Article 12 
Retroactivity 1. Provisional measures and definitive countervailing duties shall only by applied to products which enter for consumption after the time when the decision taken under Article 9 (1) and Article 11 (6), respectively, enters into force, subject to the exceptions set out in this Regulation. 2. Where a provisional duty has been applied and the facts as finally established show the existence of countervailable subsidies and injury, the Council shall decide, irrespective of whether a definitive countervailing duty is to be imposed, what proportion of the provisional duty is to be definitively collected. For this purpose, 'injury` shall not include material retardation of the establishment of a Community industry, nor threat of material injury, except where it is found that this would, in the absence of provisional measures, have developed into material injury. In all other cases involving such threat or retardation, any provisional amounts shall be released and definitive duties can only be imposed from the date that a final determination of threat or material retardation is made. 3. If the definitive countervailing duty is higher than the provisional duty, the difference shall not be collected. If the definitive duty is lower than the provisional duty, the duty shall be recalculated. Where a final determination is negative, the provisional duty shall not be confirmed. 4. A definitive countervailing duty may be levied on products which were entered for consumption not more than 90 days prior to the date of application of provisional measures but not prior to the initiation of the investigation, provided that the imports have been registered in accordance with Article 15 (5), the importers concerned have been given an opportunity to comment by the Commission and it is found that: (i) there exist critical circumstances where for the subsidized product in question injury which is difficult to repair is caused by massive imports in a relatively short period of a product benefiting from countervailable subsidies under the terms of this Regulation; and, (ii) where it is deemed necessary, in order to preclude the recurrence of such injury, to assess countervailing duties retroactively on those imports. 5. In cases of violation or withdrawal of undertakings definitive duties may be levied in accordance with this Regulation on goods entered for consumption not more than 90 days before the application of provisional measures provided that the imports have been registered in accordance with Article 15 (5) and that any such retroactive assessment shall not apply to imports entered before the violation or withdrawal of the undertaking. Article 13 Duration, reviews and refunds 1. A countervailing measure shall remain in force only as long as and to the extent necessary to counteract the countervailable subsidies which are causing injury. A. Expiry reviews 2. A definitive countervailing measure shall expire five years from its imposition or five years from the date of the most recent review which has covered both subsidization and injury, unless it is determined in a review that the expiry would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. Such an expiry review shall be initiated on the initiative of the Commission or upon a request made by or on behalf of the Community producers and the measure shall remain in force pending the outcome of such review. 3. An expiry review shall be initiated where the request contains sufficient evidence that the removal of measures would be likely to result in a continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. Such a likelihood may, for example, be indicated by evidence of continued subsidization and injury or evidence that the removal of injury is partly or solely due to the existence of measures or evidence that the circumstances of the exporters, or market conditions, are such that they would indicate the likelihood of further injurious subsidization. 4. In carrying out investigations under this section, the exporters, importers, the government of the country of origin and/or export and the complainants shall be provided with the opportunity to amplify, rebut or comment on the matters set out in the review request and conclusions shall be reached with due account taken of all relevant and duly supported evidence presented in relation to the question of whether the removal of measures would be likely, or unlikely, to lead to the continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. 5. Under this section, a notice of impending expiry shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities at an appropriate time as defined in this paragraph in the final year of the period of application of the measures. Thereafter, the Community producers shall, no later than three months before the end of the five-year period, be entitled to lodge a review request in accordance with paragraph 3. A notice announcing the actual expiry of measures under this section shall also be published. B. Interim reviews 6. The need for the continued imposition of measures may also be reviewed, where warranted on the initiative of the Commission or at the request of a Member State or, provided that a reasonable period of time of at least one year has elapsed since the imposition of the definitive measure, upon a request by any exporter, importer or the Community producers or the government of the country of origin and/or export which contains sufficient evidence substantiating the need for such an interim review. 7. An interim review shall be initiated where the request contains sufficient evidence that the continued imposition of the measure is no longer necessary to offset the countervailable subsidy and/or the injury would be unlikely to continue or recur if the measure were removed or varied, or that the existing measure is not, or is no longer, sufficient to counteract the countervailable subsidy which is causing injury. 8. Where the countervailing duties imposed are less than the amount of countervailable subsidies found, an interim review shall be initiated if the Community producers provide sufficient evidence that the duties have led to no movement or insufficient movement of resale prices of the imported product in the Community. If the investigation proves the allegations to be correct, countervailing duties may be increased to achieve the price increase required to remove injury, although the increased duty level shall not exceed the amount of the countervailable subsidies. 9. In carrying out investigations under this section, the Commission may, inter alia, consider whether the circumstances with regard to subsidization and injury have changed significantly, or whether existing measures are achieving the intended results in removing the injury previously established in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation. In these respects, account shall be taken of all relevant and duly supported evidence in the final determination. C. Accelerated reviews 10. Any exporter whose exports are subject to a definitive countervailing duty but who was not individually investigated during the original investigation for reasons other than a refusal to cooperate with the Commission, shall be entitled, upon request, to an accelerated review in order that the Commission promptly establish an individual countervailing duty rate for that exporter. Such a review shall be initiated after consultation of the Advisory Committee and Community producers have been given an opportunity to comment. D. General provisions on reviews 11. The relevant provisions of Articles 7 and 8, excluding those relating to time limits, shall apply to any review carried out pursuant to paragraphs 2 to 5, 6 to 9 and 10. Any such review shall be carried out expeditiously and shall normally be concluded within 12 months of the date of initiation of the review. 