EN Official Journal of the European Union C 64/4

Notice of initiation of a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of sodium gluconate originating in the People’s Republic of China, limited to one Chinese exporting producer, Shandong Kaison

(2016/C 64/05)

The European Commission (‘the Commission’) has received a request for a partial interim review pursuant to Article 11(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (1) (‘the basic Regulation’).

1. Request for review

The request for review (2) was lodged by Jungbunzlauer SA and Roquette Italia SpA (‘the applicants’), on behalf of producers representing more than 25 % of the total Union production of sodium gluconate.

The partial interim review is limited in scope to the examination of dumping as far as one exporting producer from the People’s Republic of China, namely Shandong Kaison, is concerned.

2. Product under review

The product subject to this review is dry sodium gluconate, with a Customs Union and Statistics (CUS) number 0023277-9 and a Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry number 527-07-1 and originating in the People’s Republic of China (‘the product under review’), currently falling within CN code ex 2918 16 00 (TARIC code 2918160010).

3. Existing measures

The measures currently in force are a definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 965/2010 (3).

On 27 October 2015, the Commission published a notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping duty applicable to imports of sodium gluconate originating in the People’s Republic of China (4). Pending the completion of the expiry review investigation, the measures continue to be in force.

4. Grounds for the review

The request pursuant to Article 11(3) is based on prima facie evidence, provided by the applicants, that, as far as Shandong Kaison is concerned, and as far as dumping is concerned, the circumstances on the basis of which the existing measures were imposed have changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature.

Prima facie evidence shows that circumstances have changed since the last investigation period. In particular, the Chinese domestic market for corn and cornstarch (raw materials for the production of sodium gluconate) is distorted. This distortion is caused in particular by the corn reserve policy, which has now started to affect the prices of corn and cornstarch. Furthermore prima facie evidence shows that Shandong Kaison now benefits from the High and New Technology Company (‘HNTC’), i.e. a preferential tax regime.

Therefore, the applicants allege that Shandong Kaison no longer fulfils the criteria for market economy treatment (‘MET’) and that normal value for this company should thus be determined on the basis of the price or constructed value in a market economy third country. A comparison of Shandong Kaison export price from the People’s Republic of China (‘China’) to the EU with a normal value in the analogue country, the United States of America, indicates that the dumping margin is higher than the current level of the measures.

5. Procedure

Having determined, after informing the Member States, that sufficient evidence exists to justify the initiation of a partial interim review limited to the examination of the dumping margin for Shandong Kaison, the Commission hereby initiates a review in accordance with Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation.

The investigation will assess the need for the continuation, removal or amendment of the existing measures.

5.1. Review investigation period and period considered

The investigation of dumping will cover the period from 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015 (‘the review investigation period’).

5.2. Procedure for the determination of Shandong Kaison’s dumping margin

Shandong Kaison is invited to participate in the Commission investigation. In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation with regard to Shandong Kaison, the Commission will send a questionnaire to Shandong Kaison.

5.2.1. Additional procedure with regard to the exporting producer in the non-market economy country concerned

5.2.1.1. Treatment of exporting producers in the non-market economy country concerned

This investigation aims at ascertaining whether Shandong Kaison still operates under market economy conditions in accordance with Article 2(7)(b) and (c) of the basic Regulation. Therefore, should Shandong Kaison consider that market economy conditions prevail in respect of its manufacture and sale of the product under review, it may submit a properly substantiated claim to this effect (‘MET claim’). MET will be confirmed if the assessment of the MET claim shows that the criteria laid down in Article 2(7)(c) of the basic Regulation are fulfilled (5). The dumping margin of Shandong Kaison, if MET is confirmed, will be calculated, to the extent possible and without prejudice to the use of facts available pursuant to Article 18 of the basic Regulation, by using its own normal value and export prices in accordance with Article 2(7)(b) of the basic Regulation.

The Commission will send a MET claim form to Shandong Kaison as well as to the authorities of China. If the exporting producer concerned decides to have its MET status confirmed, it should submit the completed MET claim form within 21 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, unless otherwise specified.

5.2.1.2. Selection of a market economy third country

Should the investigation reveal that Shandong Kaison does not operate under market economy conditions, in accordance with Article 2(7)(a) of the basic Regulation, normal value will be determined on the basis of the price or constructed value in a market economy third country.

In the previous investigation the United States of America was used as a market economy third country for the purpose of establishing normal value in respect of China. For the purpose of the current investigation, the Commission envisages using again the United States of America. Interested parties are hereby invited to comment on the appropriateness of this choice within 10 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. According to the information available to the Commission, other market economy suppliers of the Union may be located, inter alia, in South Korea. The Commission will examine whether there is production and sales of the product under review in those market economy third countries for which there are indications that production of the product under review is taking place.

5.2.2. Investigating unrelated importers (6)

Unrelated importers of the product under investigation from China to the Union, which is produced by Shandong Kaison are invited to participate in this investigation. They are invited to contact the Commission, preferably by email, immediately but no later than 15 days after the publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, unless otherwise specified, in order to make themselves known and request a questionnaire.

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation with regard to unrelated importers, the Commission will send questionnaires to known unrelated importers and to any known association of importers.

