Brussels, 17/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Union's Council has recently taken or amended anti-dumping measures aimed at countering certain unfair trading practices harmful to the Community industry. It has thus decided to:
1) introduce an definitive anti-dumping duty on the import of television camera systems originating in Japan, at the end of the measures taken in April 1994 (and amended three years later). The rate of the duty has been set at 96.8% of the Community net free-at-frontier price, except for products manufactured by the companies Ikegami Tsushinki Co. Ltd., Sony Corporation and Hitashi Denshi for which the rates are set respectively at 200.3%, 108.3% and 52.7% (see Official Journal, No. L/244).
2) to partially amend the definitive measures on the import of microwave ovens originating in China, Korea and Thailand, so as to exonerate two Korean companies (LGE and DWE) from paying anti-dumping duties established at between 3.3 and 24.4%. The Council, indeed, considered, at the end of a review procedure, that these companies no longer practiced dumping and that it was "not likely" that they would resume such practices in case of the annulment of the duties currently applied to them (OJ No.L/244).
3) introduce a definitive anti-dumping duty on the import of black colorformers originating in Japan. For these substances, intended to coat paper for the production of carbonless paper or thermal paper (heat-sensitive paper), the duty is set at 18.9%. The investigation initiated to this effect in July 1999 indeed broadly shored up the proof supplied by CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council) on behalf of Ciba Specialty Chemicals plc., which represents all the Community's production of two black coloformers (ODB-1 and ODB-2). Despite the lack of cooperation on the part of the four Japanese manufacturers in the enquiry, the latter revealed a dumping margin of 49.9%, but a substantially lower harmful margin of 18.9%, on average. It also emerged that Japanese exports onto the Community market (main outlet for these substances, whereas access to the Japanese market is closed) increased substantially in terms of volume and market share, to the detriment of the European industry which saw its volume of sales and market shares continuously fall, as far as to affect its profitability (OJ No.L/259).
The European Commission has meanwhile been reviewing anti-dumping measures applicable to the import of bicycles originating in China since July. It is a question of checking information provided by Chinese companies (Giant China, Viva Guangzhou Bicycle, Mrida Industry and Kenton Bicycle Group), demonstrating "at first sight" that the conditions of a market economy prevail for these companies regarding the manufacture and sale of the bicycles in question, that the circumstances concerning their dumping have substantially changed, and that the current measures are no longer necessary to counterbalance the dumping (OJ No. C/278). In addition, a rectification was urgently published in the OJ No.L/246 regarding definitive countervailing duties imposed since 5 February of this year on the import of certain flat rolled products. It aims to correct a "certain number of inaccuracies committed by inadvertence" in the framework of the decision introducing these duties, with retroactive effect to the date of their being introduced, the Commission stipulates.