[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 30.08.2006

COM(2006) 471 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Korea

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL |

110 | Grounds for and objectives of the proposal This proposal concerns the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 384/1996[1] on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005[2] (‘the basic Regulation’) in the proceeding concerning imports of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Korea. |

120 | General context This proposal is made in the context of the 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. |

139 | Existing provisions in the area of the proposal Council Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001[3], imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports into the Community of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Korea. Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/1999[4] imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating in India and collecting definitively the provisional, duty imposed. |

141 | Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union Not applicable. |

CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT |

Consultation of interested parties |

219 | The applicant and the Community industry have been informed of the findings of the examination and have had the opportunity to submit their comments. |

Collection and use of expertise |

229 | There was no need for external expertise. |

230 | Impact assessment This proposal is the result of the implementation of the basic regulation. The basic regulation does not foresee a general impact assessment but contains an exhaustive list of conditions that have to be assessed. |

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL |

305 | Summary of the proposed action Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports into the Community of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating, inter alia, in India as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 366/2006, gives the possibility to Indian exporting producers which meets certain criteria to be granted new exporting producer treatment. The Indian exporting producer SRF Limited has submitted sufficient evidence to show that it complies with the above mentioned criteria and can be granted the new exporting producer treatment. It is therefore proposed that the Council adopt the attached proposal for a Regulation, which should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. |

310 | Legal basis Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community as latest amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005. |

329 | Subsidiarity principle The proposal falls under the exclusive competence of the Community. The subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply. |

Proportionality principle The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s). |

331 | Council Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Koreaas amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 366/2006, and leaves no scope for national decision. |

332 | Indication of how financial and administrative burden falling upon the Community, national governments, regional and local authorities, economic operators and citizens is minimized and proportionate to the objective of the proposal is not applicable. |

Choice of instruments |

341 | Proposed instruments: regulation. |

342 | Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s). The above-mentioned regulation does not foresee alternative options. |

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION |

409 | The proposal has no implication for the Community budget. |

1. Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Korea

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/1996 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (‘the basic Regulation’)[5],

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 of 13 August 2001[6] imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of polyethylene terephthalate film originating in India and the Republic of Korea, and in particular Article 1(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

A. PREVIOUS PROCEDURE

2. The Council, by Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001, imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports into the Community of polyethylene terephthalate film (PET film) originating , inter alia , in India. Given the large number of exporting producers of PET film in India, during the investigation which led to the adoption of that Regulation (the ‘original investigation’) a sample of exporting producers was selected in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation. Individual dumping margins ranging from 0% to 65,3% were calculated for companies individually investigated and a dumping margin of 57,7% was also calculated, in accordance with Article 9(6) of the basic Regulation, for cooperating companies not part of the sample. Anti-dumping duties were subsequently imposed ranging from 0% to 62,6%, taking also into account the countervailing duties resulting from export subsidies imposed on the same products originating from India, which were then applicable by virtue of Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/1999 of 6 December 1999[7].

3. The Council, by Regulation (EC) No 366/2006 of 27 February 2006 (the ‘amending Regulation'), amended the level of dumping margins calculated by Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001. The new dumping margins range between 3,2% and 29,3% and the new anti-dumping duty range between 0% and 18%, again in order to take account of the countervailing duties resulting from export subsidies imposed on the same products originating from India, as modified according to Council Regulation (EC) No 367/2006 of 27 February 2006[8], which has been adopted following an expiry review of Regulation (EC) No 2597/1999.

4. Furthermore, Regulation (EC) No 367/2006 sets the countervailing duty applicable to companies other than those individually listed in its Article 1(2) at 19,1%, the export subsidy margin for those companies being calculated at the level of 12%.

5. Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001, as amended by Regulation 366/2006, establishes three criteria, as detailed in recital (7) below, which, when met, give the possibility to Indian exporting producers which were not subject to anti-dumping measures following the original investigation to be granted new exporting producer treatment. Applicants, which are granted this treatment, are attributed the same duty rate as the companies which had cooperated in the original investigation but were not included in the sample. They are therefore subject to a duty which corresponds to the weighted average margin of dumping established for the companies included in the sample during the original investigation, being understood that any zero and de minimis margin are disregarded, pursuant to Article 9(6) of the basic Regulation.

6. During the original investigation, the above-mentioned weighted average dumping margin was calculated as the weighted average of the dumping margins of three sampled companies, since one of the four originally sampled companies had a zero margin. The weighted average margin of dumping so calculated in the original investigation was, as mentioned in recital (1), 57,7%. The amending Regulation reduces significantly the margin of dumping of the three abovementioned companies. The new weighted average margin of dumping, to be applied to companies fulfilling the requirements of Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001, recalculated following the findings of the amending Regulation is therefore 15,5%.

B. NEW EXPORTING PRODUCER REQUESTS

7. The Indian exporting producer SRF Limited (‘the applicant’) has applied to be granted the same treatment as the companies co-operating in the original investigation not included in the sample (‘new exporting producer treatment’).