12. Reviews pursuant to this Article shall be initiated by the Commission after consultation of the Advisory Committee. Where warranted by reviews, measures shall be repealed or maintained pursuant to paragraphs 2 to 5, or repealed, maintained or amended pursuant to paragraphs 6 to 9 and 10, by the Community institution responsible for their introduction. Where measures are repealed for individual exporters, but not for the country as a whole, such exporters shall remain subject to the proceedings and may be re-investigated in any subsequent review carried out for that country pursuant to this Article. 13. Where a review of measures pursuant to paragraphs 6 to 9 is in progress at the end of the period of application of measures as defined in paragraphs 2 to 5, the measures shall also be investigated under the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 5. E. Refunds 14. Notwithstanding paragraphs 2 to 5, an importer may request reimbursement of duties collected where it is shown that the amount of countervailable subsidies, on the basis of which duties were paid, has been eliminated, or reduced to a level which is below the level of the duty in force. 15. In order to request a refund of countervailing duties, the importer shall submit an application to the Commission. The application shall be submitted via the Member State in the territory of which the products were released for free circulation within six months of the date on which the amount of the definitive duties to be levied was duly determined by the competent authorities or the date on which a decision was made definitively to collect the amounts secured by way of provisional duty. Member States shall forward the request to the Commission forthwith. 16. An application for refund shall only be considered to be duly supported by evidence where it contains precise information on the amount of refund of countervailing duties claimed and all customs documentation relating to the calculation and payment of such amount. It shall also include evidence, for a representative period, on the amount of countervailable subsidies for the exporter or producer to which the duty applies. In cases where the importer is not associated to the exporter or producer concerned and such information is not immediately available or the exporter or producer is unwilling to release it to the importer, the application shall contain a statement from the exporter or producer that the amount of countervailable subsidies has been reduced or eliminated, as specified in this Article, and that the relevant supporting evidence shall be provided to the Commission. It shall be understood that where such evidence is not forthcoming from the exporter or producer, within a reasonable period of time, the application shall be rejected. 17. The Commission shall, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, decide whether and to what extent the application should be granted or it may decide at any time to initiate an interim review and the information and findings from such review, carried out in accordance with the provisions applicable for such reviews, shall be used to determine whether and to what extent a refund is justified. Refunds of duties shall normally take place within 12 months, and in no case more than 18 months after the date on which a request for a refund, duly supported by evidence, has been made by an importer of the product subject to the countervailing duty. The payment of any refund authorized should normally be made by Member States within 90 days of the above-noted decision. F. Final provision 18. In all review or refund investigations carried out pursuant to this Article, the Commission shall apply, in so far as circumstances have not changed, the same methodology as in the investigation which led to the duty, with due account taken of the provisions set out in Article 4 and Article 18 of this Regulation. Article 14 Circumvention 1. Countervailing duties imposed pursuant to this Regulation may be extended to apply to imports from third countries of like products, or parts thereof, when circumvention of the measures in force is taking place. Circumvention shall be defined as a change in the pattern of trade between third countries and the Community which stems from a practice, process or work for which there is insufficient due cause or economic justification, other than the imposition of the duty, and there is evidence that the remedial effects of the duty are being undermined, in terms of the prices and/or quantities of the like products, and the imported like product and/or parts thereof still benefit from the subsidy. 2. Investigations shall be initiated pursuant to this Article where the request contains sufficient evidence on the factors set out in paragraph 1. Initiations shall be made, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, by Commission Regulation which shall also instruct the customs authorities to make imports subject to registration in accordance with Article 15 (5) or request guarantees. Investigations shall be carried out by the Commission, which may be assisted by customs authorities, and shall be concluded within nine months. Where the facts, as finally ascertained, justify the extension of measures this shall be done by the Council, acting by simple majority on a proposal from the Commission, from the date that registration was imposed pursuant to Article 15 (5) or guarantees were requested. The relevant procedural provisions of this Regulation with regard to initiations and the conduct of investigations shall apply pursuant to this Article. 3. Products shall not be subject to registration pursuant to Article 15 (5) or measures where they are accompanied by a customs certificate declaring that the importation of the goods does not constitute circumvention. These certificates may be issued to importers, upon written application, by the authorities following authorization by a decision of the Commission, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, or the decision of the Council imposing measures and they shall remain valid for the period, and under the conditions set down therein. 4. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the normal application of the provisions in force concerning customs duties. Article 15 General provisions 1. Provisional or definitive countervailing duties shall be imposed by Regulation, and collected by Member States in the form, at the rate specified and according to the other criteria laid down in the Regulation imposing such duties. Such duties shall also be collected independently of the customs duties, taxes and other charges normally imposed on imports. No product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties to compensate for the same situation arising from dumping or export subsidization. 2. Regulations imposing provisional or definitive countervailing duties, or Regulations or Decisions accepting undertakings or terminating investigations or proceedings, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Such Regulations or Decisions shall contain, in particular, and with due regard to the protection of confidential information the names of the exporters, if practical, or countries involved, a description of the product and a summary of the facts and considerations relevant to the countervailable subsidies and injury determinations. In each case, a copy of the Regulation or Decision shall be sent to known interested parties. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to reviews. 3. Special provisions, in particular with regard to the common definition of the concept of origin, as contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), may be adopted in, or pursuant to this Regulation. 