Council Regulation (EC) No 902/2001 of 7 May 2001 amending Regulation (EC) No 978/2000 imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of synthetic fibres of polyester originating in Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan
Date: 2001-05-07
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Australia, Indonesia, countervailing charge, man-made fibre, originating product, plastics

L 127/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9.5.2001

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 902/2001

of 7 May 2001

amending Regulation (EC) No 978/2000 imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of
synthetic fibres of polyester originating in Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2026/97 of 6
October 1997 on protection against subsidised imports from
countries not members of the European Community (1), and in
particular Article 15 thereof,

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 978/2000 (2) imposed a definitive
countervailing duty on imports of synthetic fibres of
polyester originating in Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Further to two applications to the Court of First Instance
brought against
the Council by Taiwanese exporting
producers seeking annulment of Regulation (EC) No
978/2000 in accordance with Article 230 of the Treaty,
it has become apparent that part of the methodology
applied in determining the level of subsidisation for
Taiwan in Regulation (EC) No 978/2000 is inconsistent
with the Community institutions' consideration and
treatment of virtually identical data in subsequent
proceedings. For one particular subsidy scheme, the ‘tax
credit for the purchase of automation and pollution
control equipment’ granted for locally purchased equip-
ment, was found to be countervailable according to the
Regulation the subject of challenge. However, the calcu-
lations
countervailable
subsidy derived from a methodology that was revised in
subsequent proceedings concerning imports of certain
polyethylene terephthalate originating in Taiwan. Refer-
ence is made to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1741/
2000 (3), Council Regulation (EC) No 2603/2000 (4),
inter
antisubsidy proceeding
the
concerning imports of certain polyethylene terephthalate
it was
originating in Taiwan. In these circumstances,
decided to re-examine the calculations concerning the

concerning the

amount of

terminating

alia

(1) OJ L 288, 21.10.1997, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 113, 12.5.2000, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 199, 5.8.2000, p. 6.
(4) OJ L 301, 30.11.2000, p. 1.

(3)

(4)

amount of subsidy for imports originating in Taiwan, in
particular in order to establish whether the application
of the revised methodology would materially impact on
the findings for that country. This particular subsidy
scheme was only found to exist in Taiwan and was not
therefore considered as part of the investigation into
imports originating in
subsidisation in respect of
Australia and Indonesia.

The re-examination for Taiwan showed that the revised
methodology led to a de minimis finding of subsidisation,
i.e. a countrywide subsidy level of less than 1 %. There-
fore, the countervailing measures concerning imports of
synthetic fibres of polyester from Taiwan should be
repealed with retroactive effect.

As regards the potential impact of the repeal of meas-
ures for Taiwan on the original
findings concerning
imports of synthetic fibres of polyester from Australia
and Indonesia, it was examined whether the finding of
de minimis subsidisation for Taiwan adversely affected
the conclusions in relation to injury, causation and
Community interest. It was concluded that, in particular
given the significant increase in the volume of imports
and market share, and the high levels of undercutting for
imports originating in Australia and Indonesia, the orig-
inal findings are not undermined insofar as they concern
imports originating in those countries,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 978/2000 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 1(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.
A definitive countervailing duty is hereby imposed on
imports of synthetic staple fibres of polyesters, not carded,
combed or otherwise processed for spinning, falling within
CN code 5503 20 00 and originating in Australia and Indo-
nesia.’;

2. Article 1(2) shall be replaced by the following:

9.5.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 127/21

The duty rate applicable to the net,

free-at-Community-frontier, before duty,
‘2.
produced by the companies indicated shall be as follows for products originating in:

for products

1. Australia

Company

Rate of duty
(%)

TARIC
additional code

Leading Synthetics Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria

All other Australian companies

6,0

6,0

A059

A999

2. Indonesia

Company

Rate of duty
(%)

TARIC
additional code

PT. Indorama Synthetics TbK
Graha Irama, 17th floor
Jl. H. R. Rasuna Said Blok X-1 Kav. 1-2
PO Box 3375
Jakarta 12950

PT. Panasia Indosyntec TbK
Jl. Garuda 153/74
Bandung 40184

PT. Susilia Indah Synthetic Fiber Industries
Jl. Kh. Zainul Arifin Kompleks
Ketapang Indah
Blok B 1 n. 23
Jakarta 11140

PT. GT Petrochem Industries TbK
Exim Melati Building, 9th floor
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 8-9
Jakarta 10230

PT. Teijin Indonesia Fiber Corporation TbK
5th floor Mid Plaza 1
Jl. Jend. Sudiman Kav. 10-11
Jakarta 10220

0

0

0

0

0

A051

A052

A054

A053

A055

All other companies

10

A999’

3. Article 2(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘The amounts secured by way of the provisional countervailing duty on imports originating in Australia
under Regulation (EC) No 123/2000 shall be collected at the rate of the duty definitively imposed by
this Regulation. Amounts secured in excess of the rate of definitive countervailing duty shall be
released.’.

Any countervailing duties collected on imports originating in Taiwan under Regulation (EC) No 978/2000
shall be reimbursed to the importers concerned.

Article 2

Article 3

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

Article 1 shall apply with effect from 13 May 2000.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

9.5.2001

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

Done at Brussels, 7 May 2001.

For the Council

The President

B. RINGHOLM