[Federal Register: February 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 4981-4984]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02fe04-53]
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
[Investigation No. 731-TA-44 (Review)]
Sorbitol From France
AGENCY: International Trade Commission.
ACTION: Institution of a five-year review concerning the antidumping
duty order on sorbitol from France.
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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a
review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping
duty order on sorbitol from France would be likely to lead to
continuation or recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to section
751(c)(2) of the Act, interested parties are requested to respond to
this notice by submitting the information specified below to the
[[Page 4982]]
Commission; \1\ to be assured of consideration, the deadline for
responses is March 23, 2004. Comments on the adequacy of responses may
be filed with the Commission by April 16, 2004. For further information
concerning the conduct of this review and rules of general application,
consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201,
subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E,
and F (19 CFR part 207).
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\1\ No response to this request for information is required if a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number is not
displayed; the OMB number is 3117-0016/USITC No. 04-5-081,
expiration date June 30, 2005. Public reporting burden for the
request is estimated to average 7 hours per response. Please send
comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: February 2, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its Internet server
(http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this review may be viewed on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background. On April 9, 1982, the Department
of Commerce issued an antidumping duty order on imports of sorbitol
from France (47 FR 15391). Following five-year reviews by Commerce and
the Commission, effective March 17, 1999, Commerce issued a
continuation of the antidumping duty order on imports of sorbitol from
France (64 FR 42920, August 6, 1999). The Commission is now conducting
a second review to determine whether revocation of the order would be
likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to the
domestic industry within a reasonably foreseeable time. It will assess
the adequacy of interested party responses to this notice of
institution to determine whether to conduct a full review or an
expedited review. The Commission's determination in any expedited
review will be based on the facts available, which may include
information provided in response to this notice.
Definitions. The following definitions apply to this review:
(1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by the Department
of Commerce.
(2) The Subject Country in this review is France.
(3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original
determination and in response to the July 18, 1993, order of the United
States Court of International Trade remanding the investigation, the
Commission defined two Domestic Like Products, crystalline and liquid
sorbitol. In its original determination, the Commission made
affirmative findings for both Domestic Like Products; however, in the
remand investigation, the Commission made an affirmative determination
with respect to crystalline sorbitol only. Certain Commissioners
defined the Domestic Like Product differently in the original and
remand investigations. In its expedited five-year review determination,
the Commission found that the appropriate definition of the Domestic
Like Product is the same as Commerce's scope: crystalline sorbitol, a
polyol produced by the hydrogenation of sugars (glucose), used in the
production of sugarless gum, candy, groceries, and pharmaceuticals. For
the purposes of this notice, you should consider the Domestic Like
Product to be crystalline sorbitol, a polyol produced by the
hydrogenation of sugars (glucose), used in the production of sugarless
gum, candy, groceries, and pharmaceuticals.
(4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total
domestic production of the product. In its original determination and
in response to the July 18, 1993, order of the United States Court of
International Trade remanding the investigation, the Commission defined
two Domestic Industries, one producing crystalline sorbitol and one
producing liquid sorbitol. In its original determination, the
Commission made affirmative findings for both Domestic Industries;
however, in the remand investigation, the Commission made an
affirmative determination with respect to only the U.S. producers of
crystalline sorbitol. Certain Commissioners defined the Domestic
Industry differently in the original and remand investigations. In its
expedited five-year review determination, the Commission defined the
Domestic Industry to encompass all U.S. producers of crystalline
sorbitol. For the purposes of this notice, you should consider the
Domestic Industry to be all U.S. producers of crystalline sorbitol.
(5) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or
through its selling agent.
Participation in the review and public service list. Persons,
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer
organizations, wishing to participate in the review as parties must
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as
provided in Sec. 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later than
21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. The
Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names and
addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties to
the review.
Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission
five-year reviews are reminded that they are required, pursuant to 19
CFR 201.15, to seek Commission approval if the matter in which they are
seeking to appear was pending in any manner or form during their
Commission employment. The Commission is seeking guidance as to whether
a second transition five-year review is the ``same particular matter''
as the underlying original investigation for purposes of 19 CFR 201.15
and 18 U.S.C. 207, the post employment statute for Federal employees.
