Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 54/93 imposing a definitive antidumping duty on imports of synthetic fibres of polyester originating in India and the Republic of Korea
Date: 1997-05-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: India, South Korea, anti-dumping duty, import, man-made fibre

~~^T~ 

I  COMMISSION OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

***  J 

Brussels,  02.05.1997 
COM(97) 186 final 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (ECS 

amending Council Regulation (EEC) N° 54/93 imposing  a definitive  anti 

dumping duty on imports of synthetic fibres of polyester originating in India 

and the Republic of Korea 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1.  By  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  54/93,  the  Council  imposed  a  definitive  anti-dumping  duty  on 
imports  of  synthetic  fibres  of  polyester  originating,  inter  alia,  in  India.  This  Regulation 
imposed  a residual  duty  of  7.2% on  Indian  exporter,  which failed  to  cooperate  or  which 
were unknown at the time of the original investigation. 

2. 

3. 

In accordance with Article  11 (4) of Council Regulation  (EC) N° 384/96, the Basic Anti 
dumping  Regulation,  every  new  exporter  has  the  right  to  request  the  calculation  of  his 
individual  dumping  margin.  Such  a  request  was  made  to  the  Commission  by  the  Indian 
producer  Viral  Filaments  Limited.,  India,  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  "Viral"  or  "the 
company")  which  claimed  that  it  was  not  in  existence  at  the  time  of  the  original 
investigation. 

Since  the  documentary  evidence  submitted  by  Viral  was  considered  sufficient,  the 
Commission,  after  consultation  of  the  Anti-dumping  Advisory  Committee  and  after  the 
opportunity  given to  the  Community  industry  to  comment,  opened,  by  Regulation  (EC) 
N°  1285/96,  a  "new  exporter"  review,  repealed  the  anti-dumping  duty  imposed  by 
Regulation  (EEC) N°  54/93 with  regard  to  imports  of the  product  concerned,  produced 
and exported  by Viral, and directed  customs authorities,  pursuant  to  Article  14(5) of the 
Basic  Regulation,  to  take  appropriate  steps  to  register  such  imports.  The  review  was 
limited to the question of dumping as no request for  a review of the findings on injury was 
received. 

4. 

The  investigation  carried  out  resulted  in  the  finding  of  no  dumping.  It  is  therefore 
proposed  that  the  Council  adopts  the  annexed  proposal  for  a  Regulation  which 
accordingly adapts the current measure in force for the exporter concerned. 

«& 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) N°.../97 

of 

....  1997 

amending Council Regulation (EEC) N° 54/93 imposing  a definitive  anti 

dumping duty on imports of synthetic fibres of polyester 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)  N°  384/96  of  22  December  1995  on 

protection  against  dumped  imports  from  countries  not  members  of  the  European 
CommunityO),  as  amended  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  N°  2331/96(2),  and  in 

particular Article  11 (4) thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  submitted  by  the  Commission  after  consulting  the 

Advisory Committee, 

Whereas: 

A.  PREVIOUS PROCEDURE 

(1)  By Regulation  (EEC) N° 54/93(3), the Council  imposed,  inter alia, a definitive  anti 

dumping  duty of 7.2% on imports of synthetic  staple fibres  of polyesters, not  carded, 

combed or otherwise processed for spinning, commonly  referred  to as synthetic  fibres 

of  polyester  (hereinafter  "product  concerned"  or  "PSF"), currently  classifiable  within 

CN code 5503 20 00 and originating in India, with the exception  of imports from  five 

Indian  exporters  specifically  mentioned,  which  were either  subject  to  a lesser  rate of 

duty or to no duty at all. 

1  OJ No L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. 
2  OJ No L 317, 6.12.1996, p.l. 
3  O J N ° L 9,  15.1.1993, p.2. 

