Council Regulation (EC) No 901/2001 of 7 May 2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of urea originating in Russia

• Published date: 09 May 2001
• Subject Matter: Commercial policy,Dumping
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 127, 09 May 2001

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Council Regulation (EC) No 901/2001 of 7 May 2001 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of urea originating in Russia

Official Journal L 127 , 09/05/2001 P. 0011 - 0019

Council Regulation (EC) No 901/2001

of 7 May 2001

imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of urea originating in Russia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community(1), and in particular Article 11(2) thereof,

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

Whereas:

A. PROCEDURE

1. Previous investigations

(1) In 1987, the Commission imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty(2) on imports of urea originating, amongst others, in the former Soviet Union. By Regulation (EEC) No 3339/87(3), the Council accepted undertakings in respect of imports of urea from, amongst others, the former Soviet Union. By Commission Decision 89/143/EEC(4), these undertakings were confirmed. In March 1993 the Commission initiated a review of the decision accepting undertakings for imports of urea originating in, inter alia, the former Soviet Union(5). This resulted in the imposition of a definitive anti-dumping duty by Council Regulation (EC) No 477/95(6) on urea, originating in the Russian Federation ("Russia"). The amount of the duty imposed was the difference between ECU 115 per tonne and the net, free-at-Community frontier price, before customs clearance, if this price was lower.

2. Investigations concerning other countries

(2) In October 2000 an anti-dumping investigation was initiated concerning imports of urea originating in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Estonia, Lithuania, Libya, Poland, Romania and Ukraine(7). The investigation is currently underway.

3. Present investigation

3.1. Request for review

(3) In September 1999, the Commission published a notice of impending expiry(8) of the anti-dumping measures in force on imports of urea originating in Russia. The Commission subsequently received a request to review these measures pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96(9) (the "basic Regulation"). The request was lodged on 3 December 1999 by the European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association (EFMA) on behalf of producers representing a major proportion of Community production of urea (the "product concerned"). The request was based on the grounds that the expiry of the measures would be likely to result in the continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury to the Community industry.

3.2. Notice of initiation

(4) Having determined, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, that sufficient evidence existed for the initiation of a review, the Commission initiated an investigation pursuant to Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation in March 2000(10).

3.3. Period of investigation

(5) The investigation period for the examination of continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury covered the period from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 1999 (the "IP"). The examination of trends relevant for the assessment of continuation or recurrence of injury (the "period under review") covered the period from 1 January 1996 up to the end of the IP.

3.4. Parties concerned by the investigation

(6) The Commission officially advised the applicant Community producers, the exporting producers in Russia, the importers, users and associations known to be concerned, and the representatives of the exporting country concerned of the initiation of the review. The Commission sent questionnaires to exporting producers, Community producers, importers, users and associations known to be concerned and to those who made themselves known within the time limit set in the notice of initiation. In addition, the sole producer in the Slovak Republic, which was considered as a suitable analogue country, was advised and sent a questionnaire.

(7) Eleven Community producers, one analogue country producer, one importer, one users' association and one user replied to the questionnaires. With respect to the exporting country concerned, no replies to the questionnaires were received.

3.5. Verification of information received

(8) The Commission sought and verified all information it deemed necessary for the purpose of a determination of the continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury and of the Community interest. The Commission also gave the parties directly concerned the opportunity to make their views known in writing and to request a hearing.

(9) Verification visits were carried out at the premises of the following companies:

Community producers:

Hydro Agri Brunsbüttel, Germany

Hydro Agri Italia SpA, Italy

Irish Fertilizer Industries Ltd., Ireland

Analogue country producer:

Duslo, as, Sal'a, Slovakia

Unrelated importer:

Cargill BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Users/Users' association:

Sadepan Chimica SRL, Viadana, Italy

Svenska Lantmännen, Stockholm, Sweden.

B. PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT

1. Product concerned

(10) The product concerned by this proceeding is the same as in the previous investigation, i.e. urea. It is produced mainly from ammonia which is itself produced from natural gas. It may take a liquid or a solid form. Solid urea can be used for agricultural and industrial purposes. Agricultural grade urea can be used either as a fertiliser, which is spread onto the soil, or as an animal feed additive. Industrial grade urea is a raw material for certain glues and plastics. Liquid urea can be used both as a fertiliser and for industrial purposes. All kinds of urea have the same basic physical and chemical characteristics and may be regarded for the purposes of the present review as a single product.

(11) The product concerned falls within CN codes 3102 10 10 and 3102 10 90. One importers' association claimed that urea imported under CN code 3102 10 90 should be excluded from the present review, as there have been no such imports for a number of years.

(12) In relation to this claim, it is to be noted that, even if there were no imports for a number of years under CN code 3102 10 90, the product classifiable under this CN code clearly belongs to the single category of product forming the "product concerned" and moreover it cannot be excluded that such imports will be carried out in the future.

2. Like product

(13) The investigation has shown that the product produced and sold by the Community producers on the Community market is alike in all respects to the urea produced in Russia and exported to the Community. It is therefore considered to be a like product within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the basic Regulation. It was also found that urea exported from Russia to the Community and urea produced and sold on the domestic market of Slovakia, which served as an analogue country, were alike.

C. RECURRENCE OR CONTINUATION OF DUMPING

(14) In accordance with Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation, it was examined whether or not the expiry of measures would lead to a continuation and/or recurrence of dumping.

(15) During the IP, 25 Ktonnes of urea were imported from Russia (as compared to 117 Ktonnes imported during the previous IP (1992) and 271 Ktonnes in 1986). This represents a market share of 0,4 %.

1. Likelihood of a continuation of dumping

1.1. Analogue country

(16) Normal value was based, in accordance with Article 2(7) of the basic Regulation, on information obtained in a market economy third country where the product concerned was produced and sold. In the Notice of Initiation the Commission suggested the Slovak Republic as an appropriate analogue country due to the fact that it was used as an analogue country in the last investigation and that production processes and access to raw materials in the Slovak Republic are comparable to those...