Vol. 408, No. 20144, 4 June 1999
GENERAL NOTICE
Notice 1121 of 1999
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
BOARD ON TARIFFS AND TRADE
NOTICE OF INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLEGED DUMPING OF INNER TUBES OF RUBBER FOR TYRES ORIGINATING IN AND/OR IMPORTED FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
The Board on Tariffs and Trade received a petition alleging that Inner tubes of rubber originating in and/or imported from the Republic of Korea are being dumped on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market, causing material injury (and/or threat of material injury) to the SACU industry concerned.
THE PETITIONER
The petition was lodged by Dunlop Tyres (Pty) Ltd the only local manufacturer of the product in South Africa. The petitioner alleges that it cannot compete with the low prices charged by the importers and that the allegedly dumped product is causing material injury (and/or threat of material injury). The petitioner submitted sufficient evidence and established a prima facie case to enable the Board to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that an investigation should be initiated on the basis of dumping, material injury ( and/or threat of material injury) and causality.
THE PRODUCT
The product allegedly being dumped is inner tubes of rubber, classifiable under tariff subheadings 4013.10 and 4013.90.90, originating in and/or imported from the Republic of Korea.
THE ALLEGATION OF DUMPING
The allegation of dumping is based on the comparison between the normal value in and the export price from the Republic of Korea. The normal value was based on a letter from a related company of a Japanese tyre manufacturer with operations in the Republic of Korea, indicating the domestic market price in the Republic of Korea. The export price was based on as standing export price list of one of the exporters On this basis the Board found that there was prima facie proof of dumping.
THE ALLEGATION OF MATERIAL INJURY / THREAT OF MATERIAL INJURY
The petitioner alleges and submitted sufficient evidence to show price suppression, price depression, decline in output and sales, decline in market share, decrease in profits, decline in utilisation of production capacity and that the imports gained and are gaining market share at the expense of the SACU industry. It is further alleged that the prices at which these imports are sold in the SACU result in lower profit margins and/or losses being incurred by the local industry. The Board found that there was sufficient evidence for a prima facie case of injury and/or threat of material injury.
PERIOD OF INVESTIGATION
The period of investigation for purposes of determining the dumping ma.gin in We exporting country of origin will be from January 1998 to December 1998. The period of investigation for purposes of determining injury will be from 1995 to 1999. If there are subsequent events that are relevant to the injury analysis the Board may later request and consider further, more recent information in determining injury.
PROCEDURAL FRAMEWORK
Having decided that there is sufficient evidence and a prima facie case to justify the initiation of an investigation, the Board has begun an investigation in terms of section 4 of the Board on Tariffs and Trade Act, 1986 (the BTT Act). The Board will conduct its investigation in accordance with the BTT Act and the World Trade Organisation Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (the Anti-Dumping Agreement). A copy of the Anti-Dumping Agreement is available from the investigating officials on request.
In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the Board will send questionnaires to all known importers and exporters, and known representative associations. Importers, exporters and other interested parties are invited to contact the investigating officials as soon as possible in order to determine whether they have been listed. If not, they should request a copy of the questionnaire as soon as possible. The questionnaire has to be completed, and any other representations must be made, within the time limit set out below. Both the exporters and the importers involved should respond in full. It should be noted that if one of the parties does not co-operate, it might be prejudicial to the interests of the other party involved.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
Please note that if any information is considered to be confidential then a non-confidential version of the information must be submitted for the public file, simultaneously with the confidential version. In submitting a non-confidential version the following rules are strictly applicable and parties must indicate:
ADDRESS
The response to the questionnaire and any information regarding this matter, as well as any arguments concerning the allegation of dumping and the resulting material injury, must be submitted in writing to the following address:
| Physical address The Director : Dumping Investigations |
Postal address The Directors : Dumping Investigations |
PROCEDURES AND TIME LIMIT
All responses, including non-confidential copies of the responses, must be received by the Director: Dumping Investigations not later than 30 days following the date of publication of this notice or, in the case of parties known to be interested, 30 days following the date on which the letter accompanying the above-mentioned questionnaire is received. The said letter shall be deemed to have been received seven days after the date of its dispatch. It should be noted that the investigation process is complex and that the Board is subject to strict time limits within which to complete the investigation. Late submissions will therefore not be accepted except with the prior written consent of the Board. The Board will give due consideration to written requests for an extension of not more than 14 days on good cause shown (properly substantiated), if such requests are received prior to the expiry of the original 30-day period. Merely citing insufficient time is not an acceptable reason for extension.
Oral representations to the Board may also be made on written request to the Board at least seven days prior to the expiry of the original 30-day period and by prior arrangement with the Directorate. Such oral representations must be made within the same time period as the written representations, unless prior written consent of the Board has been obtained for the oral representations to be made at a later date, which shall in any event not be later than 14 days after the written representations have been submitted.
The information submitted by any party may need to be verified by the investigating officers in order for the Board to take such information into consideration. The Board may verify the information at the premises of the party submitting the information within a short period after the submission of the information to the Board. Parties should therefore ensure that the information submitted will subsequently be available for verification.. Parties should also ensure that all the information requested in the questionnaire is provided in the specified detail and format. The questionnaires are designed to ensure that the Board is provided with all the information required to make a determination in accordance with the rules of the Anti-Dumping Agreement. The Board may therefore refuse to verify information that is-incomplete or does not comply with the format in the questionnaire, unless the Board has agreed in writing to a deviation from the required format. (A failure to submit an adequate non-confidential version of the response that complies with the rules set out above under the heading Procedure will be regarded as an incomplete submission.)
Parties who experience difficulty in furnishing the information required, or submitting it in the format required, are therefore urged to make written applications to the Board at an early stage for permission to deviate from the questionnaire or to provide the information in an alternative format that will satisfy the Board's requirements. The Board will give due consideration to such a request on good cause shown.
If the required information and arguments are not received in a satisfactory form within the time limit specified above, or if verification of the information cannot take place, the Board may disregard the information of that party and make provisional or final findings on the basis of the facts available to it.
Enquiries may be directed to the investigating officers, Mr Johan Böning, at telephone (012) 310-9540 and Mr Albert Strydom at telephone (012) 310-9606.
[BTT Ref. T5/2/7/1]