4. In the Community interest, measures imposed pursuant to this Regulation may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be suspended by a decision of the Commission for a period of nine months. The suspension may be extended for a further period, not exceeding one year, if the Council so decides, by simple majority, on a proposal from the Commission. Measures may only be suspended where market conditions have temporarily changed to an extent that injury would be unlikely to resume as a result of the suspension, and provided that the Community industry has been given an opportunity to comment and these comments have been taken into account. Measures may, at any time and after consultation, be reinstated if the reason for suspension is no longer applicable. 5. The Commission may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, direct the customs authorities to take the appropriate steps to register imports, so that measures may subsequently be applied against these imports from the date of such registration. Imports may be made subject to registration following a request from the Community industry which contains sufficient evidence to justify such action. Registration shall be introduced by Regulation which shall specify the purpose of the action and, if appropriate, the estimated amount of possible future liability. Imports may not be made subject to registration for a period longer than nine months. 6. Member States shall report to the Commission, on a monthly basis, the import trade of products subject to investigation and subject to measures, and the amount of duties collected pursuant to this Regulation. Article 16 Consultations 1. Any consultations provided for in this Regulation, except those referred to in Article 7 (9) and 8 (10), shall take place within an Advisory Committee, which shall consist of representatives of each Member State, with a representative of the Commission as chairman. Consultations shall be held immediately on request by a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission, and in any event within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its chairman. He shall provide the Member States, as promptly as possible, with all relevant information. 3. Where necessary, consultation may be in writing only; in such case the Commission shall notify the Member States and shall specify a period within which they shall be entitled to express their opinions or to request an oral consultation, which the chairman shall arrange, provided that such oral consultation can be held within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 4. Consultation shall in particular cover: (i) the existence of countervailable subsidies and the methods of establishing their amount; (ii) the existence and extent of injury; (iii) the causal link between the subsidized imports and injury; (iv) the measures which, in the circumstances, are appropriate to prevent or remedy the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies and the ways and means for putting such measures into effect. Article 17 Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 13 
Duration, reviews and refunds 1. A countervailing measure shall remain in force only as long as and to the extent necessary to counteract the countervailable subsidies which are causing injury. A. Expiry reviews 2. A definitive countervailing measure shall expire five years from its imposition or five years from the date of the most recent review which has covered both subsidization and injury, unless it is determined in a review that the expiry would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. Such an expiry review shall be initiated on the initiative of the Commission or upon a request made by or on behalf of the Community producers and the measure shall remain in force pending the outcome of such review. 3. An expiry review shall be initiated where the request contains sufficient evidence that the removal of measures would be likely to result in a continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. Such a likelihood may, for example, be indicated by evidence of continued subsidization and injury or evidence that the removal of injury is partly or solely due to the existence of measures or evidence that the circumstances of the exporters, or market conditions, are such that they would indicate the likelihood of further injurious subsidization. 4. In carrying out investigations under this section, the exporters, importers, the government of the country of origin and/or export and the complainants shall be provided with the opportunity to amplify, rebut or comment on the matters set out in the review request and conclusions shall be reached with due account taken of all relevant and duly supported evidence presented in relation to the question of whether the removal of measures would be likely, or unlikely, to lead to the continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury. 5. Under this section, a notice of impending expiry shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities at an appropriate time as defined in this paragraph in the final year of the period of application of the measures. Thereafter, the Community producers shall, no later than three months before the end of the five-year period, be entitled to lodge a review request in accordance with paragraph 3. A notice announcing the actual expiry of measures under this section shall also be published. B. Interim reviews 6. The need for the continued imposition of measures may also be reviewed, where warranted on the initiative of the Commission or at the request of a Member State or, provided that a reasonable period of time of at least one year has elapsed since the imposition of the definitive measure, upon a request by any exporter, importer or the Community producers or the government of the country of origin and/or export which contains sufficient evidence substantiating the need for such an interim review. 7. An interim review shall be initiated where the request contains sufficient evidence that the continued imposition of the measure is no longer necessary to offset the countervailable subsidy and/or the injury would be unlikely to continue or recur if the measure were removed or varied, or that the existing measure is not, or is no longer, sufficient to counteract the countervailable subsidy which is causing injury. 8. Where the countervailing duties imposed are less than the amount of countervailable subsidies found, an interim review shall be initiated if the Community producers provide sufficient evidence that the duties have led to no movement or insufficient movement of resale prices of the imported product in the Community. If the investigation proves the allegations to be correct, countervailing duties may be increased to achieve the price increase required to remove injury, although the increased duty level shall not exceed the amount of the countervailable subsidies. 9. In carrying out investigations under this section, the Commission may, inter alia, consider whether the circumstances with regard to subsidization and injury have changed significantly, or whether existing measures are achieving the intended results in removing the injury previously established in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation. In these respects, account shall be taken of all relevant and duly supported evidence in the final determination. C. Accelerated reviews 10. Any exporter whose exports are subject to a definitive countervailing duty but who was not individually investigated during the original investigation for reasons other than a refusal to cooperate with the Commission, shall be entitled, upon request, to an accelerated review in order that the Commission promptly establish an individual countervailing duty rate for that exporter. Such a review shall be initiated after consultation of the Advisory Committee and Community producers have been given an opportunity to comment. D. General provisions on reviews 11. The relevant provisions of Articles 7 and 8, excluding those relating to time limits, shall apply to any review carried out pursuant to paragraphs 2 to 5, 6 to 9 and 10. Any such review shall be carried out expeditiously and shall normally be concluded within 12 months of the date of initiation of the review. 