Council Regulation (EC) No 727/2008 of 24 July 2008 terminating the new exporter review of Regulation (EC) No 130/2006 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of tartaric acid originating in the People’s Republic of China
Date: 2008-07-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: China, anti-dumping duty, anti-dumping legislation, import, organic acid, originating product

29.7.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 200/1

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

I

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 727/2008

of 24 July 2008

terminating the new exporter review of Regulation (EC) No 130/2006 imposing a definitive anti-
dumping duty on imports of tartaric acid originating in the People’s Republic of China

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of
22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports
from countries not members of the European Community (1)
(the basic Regulation), and in particular Articles 11(4) thereof,

for a ‘new exporter’ review pursuant to Article 11(4) of
the basic Regulation. The request was based on the claim
that the exporting producer, Fuyang Genebest Chemical
Industry Co Ltd. (the applicant):

— did not export

tartaric acid before or during the

investigation period of the original investigation,

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

— was not related to any of the exporting producers
subject to the measures imposed by Regulation (EC)
No 130/2006,

Whereas:

1. MEASURES IN FORCE

(1)

(2)

By Regulation (EC) No 130/2006 (2),
the Council
imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of
tartaric acid originating in the People’s Republic of
China (PRC)
investigation). The measures
in force consist of an ad valorem duty rate of 34,9 %,
with the
expressly
mentioned which are subject to individual duty rates.

exception of

(the original

companies

several

By Regulation (EC) No 150/2008 (3),
following an
interim review pursuant to Article 11(3) of the basic
Regulation,
the
measures.

the Council amended the scope of

2. CURRENT INVESTIGATION

(4)

2.1. Request for a review

(3)

Subsequent
the definitive anti-
dumping measures, the Commission received a request

to the imposition of

(1) OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 2117/2005 (OJ L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17).

(2) OJ L 23, 27.1.2006, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 48, 22.2.2008, p. 1.

— had started to export tartaric acid to the Community
the

the investigation period of

the end of

after
original investigation,

— operates under market

as
defined in Article 2(7)(c) of the basic Regulation or
alternatively
in
conformity with Article 9(5) of the basic Regulation.

conditions

individual

treatment

economy

claims

2.2. Initiation of a ‘new exporter’ review

a

initiation of

The Commission examined the prima facie evidence
submitted by the applicant and considered it sufficient
to justify the
to
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, the Commission initiated, by Regulation (EC)
No 1406/2007 (4), a review of Regulation (EC) No
130/2006 with regard to the applicant.

review pursuant

(4) OJ L 312, 30.11.2007, p. 12.

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Official Journal of the European Union

29.7.2008

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1406/2007,
the anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EC) No
130/2006 on imports of tartaric acid produced by the
applicant was
to
Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation, customs authorities
were directed to take appropriate steps to register the
imports of tartaric acid produced by the applicant.

repealed. Simultaneously, pursuant

declaration forms which showed that the goods were
exported from the PRC but which did not indicate the
export destination. A further investigation was carried
out at the premises of this trader in order to obtain
and verify the necessary evidence of the alleged exports
to the Community.

2.3. Product concerned

The product concerned by the current review is tartaric
acid, the same as in the original
investigation, subject,
however, to the limitation in scope introduced by Regu­
lation (EC) No 150/2008.

2.4. Parties concerned

the applicant and the representatives of

The Commission officially advised the Community
the
industry,
review.
exporting country of
Interested parties were given the opportunity to make
their views known in writing and to be heard.

initiation of

the

the

(13)

(14)

The verification of the export documentation did not
show that the goods had been released for free circu­
lation in the Community. The goods were unloaded in
two Community ports, but the invoices were addressed
to a customer located in a third country outside the
Community. The trader confirmed that the final desti­
nation of
the goods was outside the Community,
where the final customer was located.

import

statistics of

tartaric acid were also
Eurostat
analysed. The analysis of the import statistics confirmed
that
the goods exported by the applicant were not
released for free circulation within the Community.

The Commission sent a market economy treatment claim
and a questionnaire to the applicant and received a reply
within the deadlines set for this purpose.

The Commission sought and verified all the information
deemed necessary for its analysis and carried out a veri­
fication visit at the premises of the applicant.

3.2. Conclusion

(15) On the basis of the above findings, it was concluded that
the applicant could not demonstrate that
the
criteria for being considered a new exporter within the
meaning of Article 11(4) of the basic Regulation.

it met

2.5. Review investigation period

(16)

(10)

The investigation of dumping covered the period from
1 April 2006 – 30 September 2007 (review investigation
period or RIP).

(11)

(12)

3. RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION

3.1. Findings

The questionnaire response indicated a number of export
sales transactions which were identical to the information
submitted in the application for the review and which
were allegedly destined for the Community.

(17)

the applicant did not
The investigation showed that
concerned (defined in
directly export
the product
section 2.3 above) during the RIP. The export
trans­
actions were in fact made by an independent trader in
the PRC,
issued a domestic
invoice. The applicant could only provide customs

to which the applicant

The purpose of the present review was to determine the
individual margin of dumping of the applicant, which
was allegedly different from the current residual margin
applicable to imports of the product concerned from the
PRC. The request was mainly based on the allegation that
the applicant had started to export tartaric acid to the
Community after the end of the investigation period of
the original investigation and that it had such exports to
the Community during the RIP.

to the Community during

The investigation concluded that,
in the absence of
the
exports
the RIP,
Commission could not establish that the applicant’s indi­
vidual dumping margin was indeed different from the
residual dumping margin established in the original
request made by the
the
investigation. Therefore,
should be rejected and the new exporter
applicant
anti-dumping duty
review terminated. The
i.e. 34,9 %,
found during the original
investigation,
should consequently be maintained as
the
as
far
applicant is concerned.

residual

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(18)

(19)

4. RETROACTIVE LEVYING OF THE ANTI-DUMPING
DUTY

In the light of the above findings, the anti-dumping duty
applicable to the applicant shall be levied retroactively on
the product concerned, which have been
imports of
made subject to registration pursuant to Article 3 of
Regulation (EC) No 1406/2007.

5. FINAL PROVISIONS

The applicant, the Community industry and the represen­
tatives of the exporting country were informed of the
essential facts and considerations leading to the above
to
conclusions
comment. No comments which were of a nature to
change the above conclusions were received.

opportunity

and were

given

an

(20)

the date on which the
This review does not affect
measures imposed by Regulation (EC) No 130/2006, as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 150/2008, will expire
pursuant to Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

applicable, according to Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No
130/2006, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 150/2008, to
‘all other companies’ in the People’s Republic of China is hereby
imposed on imports identified in Article 1 of Regulation (EC)
No 1406/2007.

The

according

applicable,

anti-dumping

2.
to
duty
Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 130/2006, as amended by
Regulation (EC) No 150/2008, to ‘all other companies’ in the
People’s Republic of China is hereby levied with effect from
1 December 2007 on imports of
tartaric acid which have
been registered pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No
1406/2007.

3.
The customs authorities are hereby directed to cease the
registration carried out pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC)
No 1406/2007.

Unless otherwise

4.
concerning customs duties shall apply.

specified,

the provisions

in force

Article 1

Article 2

1.
The new exporter review initiated by Regulation (EC)
1406/2007 is hereby terminated and the anti-dumping duty

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

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

Done at Brussels, 24 July 2008.

For the Council
The President

B. HORTEFEUX