The unrelated importers and the associations of importers must submit the completed questionnaire within 37 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, unless otherwise specified.

5.3. Other written submissions

Subject to the provisions of this notice, all interested parties are hereby invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5.4. Possibility to be heard by the Commission investigation services

All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard must be made in writing and must specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within the specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties.

5.5. Instructions for making written submissions and sending completed questionnaires and correspondence

Information submitted to the Commission for the purpose of trade defence investigations shall be free from copyrights. Interested parties, before submitting to the Commission information and/or data which is subject to third party copyrights, must request specific permission to the copyright holder explicitly allowing: (a) the Commission to use the information and data for the purpose of this trade defence proceeding; and (b) to provide the information and/or data to interested parties to this investigation in a form that allows them to exercise their rights of defence.

All written submissions, including the information requested in this notice, completed questionnaires and correspondence provided by interested parties for which confidential treatment is requested shall be labelled ‘Limited’ (7).

Interested parties providing ‘Limited’ information are required to furnish non-confidential summaries of it pursuant to Article 19(2) of the basic Regulation, which will be labelled ‘For inspection by interested parties’. These summaries must be sufficiently detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. If an interested party providing confidential information does not furnish a non-confidential summary of it in the requested format and quality, such information may be disregarded.

Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests by e-mail including scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets, with the exception of voluminous replies which shall be submitted on a CD-ROM or DVD by hand or by registered mail. By using e-mail, interested parties express their agreement with the rules applicable to electronic submissions contained in the document ‘CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES’ published on the website of the Directorate-General for Trade: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf The interested parties must indicate their name, address, telephone and a valid email address and they should ensure that the provided email address is a functioning official business e-mail which is checked on a daily basis. Once contact details are provided, the Commission will communicate with interested parties by e-mail only, unless they explicitly request to receive all documents from the Commission by another means of communication or unless the nature of the document to be sent requires the use of a registered mail. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the Commission including principles that apply to submissions by email, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to above.

Commission address for correspondence:

European Commission Directorate-General for Trade Directorate H Office: CHAR 04/039 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel BELGIQUE/BELGIË Email: TRADE-R639-SG@ec.europa.eu

6. Non-cooperation

In cases where any interested party refuses access to or does not provide the necessary information within the time limits, or significantly impedes the investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of facts available, in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation.

Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information, the information may be disregarded and use may be made of facts available.

If an interested party does not cooperate or cooperates only partially and findings are therefore based on facts available in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation, the result may be less favourable to that party than if it had cooperated.

Failure to give a computerised response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation, provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. The interested party should immediately contact the Commission.

7. Hearing Officer

Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer in trade proceedings. The Hearing Officer acts as an interface between the interested parties and the Commission investigation services. The Hearing Officer reviews requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and requests by third parties to be heard. The Hearing Officer may organise a hearing with an individual interested party and mediate to ensure that the interested parties’ rights of defence are being fully exercised.

A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties.

The Hearing Officer will also provide opportunities for a hearing involving parties to take place which would allow different views to be presented and rebuttal arguments offered on issues pertaining, among other things, to dumping.

For further information and contact details interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer’s web pages on DG Trade’s website: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/trade-policy-and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/.

8. Schedule of the investigation

The investigation will be concluded, pursuant to Article 11(5) of the basic Regulation within 15 months of the date of the publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

9. Processing of personal data

Any personal data collected in this investigation will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (8).

(1) OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51.

(2) http://trade.ec.europa.eu/tdi/completed.cfm

(3) Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 965/2010 of 25 October 2010 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of sodium gluconate originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 282, 28.10.2010, p. 24).

(4) Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of Sodium Gluconate originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ C 355, 27.10.2015, p. 18).

(5) The exporting producer has to demonstrate in particular that: (i) business decisions and costs are made in response to market conditions and without significant State interference; (ii) firms have one clear set of basic accounting records which are independently audited in line with international accounting standards and are applied for all purposes; (iii) there are no significant distortions carried over from the former non-market economy system; (iv) bankruptcy and property laws guarantee legal certainty and stability and (v) exchange rate conversions are carried out at market rates.

(6) Importers that are related to exporting producer have to fill in the questionnaire in the Annex for this exporting producer. In accordance with Article 143 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 concerning the implementation of the Community Customs Code, persons shall be deemed to be related only if: (a) they are officers or directors of one another’s businesses; (b) they are legally recognised partners in business; (c) they are employer and employee; (d) any person directly or indirectly owns, controls or holds 5 % or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of both of them; (e) one of them directly or indirectly controls the other; (f) both of them are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person; (g) together they directly or indirectly control a third person; or (h) they are members of the same family. Persons shall be deemed to be members of the same family only if they stand in any of the following relationships to one another: (i) husband and wife, (ii) parent and child, (iii) brother and sister (whether by whole or half blood), (iv) grandparent and grandchild, (v) uncle or aunt and nephew or niece, (vi) parent-in-law and son-in-law or daughter-in-law, (vii) brother-in-law and sister-in-law (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1). In this context ‘person’ means any natural or legal person.

(7) A ‘Limited’ document is a document which is considered confidential pursuant to Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009 p. 51) and Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-Dumping Agreement). It is also a document protected pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

(8) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.