12. Reviews pursuant to this Article shall be initiated by the Commission after consultation of the Advisory Committee. Where warranted by reviews, measures shall be repealed or maintained pursuant to paragraphs 2 to 5, or repealed, maintained or amended pursuant to paragraphs 6 to 9 and 10, by the Community institution responsible for their introduction. Where measures are repealed for individual exporters, but not for the country as a whole, such exporters shall remain subject to the proceedings and may be re-investigated in any subsequent review carried out for that country pursuant to this Article. 13. Where a review of measures pursuant to paragraphs 6 to 9 is in progress at the end of the period of application of measures as defined in paragraphs 2 to 5, the measures shall also be investigated under the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 5. E. Refunds 14. Notwithstanding paragraphs 2 to 5, an importer may request reimbursement of duties collected where it is shown that the amount of countervailable subsidies, on the basis of which duties were paid, has been eliminated, or reduced to a level which is below the level of the duty in force. 15. In order to request a refund of countervailing duties, the importer shall submit an application to the Commission. The application shall be submitted via the Member State in the territory of which the products were released for free circulation within six months of the date on which the amount of the definitive duties to be levied was duly determined by the competent authorities or the date on which a decision was made definitively to collect the amounts secured by way of provisional duty. Member States shall forward the request to the Commission forthwith. 16. An application for refund shall only be considered to be duly supported by evidence where it contains precise information on the amount of refund of countervailing duties claimed and all customs documentation relating to the calculation and payment of such amount. It shall also include evidence, for a representative period, on the amount of countervailable subsidies for the exporter or producer to which the duty applies. In cases where the importer is not associated to the exporter or producer concerned and such information is not immediately available or the exporter or producer is unwilling to release it to the importer, the application shall contain a statement from the exporter or producer that the amount of countervailable subsidies has been reduced or eliminated, as specified in this Article, and that the relevant supporting evidence shall be provided to the Commission. It shall be understood that where such evidence is not forthcoming from the exporter or producer, within a reasonable period of time, the application shall be rejected. 17. The Commission shall, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, decide whether and to what extent the application should be granted or it may decide at any time to initiate an interim review and the information and findings from such review, carried out in accordance with the provisions applicable for such reviews, shall be used to determine whether and to what extent a refund is justified. Refunds of duties shall normally take place within 12 months, and in no case more than 18 months after the date on which a request for a refund, duly supported by evidence, has been made by an importer of the product subject to the countervailing duty. The payment of any refund authorized should normally be made by Member States within 90 days of the above-noted decision. F. Final provision 18. In all review or refund investigations carried out pursuant to this Article, the Commission shall apply, in so far as circumstances have not changed, the same methodology as in the investigation which led to the duty, with due account taken of the provisions set out in Article 4 and Article 18 of this Regulation. Article 14 Circumvention 1. Countervailing duties imposed pursuant to this Regulation may be extended to apply to imports from third countries of like products, or parts thereof, when circumvention of the measures in force is taking place. Circumvention shall be defined as a change in the pattern of trade between third countries and the Community which stems from a practice, process or work for which there is insufficient due cause or economic justification, other than the imposition of the duty, and there is evidence that the remedial effects of the duty are being undermined, in terms of the prices and/or quantities of the like products, and the imported like product and/or parts thereof still benefit from the subsidy. 2. Investigations shall be initiated pursuant to this Article where the request contains sufficient evidence on the factors set out in paragraph 1. Initiations shall be made, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, by Commission Regulation which shall also instruct the customs authorities to make imports subject to registration in accordance with Article 15 (5) or request guarantees. Investigations shall be carried out by the Commission, which may be assisted by customs authorities, and shall be concluded within nine months. Where the facts, as finally ascertained, justify the extension of measures this shall be done by the Council, acting by simple majority on a proposal from the Commission, from the date that registration was imposed pursuant to Article 15 (5) or guarantees were requested. The relevant procedural provisions of this Regulation with regard to initiations and the conduct of investigations shall apply pursuant to this Article. 3. Products shall not be subject to registration pursuant to Article 15 (5) or measures where they are accompanied by a customs certificate declaring that the importation of the goods does not constitute circumvention. These certificates may be issued to importers, upon written application, by the authorities following authorization by a decision of the Commission, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, or the decision of the Council imposing measures and they shall remain valid for the period, and under the conditions set down therein. 4. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the normal application of the provisions in force concerning customs duties. Article 15 General provisions 1. Provisional or definitive countervailing duties shall be imposed by Regulation, and collected by Member States in the form, at the rate specified and according to the other criteria laid down in the Regulation imposing such duties. Such duties shall also be collected independently of the customs duties, taxes and other charges normally imposed on imports. No product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties to compensate for the same situation arising from dumping or export subsidization. 2. Regulations imposing provisional or definitive countervailing duties, or Regulations or Decisions accepting undertakings or terminating investigations or proceedings, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Such Regulations or Decisions shall contain, in particular, and with due regard to the protection of confidential information the names of the exporters, if practical, or countries involved, a description of the product and a summary of the facts and considerations relevant to the countervailable subsidies and injury determinations. In each case, a copy of the Regulation or Decision shall be sent to known interested parties. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to reviews. 3. Special provisions, in particular with regard to the common definition of the concept of origin, as contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), may be adopted in, or pursuant to this Regulation. 