Council Regulation (EC) No 321/2003 of 18 February 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 772/1999 imposing definitive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of farmed Atlantic salmon originating in Norway

Council Regulation (EC) No 321/2003
of 18 February 2003
amending Regulation (EC) No 772/1999 imposing definitive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of farmed Atlantic salmon originating in Norway
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
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), and in particular Article 8 thereof,
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(2), and in particular Article 13 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee,
Whereas:
A. PREVIOUS PROCEDURE
(1) On 31 August 1996, by means of two separate notices published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, the Commission announced the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding(3) and an anti-subsidy proceeding(4) in respect of imports of farmed Atlantic salmon (the product concerned) originating in Norway.
(2) These proceedings resulted in anti-dumping and countervailing duties being imposed in September 1997 by Council Regulations (EC) No 1890/97(5) and No 1891/97(6) in order to eliminate the injurious effects of dumping and subsidisation.
(3) In parallel to this, by Decision 97/634/EC of 26 September 1997 accepting undertakings offered in connection with the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy proceedings concerning imports of farmed Atlantic salmon originating in Norway(7), the Commission accepted undertakings from 190 Norwegian exporters and imports of the product concerned exported to the Community by these companies were exempted from the said anti-dumping and countervailing duties.
(4) The form of the duties was later reviewed and Regulations (EC) No 1890/97 and No 1891/97 were replaced by Regulation (EC) No 772/1999(8).
B. NEW EXPORTERS, CHANGES OF NAME AND VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL OF AN UNDERTAKING
(5) Three Norwegian companies, Vestmar AS, Gaia Seafood AS and Polar Quality AS claimed that they are "new exporters" within the meaning of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 772/1999 in conjunction with Article 11(4) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 and Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 2026/97 and have offered undertakings identical to those previously accepted from other Norwegian companies. Having investigated the matter, it was established that the applicants fulfilled the conditions for being considered as new exporters and, accordingly, the undertakings offered have been accepted by the Commission. The exemption to the anti-dumping and countervailing duties should therefore be extended to these companies.
(6) One Norwegian exporter, Arctic Group International, with an undertaking advised the Commission that the group of companies to which it belonged had been re-organised and that another company within the group, Arctic Group Maritime AS, was now responsible for exports to the Community. The company therefore requested that its name be changed on the list of companies from which undertakings are accepted in the Annex to Decision 97/634/EC and on the list of companies which benefit from an exemption to the anti-dumping and countervailing duties in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 772/1999.
(7) Another company, Fjord Seafood Midt-Norge AS, with an undertaking advised the Commission that its name had changed to Fjord Seafood Norway AS and, in, addition, that a company within the same group, Fjord Seafood Måløy, also with an undertaking, had merged with it. It was therefore requested that the new name of the company appear on the above mentioned lists and, as a separate undertaking was no longer appropriate, that the name of the related company, Fjord Seafood Måløy, be deleted.
(8) It is considered after verification that the requests are acceptable since the modifications do not entail any substantive changes which would affect the assessment of dumping or subsidisation, nor do they affect any of the considerations on which the acceptance of the undertakings was based. Consequently, the names of Arctic Group International and Fjord Seafood Midt-Norge AS should be changed to Arctic Group Maritime AS and Fjord Seafood Norway AS respectively on the list of companies from which undertakings are accepted in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 772/1999 and the name of Fjord Seafood Måløy AS deleted from that list.
(9) Another Norwegian company, Timar Seafood AS, advised the Commission that it wished to withdraw its undertaking. Accordingly, the name of this company should be deleted from the list of companies from which undertakings are accepted in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 772/1999.
C. AMENDMENT OF THE ANNEX TO REGULATION (EC) No 772/1999
(10) In view of all the above, the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 772/1999 which lists the companies exempted from the anti-dumping and countervailing duties should be amended accordingly,