  of the provisional 
Regulation. According to the company, given the low profitability of its MSG sales 
and the limited possibility of passing on the pr ice increase to its clients, the imposition 
of anti-dumping measures would mean closure of its MSG business. It should be noted 
 
EN 12   EN that the MSG business does not represent a major share of the activity of the said 
importer which is mainly sourcing its MSG from the PRC. The importer in question has the option to switch to other sources of supply which are not affected by the anti-
dumping measures. However, as mentione d in recital (108) of the provisional 
Regulation, the expected effect of the impos ition of the measures will be to restore 
effective trade conditions in the Community market, which in this case may lead to 
increased prices of MSG, in particular from the Community industry and from the 
PRC. Therefore, it is expect ed that all importers should be able to pass on at least 
some of their cost increase resulting from the imposition of anti-dumping measures. 
On that basis, the conclusion reached in re cital (108) of the provi sional Regulation is 
therefore confirmed. 
10.3. Interest of users (55) Following the comments made by interested  parties concerning the possible impact of 
the proposed measures on the users industry further analyses wa s carried out on the 
basis of information provided by the main users of MSG in the Community, namely 
Nestle and Unilever. The investigation show ed that MSG represents less than 3% of 
the cost of production of all products containing MSG produced by both companies. 
Therefore, taking additionally  into account the indications on the relatively high 
average profit rates which both companies had reached during the IP in particular on 
these products, it can be confirmed that th e possible impact of the proposed measure 
on their activity would not be significant.  
10.4. Interest of the suppliers of raw materials (56) Further to recital (115) of the provisiona l Regulation, the analysis with regard to the 
interests of the upstream supplier of the Co mmunity industry was extended to include 
the data provided by a second supplier. On the basis of the que stionnaire replies 
provided by the two suppliers, it was found  that the situation of the supplying 
companies had deteriorated significantly duri ng the period considered in line with the 
deterioration of the situation of the Co mmunity industry. The to tal turnover of the 
investigated suppliers decreased in the ra nge of 8% to 13% and their sales to the 
Community industry noted even twice as si gnificant drop (in th e range of 15% to 
25%). Both companies experienced also a decrease in their profitability rates.  
(57) Taking into account the above  findings, the content of reci tal (116) of th e provisional 
Regulation is hereby confirmed.  
10.5. Competition and trade distorting effects  (58) Some of the interested parties reite rated their comments regarding the alleged 
dominant position of the Ajinomoto Gr oup worldwide and its alleged monopolistic 
position in the Community. These issues were already addressed in recital (117) of the 
provisional Regulation. No new evidence c oncerning these claims was presented.  
(59) Several interested parties raised additional arguments in relation to post-IP 
developments on the MSG market. They cl aimed that import volumes decreased and 
prices rose after the IP, thus eliminatin g any potential injury to the Community 
industry. In this situation, these parties claimed that the imposition of anti-dumping 
duties would only harm importers and users in  the Community. The parties raised also 
a point on alleged global shortages of MSG s upplies as, according to their data, several 
important producers worldwide ceased to produce or decreased production capacity. However, Eurostat data and additional information obtained from the Community 
industry do not support the above claims. To the contrary, import prices remained 
 
EN 13   EN stable in the post-IP peri od and in certain months ev en decreased, while import 
volumes both from the PRC and third coun tries increased. The latter development 
demonstrates that some none-Chinese compe titors have the capacity to develop their 
exports to the Community.  
10.6. Conclusion on Community interest (60) Given the results of the fu rther investigation of the Community interest aspects of the 
case described above, the findings and conclusi ons contained in recitals (119) of the 
provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. 
11. DEFINITIVE ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES 11.1. Injury elimination level (61) In the absence of any substantiated comments that would alter the conclusion 
regarding the injury elimination level, re citals (120) to (122)  of the provisional 
Regulation are hereby confirmed. 
11.2. Form and level of the duties (62) In the light of the foregoing and in accordance with Article 9(4) of the basic 
Regulation, a definitive anti-dumping duty s hould be imposed at a level sufficient to 
eliminate the injury caused by the dumped imports without exceeding the dumping 
margin found.  
(63) The rate of the definitive duties are definitively set as follows: 
Company Injury 
elimination  
margin Dumping 
margin Anti-dumping
duty rate 
Hebei Meihua MSG Group Co., Ltd., and  Tongliao Meihua Bio-Tech Co., Ltd. 54,8% 33,8% 33,8% 
Fujian Province Jianyang 
Wuyi MSG Co., Ltd. 60,4% 36,5% 36,5% 
All other companies 63,7% 39,7% 39,7% 
(64) The individual company anti-dumping duty rates specified in this Regulation were 
established on the basis of the findings of the present investiga tion. Therefore, they 
reflect the situation found during that invest igation with respect to these companies. 
These duty rates (as opposed to the count ry-wide duty applicable to "all other 
companies") are thus exclusiv ely applicable to imports of  products originating in the 
country concerned and produced by the co mpanies and thus by the specific legal 
entities mentioned. Imported products produced  by any other company not specifically 
mentioned in the operative part of this Regul ation with its name a nd address, including 
entities related to those specifically men tioned, cannot benefit from these rates and 
shall be subject to the duty rate applicable to "all other companies". 
(65) Any claim requesting the application of these indivi dual company anti-dumping duty 
rates (e.g. following a change in the name of  the entity or follo wing the setting up of 
new production or sales entities) shoul d be addressed to the Commission5 forthwith 
with all relevant information, in particular  any modification in the company's activities 
                                                 