4. In the Community interest, measures imposed pursuant to this Regulation may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be suspended by a decision of the Commission for a period of nine months. The suspension may be extended for a further period, not exceeding one year, if the Council so decides, by simple majority, on a proposal from the Commission. Measures may only be suspended where market conditions have temporarily changed to an extent that injury would be unlikely to resume as a result of the suspension, and provided that the Community industry has been given an opportunity to comment and these comments have been taken into account. Measures may, at any time and after consultation, be reinstated if the reason for suspension is no longer applicable. 5. The Commission may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, direct the customs authorities to take the appropriate steps to register imports, so that measures may subsequently be applied against these imports from the date of such registration. Imports may be made subject to registration following a request from the Community industry which contains sufficient evidence to justify such action. Registration shall be introduced by Regulation which shall specify the purpose of the action and, if appropriate, the estimated amount of possible future liability. Imports may not be made subject to registration for a period longer than nine months. 6. Member States shall report to the Commission, on a monthly basis, the import trade of products subject to investigation and subject to measures, and the amount of duties collected pursuant to this Regulation. Article 16 Consultations 1. Any consultations provided for in this Regulation, except those referred to in Article 7 (9) and 8 (10), shall take place within an Advisory Committee, which shall consist of representatives of each Member State, with a representative of the Commission as chairman. Consultations shall be held immediately on request by a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission, and in any event within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its chairman. He shall provide the Member States, as promptly as possible, with all relevant information. 3. Where necessary, consultation may be in writing only; in such case the Commission shall notify the Member States and shall specify a period within which they shall be entitled to express their opinions or to request an oral consultation, which the chairman shall arrange, provided that such oral consultation can be held within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 4. Consultation shall in particular cover: (i) the existence of countervailable subsidies and the methods of establishing their amount; (ii) the existence and extent of injury; (iii) the causal link between the subsidized imports and injury; (iv) the measures which, in the circumstances, are appropriate to prevent or remedy the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies and the ways and means for putting such measures into effect. Article 17 Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 14 
Circumvention 1. Countervailing duties imposed pursuant to this Regulation may be extended to apply to imports from third countries of like products, or parts thereof, when circumvention of the measures in force is taking place. Circumvention shall be defined as a change in the pattern of trade between third countries and the Community which stems from a practice, process or work for which there is insufficient due cause or economic justification, other than the imposition of the duty, and there is evidence that the remedial effects of the duty are being undermined, in terms of the prices and/or quantities of the like products, and the imported like product and/or parts thereof still benefit from the subsidy. 2. Investigations shall be initiated pursuant to this Article where the request contains sufficient evidence on the factors set out in paragraph 1. Initiations shall be made, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, by Commission Regulation which shall also instruct the customs authorities to make imports subject to registration in accordance with Article 15 (5) or request guarantees. Investigations shall be carried out by the Commission, which may be assisted by customs authorities, and shall be concluded within nine months. Where the facts, as finally ascertained, justify the extension of measures this shall be done by the Council, acting by simple majority on a proposal from the Commission, from the date that registration was imposed pursuant to Article 15 (5) or guarantees were requested. The relevant procedural provisions of this Regulation with regard to initiations and the conduct of investigations shall apply pursuant to this Article. 3. Products shall not be subject to registration pursuant to Article 15 (5) or measures where they are accompanied by a customs certificate declaring that the importation of the goods does not constitute circumvention. These certificates may be issued to importers, upon written application, by the authorities following authorization by a decision of the Commission, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, or the decision of the Council imposing measures and they shall remain valid for the period, and under the conditions set down therein. 4. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the normal application of the provisions in force concerning customs duties. Article 15 General provisions 1. Provisional or definitive countervailing duties shall be imposed by Regulation, and collected by Member States in the form, at the rate specified and according to the other criteria laid down in the Regulation imposing such duties. Such duties shall also be collected independently of the customs duties, taxes and other charges normally imposed on imports. No product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties to compensate for the same situation arising from dumping or export subsidization. 2. Regulations imposing provisional or definitive countervailing duties, or Regulations or Decisions accepting undertakings or terminating investigations or proceedings, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Such Regulations or Decisions shall contain, in particular, and with due regard to the protection of confidential information the names of the exporters, if practical, or countries involved, a description of the product and a summary of the facts and considerations relevant to the countervailable subsidies and injury determinations. In each case, a copy of the Regulation or Decision shall be sent to known interested parties. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to reviews. 3. Special provisions, in particular with regard to the common definition of the concept of origin, as contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), may be adopted in, or pursuant to this Regulation. 4. In the Community interest, measures imposed pursuant to this Regulation may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be suspended by a decision of the Commission for a period of nine months. The suspension may be extended for a further period, not exceeding one year, if the Council so decides, by simple majority, on a proposal from the Commission. Measures may only be suspended where market conditions have temporarily changed to an extent that injury would be unlikely to resume as a result of the suspension, and provided that the Community industry has been given an opportunity to comment and these comments have been taken into account. Measures may, at any time and after consultation, be reinstated if the reason for suspension is no longer applicable. 5. The Commission may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, direct the customs authorities to take the appropriate steps to register imports, so that measures may subsequently be applied against these imports from the date of such registration. Imports may be made subject to registration following a request from the Community industry which contains sufficient evidence to justify such action. Registration shall be introduced by Regulation which shall specify the purpose of the action and, if appropriate, the estimated amount of possible future liability. Imports may not be made subject to registration for a period longer than nine months. 