WRITTEN QUESTION E-3020/00 by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate imports.
Date: 2000-09-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Poland, Ukraine, anti-dumping measure, chemical fertiliser, common commercial policy

C 136 E/160

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.5.2001

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(24 October 2000)

The Community rules on aid to the steel industry oblige the Member States to notify in advance to the
is for the
Commission any plans to grant or to transfer state resources to steel undertakings.
Commission to decide whether such measures constitute state aid and in the affirmative whether the aid
is compatible with the common market.

It

The Commission can confirm that, at present, none of the Member States where the Corus steel plants are
located have notified it of any project to grant state aid to those plants.

(2001/C 136 E/187)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3020/00

by Lord Inglewood (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 September 2000)

Subject: Anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate imports

Is the Commission taking into account the injury that will be imposed on EU farmers and the mandatory
requirements of the CAP spelled out in Article 33 of the Treaty establishing the European Community if it
continues to impose anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate imports from Poland and the Ukraine?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(26 October 2000)

One precondition for the imposition of anti-dumping measures is the Community interest test. Indeed,
according to the provisions laid down in the basic Regulation (EC) No 384/96 (1), the Community
institutions are obliged to assess the economic situation of the economic operators concerned (i.e. the
Community industry, users and consumers). Even if injurious dumping is established, measures shall not be
imposed if there are compelling reasons of the Community interest against such measures, i.e. when the
negative economic effect to be expected would be disproportionate by comparison to probable beneficial
effects. In this context, as in the current proceeding, the possible effects on farmers would thus be
evaluated taking due account of all economic interests involved. In the current proceeding, no findings
have been made which would indicate any contradiction with the spirit of Article 33 (ex Article 39) of the
EC Treaty.

Indeed, after the opening of the current anti-dumping case concerning ammonium nitrate, questionnaires
have been sent, inter alia, to the European farmers(cid:146) organisations. The Commission did not receive any
reply to these. Therefore, the Commission provisionally concluded there were no compelling reasons of
Community interest not to impose provisional measures. On the basis of the best information available,
the Commission reached the provisional conclusion that fertilisers appear to represent a small part of total
production costs of farmers so that the possible negative effects on farmers through increased ammonium
nitrate prices are unlikely to offset the positive effect of measures against injurious dumping.

After the imposition of provisional measures the National Farmers Union (NFU) of England and Wales
made itself known and expressed its views on the case. The NFU attended a special hearing organised by
the Commission and subsequently submitted data on the importance of fertilisers in the production cost of
farmers. The Commission is currently analysing this submission.

The Commission is sending direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat a detailed
explanatory note on the technicalities of the anti-dumping procedures.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries
not members of the European Community (OJ L 56, 6.3.1996), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 905/98 of
27 April 1998 (OJ L 128, 30.4.1998).