5 European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, Directorate H, Office N105 04/092, 1049 Brussels, Belgium  
 
EN 14   EN linked to production, domestic and export sale s associated with, for example, that 
name change or that change in the produc tion and sales entities.  If appropr iate, the 
Regulation will then be amended accordi ngly by updating the list of companies 
benefiting from indivi dual duty rates. 
11.3. Undertakings (66) One co-operating Chinese exporting producer offered a price undertaking.  
(67) In this respect it is noted that MS G prices are negotiated globally with large 
international firms with production facilities  inside and outside the Community. It is 
also noted that the majority of sales of this exporting producer are mainly made to such international firms. In vi ew of the above, it was consid ered that the risk of cross-
compensation of prices between sales agreem ents made with international firms for 
their production facilitie s in the Community and for thei r facilities located in other 
countries outside the Community as very high. It was also considered that such cross-
compensation would be extremely difficult to  be detected in the framework of the 
monitoring of the unde rtaking. Therefore, the undertak ing offer of this exporting 
producer, in its current form, had to be re jected as its acceptance was considered 
impractical in view of the fact that it could not be appropri ately monitored by the 
Commission.  
11.4. Definitive collection of provision al duties and special monitoring 
(68) In view of the magnitude of the dumping margins found and in the light of the level of 
the injury caused to the Co mmunity industry, it is cons idered necessa ry that the 
amounts secured by way of the provision al anti-dumping duty, imposed by the 
provisional Regulation, i. e. Commission Regulation (EC) No 492/2008, should be 
definitively collected to the extent of th e amount of the definitive duties imposed.  
(69) It is recalled that should the exports by the companies benefiting from lower 
individual duty rates increase significantly in volume after the imposition of the anti-dumping measures, such increase could be c onsidered as constituting in itself a change 
in the pattern of trade due to the imposition of measures within the meaning of Article 13(1) of the basic Regulation. In such ci rcumstances, and provided the conditions are 
met, an anti-circumvention investigation ma y be initiated. This investigation may, 
inter alia , examine the need for the removal of individual duty  rates and the 
consequent imposition of a country-wide duty, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
1. A definitive anti-dumping duty is hereby imposed on imports of monosodium glutamate 
falling within CN code ex 2922 42 00 (TARIC 2922 42 00 10) and originating in the People's Republic of China.  
2. The rate of the definitive anti-dumping duty applicable to the net, free-at-Community-
frontier price, before duty, of the products manu factured by the companies listed below shall 
be as follows: 
 
EN 15   EN  
Company AD duty rate (%) TARIC additional 
code 
Hebei Meihua MSG Group Co., Ltd., and  Tongliao Meihua Bio-Tech Co., Ltd. 33,8 A883 
Fujian Province Jianyang Wuyi MSG 
Co., Ltd.  36,5 A884 
All other companies 39,7 A999 
3. Unless otherwise specified, the provisions in force concerning customs duties shall apply.  
Article 2 
Amounts secured by way of provisional an ti-dumping duties pursuant to Commission 
Regulation (EC) No 492/2008 on imports of monosodium glutamate falling within CN code 
ex 2922 42 00 (TARIC 2922 42 00 10) and originating in the Peopl e's Republic of China shall 
be definitely collected. 
Article 3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Council 
 The President 
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