6. Member States shall report to the Commission, on a monthly basis, the import trade of products subject to investigation and subject to measures, and the amount of duties collected pursuant to this Regulation. Article 16 Consultations 1. Any consultations provided for in this Regulation, except those referred to in Article 7 (9) and 8 (10), shall take place within an Advisory Committee, which shall consist of representatives of each Member State, with a representative of the Commission as chairman. Consultations shall be held immediately on request by a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission, and in any event within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its chairman. He shall provide the Member States, as promptly as possible, with all relevant information. 3. Where necessary, consultation may be in writing only; in such case the Commission shall notify the Member States and shall specify a period within which they shall be entitled to express their opinions or to request an oral consultation, which the chairman shall arrange, provided that such oral consultation can be held within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 4. Consultation shall in particular cover: (i) the existence of countervailable subsidies and the methods of establishing their amount; (ii) the existence and extent of injury; (iii) the causal link between the subsidized imports and injury; (iv) the measures which, in the circumstances, are appropriate to prevent or remedy the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies and the ways and means for putting such measures into effect. Article 17 Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 15 
General provisions 1. Provisional or definitive countervailing duties shall be imposed by Regulation, and collected by Member States in the form, at the rate specified and according to the other criteria laid down in the Regulation imposing such duties. Such duties shall also be collected independently of the customs duties, taxes and other charges normally imposed on imports. No product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties to compensate for the same situation arising from dumping or export subsidization. 2. Regulations imposing provisional or definitive countervailing duties, or Regulations or Decisions accepting undertakings or terminating investigations or proceedings, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Such Regulations or Decisions shall contain, in particular, and with due regard to the protection of confidential information the names of the exporters, if practical, or countries involved, a description of the product and a summary of the facts and considerations relevant to the countervailable subsidies and injury determinations. In each case, a copy of the Regulation or Decision shall be sent to known interested parties. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to reviews. 3. Special provisions, in particular with regard to the common definition of the concept of origin, as contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), may be adopted in, or pursuant to this Regulation. 4. In the Community interest, measures imposed pursuant to this Regulation may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be suspended by a decision of the Commission for a period of nine months. The suspension may be extended for a further period, not exceeding one year, if the Council so decides, by simple majority, on a proposal from the Commission. Measures may only be suspended where market conditions have temporarily changed to an extent that injury would be unlikely to resume as a result of the suspension, and provided that the Community industry has been given an opportunity to comment and these comments have been taken into account. Measures may, at any time and after consultation, be reinstated if the reason for suspension is no longer applicable. 5. The Commission may, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, direct the customs authorities to take the appropriate steps to register imports, so that measures may subsequently be applied against these imports from the date of such registration. Imports may be made subject to registration following a request from the Community industry which contains sufficient evidence to justify such action. Registration shall be introduced by Regulation which shall specify the purpose of the action and, if appropriate, the estimated amount of possible future liability. Imports may not be made subject to registration for a period longer than nine months. 6. Member States shall report to the Commission, on a monthly basis, the import trade of products subject to investigation and subject to measures, and the amount of duties collected pursuant to this Regulation. Article 16 Consultations 1. Any consultations provided for in this Regulation, except those referred to in Article 7 (9) and 8 (10), shall take place within an Advisory Committee, which shall consist of representatives of each Member State, with a representative of the Commission as chairman. Consultations shall be held immediately on request by a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission, and in any event within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its chairman. He shall provide the Member States, as promptly as possible, with all relevant information. 3. Where necessary, consultation may be in writing only; in such case the Commission shall notify the Member States and shall specify a period within which they shall be entitled to express their opinions or to request an oral consultation, which the chairman shall arrange, provided that such oral consultation can be held within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 4. Consultation shall in particular cover: (i) the existence of countervailable subsidies and the methods of establishing their amount; (ii) the existence and extent of injury; (iii) the causal link between the subsidized imports and injury; (iv) the measures which, in the circumstances, are appropriate to prevent or remedy the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies and the ways and means for putting such measures into effect. Article 17 Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 16 
Consultations 1. Any consultations provided for in this Regulation, except those referred to in Article 7 (9) and 8 (10), shall take place within an Advisory Committee, which shall consist of representatives of each Member State, with a representative of the Commission as chairman. Consultations shall be held immediately on request by a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission, and in any event within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 2. The Committee shall meet when convened by its chairman. He shall provide the Member States, as promptly as possible, with all relevant information. 3. Where necessary, consultation may be in writing only; in such case the Commission shall notify the Member States and shall specify a period within which they shall be entitled to express their opinions or to request an oral consultation, which the chairman shall arrange, provided that such oral consultation can be held within a time frame which allows the time limits set by this Regulation to be respected. 4. Consultation shall in particular cover: (i) the existence of countervailable subsidies and the methods of establishing their amount; (ii) the existence and extent of injury; (iii) the causal link between the subsidized imports and injury; (iv) the measures which, in the circumstances, are appropriate to prevent or remedy the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies and the ways and means for putting such measures into effect. Article 17 Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 17 