Former employees may seek informal advice from Commission ethics
officials with respect to this and the related issue of whether the
employee's participation was ``personal and substantial.'' However, any
informal consultation will not relieve former employees of the
obligation to seek approval to appear from the Commission under its
rule 201.15. For ethics advice, contact Carol McCue Verratti, Deputy
Agency Ethics Official, at 202-205-3088.
Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list. Pursuant
to Sec. 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary will make BPI
submitted in this review available to authorized
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applicants under the APO issued in the review, provided that the
application is made no later than 21 days after publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. Authorized applicants must represent
interested parties, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to
the review. A separate service list will be maintained by the Secretary
for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
Certification. Pursuant to Sec. 207.3 of the Commission's rules,
any person submitting information to the Commission in connection with
this review must certify that the information is accurate and complete
to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In making the certification,
the submitter will be deemed to consent, unless otherwise specified,
for the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel to use the
information provided in any other reviews or investigations of the same
or comparable products which the Commission conducts under Title VII of
the Act, or in internal audits and investigations relating to the
programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix
3.
Written submissions. Pursuant to Sec. 207.61 of the Commission's
rules, each interested party response to this notice must provide the
information specified below. The deadline for filing such responses is
March 23, 2004. Pursuant to Sec. 207.62(b) of the Commission's rules,
eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule 207.62(b)(1)) may
also file comments concerning the adequacy of responses to the notice
of institution and whether the Commission should conduct an expedited
or full review. The deadline for filing such comments is April 16,
2004. All written submissions must conform with the provisions of
Sec.Sec. 201.8 and 207.3 of the Commission's rules and any submissions
that contain BPI must also conform with the requirements of Sec.Sec.
201.6 and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The Commission's rules do
not authorize filing of submissions with the Secretary by facsimile or
electronic means, except to the extent permitted by Sec. 201.8 of the
Commission's rules, as amended, 67 FR 68036 (November 8, 2002). Also,
in accordance with Sec.Sec. 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's
rules, each document filed by a party to the review must be served on
all other parties to the review (as identified by either the public or
APO service list as appropriate), and a certificate of service must
accompany the document (if you are not a party to the review you do not
need to serve your response).
Inability to provide requested information. Pursuant to Sec.
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time,
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the
party pursuant to Sec. 776(b) of the Act in making its determination in
the review.
Information to be Provided in Response to This Notice of
Institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related
firms.
(1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World
Wide Web address if available) and name, telephone number, fax number,
and E-mail address of the certifying official.
(2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is a U.S.
producer of the Domestic Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a
U.S. importer of the Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or
exporter of the Subject Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or
business association, or another interested party (including an
explanation). If you are a union/worker group or trade/business
association, identify the firms in which your workers are employed or
which are members of your association.
(3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to
participate in this review by providing information requested by the
Commission.
(4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the
antidumping duty order on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various
factors specified in Sec. 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a))
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on
the Domestic Industry.
(5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act
(19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
(6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject
Merchandise to the United States or other countries after 1997.
(7) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product,
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and
value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If you are a union/worker
group or trade/business association, provide the information, on an
aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers are employed/which
are members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
(b) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s); and
(c) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s).
(8) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country,
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and
value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business association,
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are
members of your association.
(a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including
antidumping or countervailing duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an
estimate of the percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
(b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country; and
(c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company
transfers of Subject Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
(9) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s')
operations on that product during calendar year 2003
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(report quantity data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, landed
and duty-paid at the U.S. port but not including antidumping or
countervailing duties). If you are a trade/business association,
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are
members of your association.
(a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production; and
(b) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
(10) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject
Merchandise in the Subject Country after 1997, and significant changes,
if any, that are likely to occur within a reasonably foreseeable time.
Supply conditions to consider include technology; production methods;
development efforts; ability to increase production (including the
shift of production facilities used for other products and the use,
cost, or availability of major inputs into production); and factors
related to the ability to shift supply among different national markets
(including barriers to importation in foreign markets or changes in
market demand abroad). Demand conditions to consider include end uses
and applications; the existence and availability of substitute
products; and the level of competition among the Domestic Like Product
produced in the United States, Subject Merchandise produced in the
Subject Country, and such merchandise from other countries.
(11) (Optional) A statement of whether you agree with the above
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why
and provide alternative definitions.
Authority: This review is being conducted under authority of
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published
pursuant to Sec. 207.61 of the Commission's rules.
Issued: January 27, 2004.
By order of the Commission.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-2063 Filed 1-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P