Council Regulation (EC) No 1950/97 of 6 October 1997 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of sacks and bags made of polyethylene or polypropylene originating in India, Indonesia and Thailand and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed

• Published date: 09 October 1997
• Subject Matter: Dumping,Commercial policy
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 276, 9 October 1997

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31997R1950

Council Regulation (EC) No 1950/97 of 6 October 1997 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of sacks and bags made of polyethylene or polypropylene originating in India, Indonesia and Thailand and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed

Official Journal L 276 , 09/10/1997 P. 0001 - 0008

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1950/97 of 6 October 1997 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of sacks and bags made of polyethylene or polypropylene originating in India, Indonesia and Thailand and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed

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), hereinafter referred to as 'the Basic Regulation`, and in particular Article 9 thereof,

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

Whereas:

I. PROVISIONAL MEASURES

(1) By Commission Regulation (EC) No 45/97 (2) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Provisional Duty Regulation`) provisional duties were imposed on imports into the Community of sacks and bags falling within CN codes 6305 32 81 and 6305 33 91 and originating in India, Indonesia and Thailand. The provisional anti-dumping duty was extended for a maximum period of three months by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1168/97 (3).

II. SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE

(2) Following the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures, several interested parties submitted comments in writing.

(3) The parties who so requested were granted an opportunity to be heard by the Commission.

(4) The Commission continued to seek and verify all the information it deemed necessary for the purpose of its definitive findings.

(5) Parties were informed of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was intended to recommend the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties and the definitive collection of amounts secured by way of provisional duties. They were also granted a period within which to make representations subsequent to this disclosure.

(6) The oral written comments submitted by the interested parties were considered and, where deemed appropriate, taken into account in the definitive findings.

III. PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT

(7) Some exporters contested the finding in the Provisional Duty Regulation that leno bags were considered as product concerned. They reiterated the arguments set out in recital 8 of the Provisional Duty Regulation. In this respect it should be noted that the fact that leno bags are not completely interchangeable with all the other types of the product concerned is not required in order to consider them as single product. Rather, it is sufficient that these product types have the same basic physical characteristics and the same basic uses. This is clearly the case for leno bags as compared with other types of polyolefin bags subject to investigation. The provisional conclusions concerning the description of the product concerned are therefore confirmed.

(8) In addition, the allegation made by these exporters that the Community industry did not produce leno bags is unfounded. While it is recalled that it is not necessary for a product type to be produced by the Community industry in order to be covered by the scope of an anti-dumping proceeding, the investigation has revealed, nevertheless, that three of the cooperating Community producers also manufacture and sell leno bags. Therefore, the Community industry does produce the like product as defined by Article 1 (4) of the Basic Regulation.

(9) One importer requested that flexible intermediate bulk containers of fabric weighing 120 g/m² or less (so-called big bags) should not be covered by the proceeding. In this respect it was submitted that, until the beginning of 1995, big bags could only be produced by using fabrics weighing 120 g/m² or more. However, in the meantime, technological progress has meant that fabric weighing only 100 g/m² can now be used for the production of big bags. Moreover, the importer in question pointed out that big bags weighing 120 g/m² or less are easily identifiable because they fall under a separate CN code.

(10) This request could not be accepted. First, the complaint covered all bags made of polyethylene or polypropylene strip, not knitted or corcheted, of a fabric weighing 120 g/m² or less. It did not distinguish between big bags and other types of bag. Second, big bags and other types of bag subject to the investigation have the same basic physical/chemical characteristics and the same uses, i.e. they are made of the same raw material and used for packaging and transporting goods. In this respect it should be noted that even if a specific type of the product concerned did not exist or was not widely used during the investigation period, the definition of the product also covers product types which have been developed subsequently provided these types have the same basic physical/chemical/technological characteristics and the same uses.

(11) The Provisional Duty Regulation mentioned, in recital 6 thereof, that the product concerned falls within CN codes 6305 32 81 and 6305 33 91. However, the Commission became aware that the sacks and bags concerned in the present investigation can be classified under CN codes 3923 21 00, 9323 29 10 and 3923 29 90 while still meeting the description of the product concerned if made from a fabric which is either woven from a strip wider than 5 mm or laminated on both sides to an extent visible to the naked eye. Therefore, sacks and bags falling under the description of the product concerned and classified under CN codes other than those provisionaly disclosed should also be covered by the present investigation. Therefore, the conclusions set out in the Provisional Duty Regulation concerning the definition of the product concerned and the like product are confirmed.

IV. DUMPING

1. Normal value

(a) India

(12) Three Indian exporting producers have objected to the methodology used to determine whether their sales had been made in the ordinary course of trade. They argued that since the cost of raw materials increased sharply during the period of investigation, the monthly cost of production, rather than the annual cost, should have been used to determine the volume of sales made at a loss. Considering...