Verification visits 1. The Commission shall, where it considers it appropriate, carry out visits to examine the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, trade associations and organizations, to verify information provided on subsidization and injury. In the absence of a proper and timely reply a verification visit may not be carried out. 2. The Commission may carry out investigations in third countries as required, provided it obtains the agreement of the firms concerned, it notifies the representatives of the government of the country in question and the latter does not object to the investigation. As soon as the agreement of the firms concerned has been obtained the Commission should notify the authorities of the country of origin and/or export of the names and addresses of the firms to be visited and the dates agreed. 3. The firms concerned shall be advised of the nature of the information to be verified during verification visits and of any further information which needs to be provided during such visits, though this should not preclude requests being made during the verification for further details to be provided in the light of information obtained. 4. In investigations carried out pursuant to this paragraph, the Commission shall be assisted by officials of those Member States who so request. Article 18 Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 18 
Sampling 1. In cases where the number of complainants, exporters or importers, types of product or transactions is large, the investigation may be limited to a reasonable number of parties, products or transactions by using samples which are statistically valid on the basis of information available to it at the time of the selection, or to the largest representative volume of the production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time limit available. 2. The final selection of parties, types of products or transactions made under these sampling provisions shall rest with the Commission, though preference shall be given to choosing a sample in consultation with, and with the consent of, the parties concerned, provided such parties make themselves known and make sufficient information available, within three weeks of initiation, to enable a representative sample to be chosen. 3. In cases where the examination has been limited in accordance with this Article, an individual amount of countervailable subsidization shall, nevertheless, be calculated for any exporter or producer not initially selected who submits the necessary information within the time limits provided for in this Regulation, except where the number of exporters or producers is so large that individual examinations would be unduly burdensome and prevent the timely completion of the investigation. 4. Where it is decided to sample and there is a degree of non-cooperation by some or all of the parties selected which is likely to materially affect the outcome of the investigation, a new sample may be selected. However, if a material degree of non-cooperation persists of there is insufficient time to select a new sample the relevant provisions of Article 19 shall apply. Article 19 Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 19 
Non-cooperation 1. In cases in which any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide, necessary information within the time limits as provided for in this Regulation, or significantly impedes the investigation, preliminary or final findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of the facts available. Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information the information shall be disregarded and use may be made of the facts available. Interested parties should be made aware of the consequences of non-cooperation. 2. A lack of a computerized response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. 3. Where the information presented by an interested party may not be ideal in all respects it should not be disregarded, provided that any deficiencies are not such as to cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding and provided the information is appropriately submitted in timely fashion, is verifiable and the party has acted to the best of its ability. 4. If evidence or information is not accepted, the supplying party should be informed forthwith of the reasons thereof and have an opportunity to provide further explanations within the time limit specified. If the explanations are considered unsatisfactory, the reasons for rejection of such evidence or information should be disclosed and given in any published findings. 5. If determinations, including those with respect to the amount of countervailable subsidies, are based on the provisions of paragraph 1, including the information supplied in the complaint, it should, where practicable and with due regard to the time limits of the investigation, be checked by reference to information from other independent sources which may be available, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, or information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation. 6. If an interested party does not cooperate, or only cooperates partially, and thus relevant information is being withheld, the result could be less favourable to the party than if it had cooperated. Article 20 Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 20 
Confidentiality 1. Any information which is by nature confidential, (for example, because its disclosure would be of significant competitive advantage to a competitor or because its disclosure would have a significantly adverse effect upon a person supplying the information or upon a person from whom he acquired the information) or which is provided on a confidential basis by parties to an investigation shall, upon good cause shown, be treated as such by the authorities. 2. Interested parties providing confidential information shall be required to furnish non-confidential summaries thereof. These summaries shall be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. In exceptional circumstances, such parties may indicate that such information is not susceptible of summary. In such exceptional circumstances, a statement of the reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided. 3. If it is considered that a request for confidentiality is not warranted and if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information available or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, such information may be disregarded unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct. Requests for confidentiality should not be arbitrarily rejected. 4. This Article shall not preclude the disclosure of general information by the Community authorities, and in particular the reasons on which decisions taken pursuant to this Regulation are based, nor disclosure of the evidence relied on by the Community authorities in so far as is necessary to explain those reason in court proceedings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned that their business or governmental secrets should not be divulged. 5. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, or the officials of any of these, shall not reveal any information received pursuant to this Regulation for which confidential treatment has been requested by its supplier without specific permission from the supplier. Exchanges of information between the Commission and Member States, any information relating to consultations made pursuant to Article 16 or consultations described in Articles 7 (9) and (10), or any internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, shall be not be divulged except as specifically provided for in this Regulation. 6. Information received pursuant to this Regulation shall be used only for the purpose for which it was requested. Article 21 Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).
