Commission Regulation (EC) No 88/97Show full title

Commission Regulation (EC) No 88/97

of 20 January 1997

on the authorization of the exemption of imports of certain bicycle parts originating in the People's Republic of China from the extension by Council Regulation (EC) No 71/97 of the anti-dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2331/96(2),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 71/97 of 14 January 1997 extending the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93 on bicycles originating in the People's Republic of China to imports of certain bicycle parts from the People's Republic of China, and levying the extended duty on such imports registered under Regulation (EC) No 703/96(3), and in particular Article 3 thereof,

After consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

(1) By Regulation (EC) No 71/97 (hereinafter ‘the Reference Regulation’), the Council extended the anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93(4) on imports of bicycles originating in the People's Republic of China to imports of certains bicycle parts from that country.

(2) The Reference Regulation sets out certain principles and guidelines governing the exemption of certain imports of bicycle parts from the extended duty.

(3) This Regulation should provide clear guidance to interested parties as to how the exemption system will be operated. It should, in particular, make clear provision as to how certain imports of essential bicycle parts may be exempted from the extended duty, and how authorization for such exemptions may be obtained.

(4) In this regard, the exemption system should envisage three cases in which imports of essential bicycle parts may conditionally or definitively be exempted from the payment of the extended duty. First, direct imports of essential bicycle parts should be exempted from the extended duty where they are declared for free circulation by, or on behalf of, an assembler which has been exempted by the Commission. Secondly, imports of essential bicycle parts should also be exempted from the extended duty where they are admitted under end-use control and where they are finally delivered to an exempted assembler, or are declared for free circulation or delivered to a party in limited quantities. It is appropriate in this respect to apply the existing mechanism of end-use control provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92(5) and in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93(6) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 12/97(7) mutatis mutandis. Where less than 300 units per month of any type of essential bicycle parts are declared for free circulation by, or delivered to, a party, such imports of essential bicycles parts will be of limited economic significance, and will be unlikely to undermine the effect of the duty imposed by Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93. They should, therefore, be presumed not to constitue circumvention. Thirdly, imports of essential bicycle parts should conditionally be exempted from the extended duty by suspension of the payment of the extended duty, where they are declared for free circulation by, or on behalf of, an assembler which is under examination by the Commission.

(5) The Commission is charged with examining whether a party’s assembly operations fall within the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 (hereiafter the ‘basic Regulation’), and will exempt the party if justified. Only parties carrying out assembly operations may submit a request for exemption by the Commission. Any Commission decision to exempt a party carrying out assembly operations constitues an authorization within the meaning of Article 13 (4) of the basic Regulation. In this respect it is appropriate that, where imports of essential bicycle parts have been exempted from the extended duty by reference to an exempted assembler or to the de minimis clause, the exemption conditions should provide for the Commission to ensure that the parts are actually used in the exempted party's assembly operations and that the de minimis threshold is not abused.

(6) The competent authorities of the Member States must check that those parts are either declared for free circulation by an exempted assembler or, through the operation of the end-use system that they are finally delivered to an exempted assembler or fall under the de minimis clause.

(7) As regards assemblers’ requests for exemption by the Commission, clear provisions should be laid down regarding the admissibility of requests, the conduct of examinations, the taking of decisions, review and revocation of exemptions. In the interest of sound administration, requests should provide prima facie evidence of the absence of circumvention, and should be duly substantiated if they are to be considered admissible by the Commission. In order to ensure an expeditious decision on the admissibility of duly substantiated requests, a period should be prescribed within which such decisions should normally be taken. A period should be prescribed within which the Commission should normally decide on the merits of a request. As regards review, the Commission may reexamine exempted assemblers to verify that the conditions of exemption are still fulfilled, in particular by random checks.

(8) Other parties which cannot be exempted by the Commission because they do not carry out assembly operations may nonetheless also benefit from the exemption system where they declare the goods under end-use control and deliver essential bicycle parts to exempted parties or to other holders of an end-use authorization, or under the de minimis clause. It is, however, necessary for the customers of those parties, if they are assemblers but are not yet exempted and if they use parts in quantities above the de minimis threshold, to obtain an exemption from the Commission.

(9) In the case of parties which have submitted duly substantiated requests which are pending, the examination should be initiated immediately. It is necessary to ensure that retroactive exemption is possible for parties with pending requests. Therefore, the payment of the extended duty should be suspended not only in respect of imports declared for free circulation after entry into force of the Reference Regulation but also in respect of imports subject to the duty arising under Article 2 (3) of the Reference Regulation.

(10) Parties carrying out assembly operations which have already been found not to circumvent the anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93 should be exempted by this Regulation. It is necessary to ensure that these parties are exempted retroactively.

(11) Annexed to this Regulation is a list of parties in respect of which an examination is initiated and a list of parties which are exempted from the extended duty. Changes to the lists and consolidated updated lists will be published, from time to time and as necessary, in the C Series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

(12) Finally, the general rules applying to anti-dumping investigations, regarding in particular the conduct of investigations, verification visits, non-cooperation, confidentiality, and the procedural rights of the parties concerned, should apply to the procedures laid down in this Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ No L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1.

(2)

OJ No L 317, 6.12.1996, p. 1.

(3)

OJ No L 16, 18.1.1997, p. 55.

(4)

OJ No L 228, 9.9.1993, p. 1.

(5)

OJ No L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.

(6)

OJ No L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.

(7)

OJ No L 9, 13.1.1997, p. 1.