3 

B.  PRESENT PROCEDURE 

(2) 

In January  1996, the Commission  received an application  for a review of the measures 

currently  in  force,  i.e.  a  request  to  initiate  a  "new  exporter"  review  proceeding  of 

Council Regulation  (EEC) N° 54/93, pursuant to Article  11 (4) of Council  Regulation 

(EC)  N°  384/96  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Basic  Regulation")  from  the  Indian 

producer  Viral  Filaments  Limited  (hereinafter  referred 

to  as  "Viral"  or  the 

"company"). Viral claimed that it was not related to any of the exporters  or producers 

in  India  subject  to  the  anti-dumping  measures  in  force  with  regard  to  the  product 

concerned. Furthermore, it claimed that it did not export the product concerned  during 

the  period  of  investigation  on  which  the  current  measures  in  force  were  based  with 

regard  to the determination  of  dumping,  i.e.  the period  from  1 January  to  31  August 

1990 (hereinafter  the  "original  investigation  period"). Finally, Viral  also claimed  that 

it had  actually exported  the product  concerned  to the Community  and that  it had  also 

entered  into irrevocable contractual  obligations to export significant  quantities of  PSF 

to the Community. 

(3)  The Commission,  after  having verified  the evidence  submitted  by the Indian  exporter 

concerned,  which  was  considered  sufficient  to justify  the  initiation  of  a  review  in 

accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Article  11(4)  of  the  Basic  Regulation,  after 

consultation  of the Advisory Committee  and after  the Community  industry  concerned 

had  been  given  the  opportunity  to  comment,  initiated,  by  Commission  Regulation 
(EC) N°  1285/96(4), a review  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  54/93 with  regard  to 

Viral and commenced its investigation. 

In the Regulation  initiating the review the Commission  also repealed the anti-dumping 

duty  imposed  by  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  54/93  with  regard  to  imports  of  the 

product  concerned,  produced  and  exported  to the  Community  by  Viral,  and  directed 

customs  authorities,  pursuant  to  Article  14(5)  of  the  Basic  Regulation,  to  take 

appropriate steps to register such imports. 

4  OJN°L  165, 4.7.1996, p.21. 

(4)  The  product  covered  by  the  present  review  is  the  same  product  as  the  one  under 

consideration  in Council Regulation  (EEC) N° 54/93. 

(5)  The  Commission  officially  advised  Viral  and  the  representatives  of  the  exporting 

country. Furthermore, it gave other parties directly concerned the opportunity to make 

their views known  in writing and to request  a hearing. However,  no such  request  has 

been received by the Commission. 

The Commission  sent a questionnaire to Viral and received  a proper and timely reply. 

The  Commission  sought  and  verified  all  information  it  deemed  necessary  for  the 

purpose of the investigation. 

(6)  The investigation of dumping covered the period from  1  July  1995 to 30 June  1996. 

(7)  The  same  methodology  as  that  used  in  the  original  investigation  was  applied  in  the 

present investigation where circumstances had not changed. 

C. 

SCOPE OF THE REVIEW 

(8)  As  no request  for  a review  of  the findings  on  injury  was made  in  this  investigation, 

this review  is limited to dumping. 

D.  RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION 

1. 

New exporter qualification 

(9)  The investigation confirmed  that Viral had not exported the product concerned  during 

the  original  investigation  period.  Production  of  PSF  by  Viral  and  its  export  to  the 

Community started, in fact, only during the second half of 1995. 

5" 

Furthermore,  according  to  documentary  evidence  submitted.  Viral  satislactonly 

demonstrated that it did not have any links, either direct or indirect, with any of Indian 

exporters  subject  to  the  anti-dumping  measures  in  force  with  regard  to  the  product 

concerned. 

Accordingly,  it  is  confirmed  that  Viral  should  be  considered  as  a  new  exporter  in 

accordance  with  Article  11(4)  of  the  Basic  Regulation,  and  thus  its  individual 

dumping margin should be determined. 

2. 

A. 

Dumping 

Normal Value 

(10) 

In accordance with  Article 2 (2) of the Basic Regulation  it was examined  whether the 

volume of Viral's sales of PSF on the Indian domestic market  in total reached  at least 

5% of the volume of the Indian exports of the product concerned to the Community. It 

was  established,  based  on  the  documentary  evidence  submitted  in  the  company's 

questionnaire  reply,  that  domestic  sales  of  the  like  product  achieved  a  level 

considerably  in excess of the aforementioned  5% threshold. 