8. An examination has been carried out in order to determine whether the applicant fulfils the criteria for being granted new exporting producer treatment as set out in Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001, namely it was examined:

9. that it did not export to the Community the goods described in Article 1(1) of that Regulation during the original investigation period (1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000),

10. that it is not related to any exporter or producer in India subject to the measures imposed by the Regulation

and

- that it has exported the goods concerned after the investigation period, or it has entered into an irrevocable contractual obligation to export a significant quantity to the Community.

- A questionnaire was sent to the applicant who was also asked to provide evidence to demonstrate that it meets the three criteria mentioned above.

- The applicant replied to the questionnaire and provided evidence that is considered sufficient to consider it as a new exporting producer.

- The anti-dumping duty rate applicable to the applicant should be based on the weighted average margin of dumping established for the parties selected in the sample in the original investigation, as modified following the amending Regulation, i.e. 15,5%, as indicated in recital (5) above.

- Since, pursuant to Article 14(1) of the basic Regulation, no product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties for the purpose of dealing with one and the same situation arising from dumping or from export subsidiation, this duty rate is to be reduced by the applicant’s export subsidy margin as ascertained in the anti-subsidy investigation which led to the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 367/2006 (see recital (59) of Regulation (EC) No 366/2006). Since the applicant does not have an individual countervailing duty, the duty rate established for all other companies should apply.

- The anti-dumping duty rate applicable to the applicant should therefore be calculated as indicated in the table below.

Company | Export subsidy Margin | Total Subsidy Margin | Dumping Margin | CVD Duty | AD Duty | Total duty rate |

SRF Limited | 12,0 % | 19,1 % | 15,5 % | 19,1 % | 3,5 % | 22,6 % |

11. The applicant and the Community industry have been informed of the findings of the examination and have had the opportunity to submit their comments.

12. The applicant submitted comments on the calculation of the margin of dumping. These comments have been taken into account and are reflected in the above.

13. All other arguments and submissions made by the parties were analysed and duly taken into account where warranted.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 shall be replaced by the following:

‘ 2. The rate of the definitive anti-dumping duty applicable to the net, free-at-Community-frontier price, before duty, shall be as follows for products originating in:

Country | Company | Definitive Duty (%) | TARIC Additional Code |

India | Ester Industries Limited 75-76, Amrit Nagar Behind South Extension Part-1 New Delhi 110 003 India | 17,3 | A026 |

India | Flex Industries Limited A-1, Sector 60 Noida 201 301, (U.P.) India | 0 | A027 |

India | Garware Polyester Limited Garware House 50-A, Swami Nityanand Marg Vile Parle (East) Mumbai 400 057 India | 6,8 | A028 |

India | Jindal Poly Films Limited 56 Hanuman Road New Delhi 110 001 India | 0 | A030 |

India | MTZ Polyfilms Limited New India Centre, 5th floor 17 Co-operage Road Mumbai 400 039 India | 18,0 | A031 |

India | Polyplex Corporation Limited B-37, Sector-1 Noida 201 301 Dist. Gautam Budh Nagar Uttar Pradesh India | 0 | A032 |

India | SRF Limited Express Building 9-10 Bahadur Shah Zaraf Marg New Delhi 110 002 India | 3,5 | A753 |

India | All other companies | 17,3 | A999 |

Country | Company | Definitive Duty (%) | TARIC Additional Code |

Korea | Kolon Industries Inc. Kolon Tower 1-23, Byulyang-dong Kwacheon-city Kyunggi-do Korea | 0 | A244 |

Korea | SKC Co. Ltd. Kyobo Gangnam Tower 1303-22, Seocho 4 Dong, Seocho Gu Seoul 137-074 Korea | 7,5 | A224 |

Korea | Toray Saehan Inc. 17F, LG Mapo B/D 275 Kongdug-Dong Mapo-Gu Seoul 121-721 Korea | 0 | A222 |

Korea | HS Industries Co. Ltd. Kangnam Building, 5th floor 1321, Seocho-Dong Seocho-Ku Seoul Korea | 7,5 | A226 |

Korea | Hyosung Corporation 450, Kongduk-Dong Mapo-Ku Seoul Korea | 7,5 | A225 |

Korea | KP Chemical Corporation No. 89-4, Kyungun Dong Chongro-Ku Seoul Korea | 7,5 | A223 |

Korea | All other companies | 13,4 | A999' |

Article 2

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

[1] OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1.

[2] OJ L 340, 23.11.2005, p. 17.

[3] OJ L 227, 23.8.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 366/2006 (OJ L 68, 8.3.2006, p. 6).

[4] OJ L 316, 10.12.1999, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 367/2006 (OJ L 68, 8.3.2006, p. 15).

[5] OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005 (OJ L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17).

[6] OJ L 227, 23.8.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 366/2006, (OJ L 68, 8.3.2006, p. 6).

[7] OJ L 316, 10.12.1999, p. 1.

[8] OJ L 68, 8.3.2006, p. 15. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No XXX/2006, (OJ L XX, XX.XX.2006, p. XX)