Council Regulation (EC) No 1942/2004 of 2 November 2004 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of okoumé plywood originating in the People's Republic of China
| Published date | 12 November 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Dumping,Commercial policy |
| Official Gazette Publication | Official Journal of the European Union, L 336, 12 November 2004 |
| 12.11.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | L 336/4 |
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1942/2004
of 2 November 2004
imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of okoumé plywood originating in the People's Republic of China
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) (the basic Regulation), and in particular Article 9 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee,
Whereas:
A. PROVISIONAL MEASURES
| (1) | The Commission, by Regulation (EC) No 988/2004 (2) (the provisional Regulation) imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of okoumé plywood, defined as plywood consisting solely of sheets of wood, each ply not exceeding 6 mm thickness, with at least one outer ply of okoumé, falling within CN code ex 4412 13 10, originating in the People's Republic of China (PRC). |
| (2) | It is recalled that the investigation of dumping and injury covered the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003 (investigation period or IP). The examination of trends relevant for the injury analysis covered the period from 1 January 1999 to the end of the IP (period under consideration). |
B. SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE
| (3) | Following the imposition of a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of okoumé plywood originating in the PRC, some interested parties submitted comments in writing. The parties who so requested were also granted an opportunity to be heard orally. |
| (4) | The Commission continued to seek and verify all information it deemed necessary for its definitive findings. After the imposition of provisional measures, an on-spot verification visit was carried out at the premises of Ekol Kontraplak, Taskopru, Turkey, in view of the fact that Turkey was considered as a possible analogue country for establishing normal value. |
| (5) | All 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 they could make representations subsequent to this disclosure. |
| (6) | The oral and written comments submitted by the parties were considered, and, where appropriate, the findings have been modified accordingly. |
C. PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT
1. Product concerned
| (7) | The product concerned is plywood consisting solely of sheets of wood, each ply not exceeding 6 mm thickness, with at least one outer ply of okoumé, originating in the PRC, currently classifiable within CN code ex 4412 13 10. This definition covers both plywood made solely with okoumé (full okoumé) and plywood with one or two outer faces made of okoumé (faced okoumé), the inner layers being made of other species of wood. |
| (8) | Several importers have argued that full okoumé and faced okoumé cannot be considered the same product, since the composition of the inner layers substantially affects the characteristics of the plywood. In addition, it was argued that these products have significant differences in price and use. |
| (9) | From the beginning of the investigation, it was recognised that okoumé plywood is produced in a variety of different types and has a wide range of applications in the building, furniture, transport and other industries. Some applications require particular okoumé plywood types, while in others different types can be used interchangeably. The most essential characteristic of okoumé wood, however, is that it can be peeled into very large veneers without knots or other blemishes, allowing plywood to be produced with a good finish and a homogeneous, seamless surface. This means that the essential characteristics of okoumé plywood, which make it unique compared to other types of plywood, reside in the appearance of its face (outer) layers. |
| (10) | The inner layers of plywood can be made from a variety of tropical or temperate wood species. When producing plywood fully from tropical wood, okoumé plywood producers tend to use okoumé in the inner layers, due to the natural complementarities in the production process rather than the particular characteristics of okoumé as compared to other tropical woods. The type of wood, or woods, used in the inner layers clearly affects the cost of the final product, its properties and its suitability for certain applications. It is considered, however, that these aspects can be dealt adequately by distinguishing different product types in the context of the investigation, so that only the prices of identical plywood types are compared when assessing dumping and injury. The product coding system used in the investigation distinguishes, among other characteristics, full okoumé from faced okoumé. Therefore, the claim that full okoumé and faced okoumé cannot be considered the same product was rejected. |
| (11) | In the provisional Regulation, it was decided to exclude film-faced okoumé plywood from the scope of the investigation for the reasons set out in recital 19 of the provisional Regulation. Film-faced okoumé plywood is made from faced or full okoumé, covered by a film from other materials. The Community Industry argued that these products should not be excluded, since they are part of the same market as the remaining okoumé products. However, the presence of a film over the surface of the wood makes the above-mentioned essential characteristics of okoumé plywood, i.e. the exterior appearance, much less relevant. Film-faced okoumé plywood does therefore not share the same physical and technical characteristics as the product concerned. Moreover, film-faced okoumé plywood is mostly destined to one particular application, that of concrete casting, contrary to the product concerned. Therefore, this argument should be dismissed. |
| (12) | In the absence of any other comments, the conclusions on the definition of the product concerned set out in recitals 18 and 19 of the provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. |
2. Like product
| (13) | Several parties submitted that there are a number of differences between the product concerned manufactured in the PRC and the one manufactured and sold in the Community by the Community industry, to the extent that these products cannot be considered to be alike within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the basic Regulation. Specifically, it was claimed that:
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| (14) | Regarding the first three characteristics referred to under recital 13(a) to 13(c), the investigation has shown that the Chinese exporting producers, as well as the Community industry, sold both full and faced okoumé, both interior and exterior grade plywood, and a wide range of panel sizes. Since these characteristics are normally shown in the sales documentation, they have been included in the product control numbers (PCN) for the purpose of calculating the dumping and injury margins. Therefore, as far as those characteristics are concerned, any differences are fully taken into account and only like products are being compared. |
| (15) | The fourth characteristic mentioned under recital 13(d) was not included in the PCN, since it is not mentioned in the majority of transaction documents made available to the Commission during the investigation. Based on the transactions for which the quality grade of the faces was indicated, it was found that the Chinese exporting producers, as well as the Community industry, sold a variety of grades, and it did not appear that the grades of the Community industry like product are typically of a higher quality than those of the Chinese exporting producers. |
| (16) | The last three characteristics referred to under recital 13(e) to 13(g) were also not included in the PCN, since they do not appear in most of the transaction data. However, it was recognised that a majority of the exports from the PRC have thinner faces than the Community like product. Similarly, the differences in quality of gluing and of the inner layers, albeit variable, is sufficiently generalised to play a role in some buyers' perception, and should not be ignored. An adjustment for these differences was thus applied when calculating the undercutting and injury margins, as set out in recital 80 of the provisional Regulation. |
| (17) | It should also be noted that these quality differences are not sufficient to create a |
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