122.

As regards issues relevant to the present case, recitals 16 to 33 stated: ‘(16) One interested party claimed that the division of the Union industry into different segments and the geographical coverage of the sample meant that it was not statistically valid. In this respect it is recalled that the Union ceramic tiles industry is highly fragmented with over 500 producers. It was also found that the industry was represented in all three industry segments, i.e. large, medium and small companies. In order to ensure that the results of large companies did not dominate the injury analysis but that the situation of the small companies, collectively accounting for the biggest share of the Union production, was properly reflected, it was considered that all segments (i.e. small, medium-sized and large companies) should be represented in the sample. Within each of the segments, the largest companies were chosen, provided that geographical representativeness could be assured. (17) One interested party also claimed that the Commission had failed to show that the sample remained representative after the withdrawal of the Polish producer and that it was in any event insufficiently representative in terms of sales volume in the Union market. (18) It is correct that one Polish producer decided to cease cooperation and therefore had to be excluded from the sample. However, it is not necessary for a sample to reflect the exact geographical spread and weight of the producing Member States in order to be representative. Given the fact that geographical spread is only one of the factors to take into account to ensure representativeness, such an approach would not have been administratively practicable. Rather, it is sufficient that the sample largely reflects proportions of the major manufacturing countries involved. Assessed against this criterion, it was found that the withdrawal of the Polish company did not affect the overall representativeness of the sample. On this basis, it is confirmed that the sample of Union producers was sufficiently representative within the meaning of Article 17 of the basic regulation. (19) As concerns the claim of the overall representativity of the sample, it is recalled that given the fact that the Union industry is highly fragmented, it is unavoidable that the companies in the sample cover a relatively small portion of the overall Union production. In any event Article 17 of the basic regulation sets out that investigations may be limited to samples which are either statistically valid, or which constitute the largest representative volume of production, sales, or exports which can be reasonably investigated, without, however, indicating any specific quantitative threshold as to the level of such representative volume. In view of the above it is confirmed that the sample selected was representative within the meaning of Article 17 of the basic regulation. (20) One interested party claimed that the Commission failed to include in the sample Union producers which offer low sales prices and which are located in countries like Poland and the Czech Republic; therefore, the sample so obtained would not be representative of the Union producers’ average sales prices. (21) In response to the above claim, the Commission found that the average sales prices of the Union industry’s sample were in the same range as the average sales prices in the publicly available statistics. In any event, and as explained in recital 125, the investigation has shown that even taking into consideration publicly available prices for those countries, the final findings would not change in any meaningful way. (22) A number of parties made comments concerning the methodology used to select the Union industry sample as compared to the selection of the sample of Chinese exporters, which was solely based on export volume. (23) As to the different methodologies used for selecting a sample of Union producers on the one hand and Chinese exporting producers on the other hand, it should be noted that the methodologies were used according to the objectives of the sampling exercise. Concerning the Union industry, the Commission had to assess the situation of the whole industry and therefore the criteria that would ensure the most representative picture of the entire sector were chosen. As far as the Chinese exporters are concerned, it was considered appropriate to choose a sample based on the largest volume of exports of the product concerned and thus the largest exporters were sampled. It is also noted that there is no obligation in Article 17 of the basic regulation for both samples to be selected on the basis of the same criteria. Furthermore, in this case, before finalising the sample of Chinese exporting producers, the cooperating parties in China as well as the Chinese authorities were given the opportunity to comment on the proposed sample. Comments were received with regard to the composition of the sample but not with regard to its representativity. (24) Following the final disclosure, an importers’ association claimed that Article 17 of the basic regulation implied that samples of Union producers and of exporting producers should be made on the basis of the same criteria. Several Chinese parties continued to claim following final disclosure that there was discrimination between the treatment of Chinese exporting producers and Union producers in choosing the respective samples. (25) In response to the claim following the final disclosure that the same criteria should be applied in the selection of the samples of Union producers and exporting producers, for the reasons outlined in recital 23, it is considered that these samples may be made on the basis of different criteria. In these circumstances, this claim is rejected. (26) With regard to the fact that, as mentioned in recital 23, no comments were received in relation to the representativity of the sample, these parties claimed that, at the time of selecting the samples, the Chinese parties were not informed that different selection criteria were being used for the selection of the samples and so could not comment on this fact. ... (28) Following final disclosure, one interested party claimed that by taking the different segments into account for the selection of the sample, the Commission breached Article 4(1) of the basic regulation that lays down that the analysis should be made in relation to the Union industry as a whole and not to certain groups or types of companies. (29) The claim that the division of the sample in three segments is in breach of Article 4(1) of the basic regulation cannot be upheld. As can be derived from recital 23, the sample selected represented the whole Union industry and not only a specific group of companies, as alleged by the party concerned. Furthermore, Article 17(1) of the basic regulation specifically allows for the selection of a sample in order to determine injury. This claim was therefore unfounded and rejected. (30) Following final disclosure, the same interested party challenged the fact that the geographical spread had been taken into account for the selection of the sample, arguing that the Union is a single market and that Article 17(1) of the basic regulation can only allow for a sample to be selected based on the largest representative volume. (31) As for the claim on the use of the criterion of geographical spread, it is observed that this is a fragmented industry and in order to assess representativeness of the selected companies, the producers’ geographical spread amongst Member States is used to reflect the different situations that can be encountered in the Union. The sample covers Member States where approximately 90% of the Union production is manufactured; after the withdrawal of the Polish company, this level remained high at approximately 80%. Thus, the methodology applied by the Commission ensured that the sample was representative of the Union production as a whole and complied with Article 17(1) of the basic regulation. Therefore, the claim was rejected. (32) Following final disclosure, one interested party claimed that only small and medium-sized companies were selected in the sample of Union producers which allegedly had higher costs and prices than the large Chinese companies. (33) This argument was not supported by any evidence. It is noted that the sample included companies from all segments. Furthermore, other factors beyond the size of the company may have an impact on costs, such as raw material costs, depreciation or capacity utilisation.’