Commission Regulation (EC) No 152/1999 of 22 January 1999 initiating a 'new exporter' review of Council Regulation (EC) No 1567/97 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of leather handbags originating in the People's Republic of China, repealing the duty with regard to imports from five exporting producers and making these imports subject to registration
Date: 1999-01-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: China, anti-dumping duty, fancy leather goods and glove-making industry, import, leather

L 18/10

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Official Journal of the European Communities

23. 1. 1999

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 152/1999

of 22 January 1999

initiating a ‘new exporter' review of Council Regulation (EC) No 1567/97
imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of leather handbags origin-
ating in the People’s Republic of China, repealing the duty with regard to
imports from five exporting producers and making these imports subject to
registration

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

purses, make-up and cigarettes, regardless of their
size and form and currently classifiable within CN
code 4202 21 00'. This code is given for informa-
tion only.

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of
22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports
from countries
the European
Community (1), as last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 905/98 (2), and in particular Article 11(4) thereof,

not members

of

After consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

A. REQUEST FOR A REVIEW

By Council Regulation (EC) No 1567/97 (3), as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2380/98 (4), the
Council imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of
38 % on imports of the product concerned origin-
ating in the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter
referred to as ‘the PRC') with the exception of
imports from several exporting producers for which
the Council imposed individual duty rates.

The Commission has received applications for a
‘new exporter' review pursuant to Article 11(4) of
Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 (hereinafter
referred to as ‘the Basic Regulation')
from five
exporting producers which claim they did not
export the product concerned during the period of
investigation on which the anti-dumping measures
were based, i.e. the period from 1 April 1995 to 31
March 1996 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the original
investigation period'). These applications were
lodged by Gainth Industrial Ltd, Macia Company
Ltd, Yen Sheng Factory Ltd, Dongguan All Be
Right Leathern Products Co. Ltd and Panyu
Simone Handbag Ltd (hereinafter referred to as ‘the
applicants').

B. PRODUCT

the same as

The product concerned is
that
described in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC)
No 1567/97, i.e.
‘handbags with outer surface of
leather, of composition leather or patent leather,
whether or not with a shoulder strap, including
those without handle, designed primarily
to
contain small objects for personal use such as keys,

(1) OJ L 56, 6. 3. 1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 128, 30. 4. 1998, p. 18.
(3) OJ L 208, 2. 8. 1997, p. 31.
(4) OJ L 296, 5. 11. 1998, p. 1.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

C. PROCEDURE

The applicants have claimed that they meet the
conditions for individual treatment, that they are
related to the Chinese exporters/producers
not
which are subject
to the abovementioned anti-
dumping measures and that they started exporting
to the Community after the original investigation
period.

Community producers known to be concerned
have been informed of the applications and have
been given an opportunity to comment.

that

there is

the
Having examined the evidence available,
Commission concludes
sufficient
evidence to justify the initiation of a review
pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Basic Regulation
with a view to determining the applicants’ indi-
vidual margin of dumping and, should dumping be
found, the level of duty to which their imports of
the product concerned into the Community should
be subject.

For applicants that claim and provide properly
substantiated evidence that they fulfil the condi-
tions laid down in Article 2(7)(c) of the Basic Regu-
lation, normal value will be determined in accord-
ance with paragraphs l to 6 of Article 2 of the Basic
Regulation. The Commission will send claim forms
to all applicants.

In all other cases, normal value will be determined
on the basis of the price or constructed value in an
appropriate analogue country in accordance with
Article 2(7)(a) of the Basic Regulation. Indonesia is
envisaged as an appropriate analogue country.

D. REPEAL OF THE DUTY IN FORCE AND

REGISTRATION OF IMPORTS

Pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Basic Regulation,
the anti-dumping duty in force should be repealed
with regard to imports of the product concerned
originating in the PRC which are produced and
sold for export to the Community by the appli-
cants. At the same time, such imports should be

23. 1. 1999

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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made subject to registration in accordance with
Article 14(5) of the Basic Regulation, in order to
ensure that, should the review result in a deter-
mination of dumping in respect of the applicants,
anti-dumping duties can be levied retroactively
from the date of the initiation of this review. The
amount of the applicants’ possible future liability
cannot be estimated at this stage of the invest-
igation.

Article 2

The anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EC) No
1567/97 is hereby repealed with regard to the imports
identified in Article 1 (TARIC additional code: 8611).

Article 3

E. TIME LIMITS

(9)

In the interest of sound administration, time limits
should be fixed within which:

The customs authorities are hereby directed, pursuant to
Article 14(5) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96, to take the
appropriate steps to register the imports identified in
Article 1. Registration shall expire nine months following
the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

— interested parties, provided they can show that
they are likely to be affected by the results of
the investigation, may make their views known
in writing and submit supporting evidence and
may make a written request for a hearing and
show that there are particular reasons why they
should be heard,

— an applicant can submit a properly substan-
tiated claim for market economy status,

— parties to the investigation can comment on the
choice of Indonesia being envisaged as an
analogue country.

F. NON-COOPERATION

(10)

It should be noted that in cases in which any
interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does
not provide, necessary information within the re-
time limits, or significantly impedes the
levant
investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may
be made in accordance with Article 18 of the Basic
Regulation, on the basis of the facts available,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

leather

A review of Regulation (EC) No 1567/97 is hereby
initiated pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Basic Regulation
in order to determine if and to what extent the imports of
handbags with outer surface of leather, of composition
falling within CN code
leather or patent
4202 21 00, originating in the People’s Republic of China,
produced and sold for export
to the Community by
Gainth Industrial Ltd, Macia Company Ltd, Yen Sheng
Factory Ltd including its related manufacturer Dongguan
Dalang Huqiu Leathers Co. Ltd, Dongguan All Be Right
Leathern Products Co. Ltd and Panyu Simone Handbag
Ltd should be subject to the anti-dumping duty imposed
by Regulation (EC) No 1567/97.

Article 4

1.
The companies mentioned in Article 1 wishing to
make a claim in accordance with Article 2(7)(b) and (c) of
Regulation (EC) No 384/96 must do so within 21 days of
the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

2.
Interested parties wishing to comment on the appro-
priateness of Indonesia which is envisaged as an analogue
country for the purpose of establishing normal value,
must do so within 10 days of the date of entry into force
of this Regulation.

Interested parties, if their representations are to be
3.
taken into account during the investigation, must make
themselves known, present their views in writing and
submit information within 40 days of the date of the
entry into force of this Regulation, without prejudice to
the provisions contained in paragraphs 1 and 2. Interested
parties may also apply to be heard by the Commission
within the same time limit.

4. Any information relating to the matter, any request
for a hearing and any claim in accordance with Article
2(7)(b) and (c) of the Regulation (EC) No 384/96 should
be sent to the following address:

European Commission,

Directorate-General for External Relations: Commercial
Policy and Relations with North America, the Far East,
Australia and New Zealand
DM 24 8/38
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 295 65 05
Telex COMEU B 21877.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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

Done at Brussels, 22 January 1999.

For the Commission

Leon BRITTAN

Vice-President