For each of the types of PSF sold on the domestic market and found  to be identical or 

directly comparable to types sold for export to the Community,  the Commission  then 

established whether domestic sales per type were made in sufficient  quantities. 

Domestic  sales  of  each  type  were  considered  to  have  been  made  in  sufficient 

quantities  within  the meaning  of Article  2 (2) of  the Basic  Regulation  as the  volume 

of  each  type  of  PSF  sold  in  India  during  the  investigation  period  represented  5% or 

more of the quantity of the comparable type of PSF sold for export to the Community. 

The  Commission  subsequently  examined  whether  the  domestic  sales  of  each  type of 

PSF  exported  to  the  Community  could  be  considered  to  have  been  made  in  the 

ordinary course of trade. 

C 

Whether  or  not  domestic  sales  were  made  in  the  ordinary  course  of  trade  was 

determined  pursuant  to Article  2(4) of  the Basic Regulation.  Since, per product  type, 

the  weighted  average  selling  price  was equal  to  or  higher  than  the  weighted  average 

unit cost  and as the volume of  sales below unit cost  represented  less than  20% of  the 

sales  being  used  to  determine  normal  value,  all  domestic  sales  were  regarded  as 

having been made in the ordinary course of trade. 

In  accordance  with  Article  2(1) of  the Basic  Regulation,  normal  value  was  therefore 

based  on  the  weighted  average  prices  of  all  domestic  sales  of  the  corresponding 

product types exported to the Community. 

B. 

Export price 

(11)  Export  prices  were established  on  the basis of  the  prices  actually  paid  or payable  for 

the  product  concerned  when  sold  for  export  to  the  Community,  in  accordance  with 

Article 2 (8) of the Basic Regulation. 

C. 

Comparison 

(12)  In  accordance  with  Article  2(11)  of  the  Basic  Regulation,  the  weighted  average 

normal  value by product  type  was compared,  on  an ex  factory  basis, to  the  weighted 

average export price at the same level of trade. 

For the purpose of a fair comparison, due allowance in form of adjustments  was made 

for  differences  which  were  claimed  and  demonstrated  to  affect  price  comparability. 

These  adjustments  were  made,  in  accordance  with  Article  2(10)  of  the  Basic 

Regulation,  in  respect  of  commissions,  transport,  insurance,  handling  and  ancillary 

costs, credit costs, discounts and rebates. 

D.  Dumping margin 

(13)  The  above  comparison  revealed  that  no  dumping  existed  for  exports  to  the 

Community of the product concerned made by Viral during the investigation period. 

Q-

E. 

AMENDMENT OF THE MEASURES BEING  REVIEWED 

(14)  Based  on  the  findings  of  no dumping  made  during  the  investigation,  it  is  considered 

that  no  anti-dumping  measure  should  be  imposed  on  imports  into the  Community  of 

PSF,  produced  and  exported  by  Viral.  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  54/93  should 

therefore be amended  accordingly. 

F. 

DISCLOSURE AND DURATION OF THE MEASURE 

(15)  Viral  was informed  of the facts  and considerations on the basis of which  it is intended 

to propose the amendment  of Council  Regulation  (EEC) N° 54/93, and was given  the 

opportunity to comment. No comments were received. 

(16)  This  review  carried  out  does not  affect  the date on  which  Council  Regulation  (EEC) 

N° 54/93 will expire pursuant to Article  11(2) of the Basic Regulation, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article I 

Article  1(3)  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  54/93  is  hereby  amended  as  follows: 

the following  shall be added at the end of the text: 

"  ,as well as Viral Filaments Limited, India (Taric additional code 8642)". 

Article 2 

Customs  authorities  are hereby  directed  to  discontinue  registration  pursuant  to  Article  3 of 

Commission Regulation (EC) N° 1285/96. 

? 

Article  3 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  its  publication  in  the  Official 

Journal  of the  European  Communities. 

This Regulation  shall be binding  in its entirety  and directly  applicable  in  all Member  States. 

Done  at Brussels, 

1997 

For  the  Council 

The  President 

q 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97)  186  final 

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