Article 21 
Disclosure 1. The complainants, importers and exporters and their representative associations, and representatives of the country of origin and/or export may request disclosure of the details underlying the essential facts and considerations, on the basis of which provisional measures have been imposed. Requests for such disclosure shall be made in writing immediately following the imposition of provisional measures and the disclosure shall be made in writing as soon as possible thereafter. 2. The parties mentioned in paragraph 1 may request final disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it is intended to recommend the imposition of definitive measures, or the termination of an investigation or proceedings without the imposition of measures, with particular attention being paid to the disclosure of any facts or considerations which are different from those used for any provisional measures. 3. Requests for final disclosure, as defined in paragraph 2, shall be addressed to the Commission in writing and be received, in cases where a provisional duty has been applied, not later than one month after publication of the imposition of that duty. Where a provisional duty has not been applied parties shall be provided with an opportunity to request final disclosure within time limits set by the Commission. 4. Final disclosure shall be given in writing. It shall be made, with due regard paid to the protection of business or governmental secrets, as soon as possible, and normally, not later than one month prior to a definitive decision or the submission by the Commission of any proposal for final action pursuant to Article 11. Where the Commission is not in a position to disclose certain facts or considerations at that time, these shall be disclosed as soon as possible thereafter. Disclosure shall not prejudice any subsequent decision which may be taken by the Commission or the Council but where such decision is based on any different facts and considerations these shall be disclosed as soon as possible. 5. Representations made after final disclosure is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case, which shall be at least 10 days, due consideration being given to the urgency of the matter. Article 22 Community interest 1. Pursuant to this Regulation, a determination as to whether the Community interest calls for intervention shall be based on an assessment of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the domestic industry and users and consumers, and a determination pursuant to this Article shall only be made where all parties have been given the opportunity to make their views known pursuant to paragraph 2. In such an examination, the need to eliminate the trade distorting effects of injurious subsidization and to restore effective competition shall be given special consideration. Measures, as determined on the basis of subsidization and injury found, may not be applied where the authorities, on the basis of all the information submitted, can safely conclude that it is not in the Community interest to apply such measures. 2. In order to provide a sound basis on which the authorities can take account of all views and information in the decision on whether, or not, the imposition of measures is in the Community interest, the complainants, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations may, within the time limits specified in the notice of initiation of the countervailing duty investigation, make themselves known and provide information to the Commission. Such information, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to the other parties specified in this Article, and they shall be entitled to respond to such information. 3. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may request a hearing. Such requests shall be granted when they are submitted within the time limits set in paragraph 2, and when they set out the reasons, in terms of the Community interest, why the parties should be heard. 4. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2 may provide comments on the application of any provisional duties imposed. Such comments shall be received within one months of the application of such measures if they are to be taken into account and they, or appropriate summaries thereof, shall be made available to other parties who shall be entitled to respond to such comments. 5. The Commission shall examine the information which is properly submitted, and the extent to which it is representative, and the results of such analysis, together with an opinion on its merits, shall be transmitted to the Advisory Committee. The balance of views expressed in the Committee shall be taken into account by the Commission in any proposal made pursuant to Article 11. 6. The parties which have acted in conformity with paragraph 2, may request the facts and considerations on which final decisions are likely to be taken to be made available to them. Such information shall be made available to the extent possible and without prejudice to any subsequent decision taken by the Commission or the Council. 7. Pursuant to this Article, information shall only be taken into account where it is supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity. Article 23 Relationships between countervailing duty measures and multilateral remedies If an imported product is made subject to any countermeasures imposed following recourse to the dispute settlement procedures of the Subsidies Agreement, and such measures are appropriate to remove the injury caused by the countervailable subsidies, any countervailing duty imposed with regard to that product shall immediately be suspended, or repealed, as appropriate. Article 24 Final provisions This Regulation shall not preclude the application of: (i) any special rules laid down in agreements concluded between the Community and third countries; (ii) the Community Regulations in the agricultural sector and Council Regulations (EC) No 3448/93 laying down the trade arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products, Regulation (EEC) No 2730/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on glucose and lactose (2) and Regulation (EEC) No 2783/75 of the Council of 29 October 1975 on the common system of trade for ovalbumin and lactalbumin (31); this Regulation shall operate by way of complement to those Regulations and in derogation from any provisions thereof which preclude the application of countervailing duties; (iii) special measures, provided that such action does not run counter to obligations under the GATT. Article 25 Repeal of existing legislation Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 26 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995. It shall apply to proceedings and interim review investigations initiated after 1 September 1994 and to expiry review investigations for which the notice of impending expiry of measures has been published after the same date. However, for proceedings initiated pursuant to Article 7 (13), the references to time limits shall only apply after a date which the Council shall specify in a Decision to be adopted by a qualified majority no later than 1 April 1995 on the basis of a Commission proposal to be submitted to the Council once the necessary budgetary resources have been made available. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 22 December 1994. For the Council The President H. Seehofer (1) Opinion delivered on 14 December 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (2) OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 521/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 7) and Regulation (EC) No 522/94 (OJ No L 66, 10. 3. 1994, p. 10). (1) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1. (1) OJ No L 318, 20 12. 1993, p. 18. (2) OJ No L 281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 20. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 222/88 (OJ No L 28, 1. 2. 1988, p. 1). (3) OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 104. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 4001/87 (OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1987, p. 44).