Brussels, 23/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union's Council of Ministers adopted, on 13 August 2001, by written procedure, a new Regulation (amending that of 1997) aimed at updating the list of Polish firms subject to anti-dumping duties concerning imports of simple wooden palettes originating in Poland. Fourteen new Polish exporter-producers requested that they should benefit from the same treatment as that received by companies that had cooperated in the original inquiry. They provided, on request, elements of proof showing that they met the criteria required by the 1997 Regulation.
The elements of proof provided by these applicant firms are deemed sufficient to allow the Regulation to be changed, with the addition of these fourteen producer-exporters to Annex I of the said Regulation (containing the list of producer-exporters subject to a weighted average duty of 6.3%). Five of these Polish fourteen producer-exporters that will benefit from the weighted average duty of 6.3% also offered commitments on the "EUR" palette (the only kind of palette for which producers are exempted from anti-dumping duties), which were accepted by a Commission decision. As a result, these five companies must be added to Annex II 1997, containing the list of companies for which the Commission has accepted commitments concerning imports of EUR palettes and to which the duty therefore does not apply.
We recall that, under the 1997 Regulation, the Council established definitive anti-dumping duties on these goods and accepted the commitments offered by certain producers. The sampling technique was used for Polish producer-exporters and individual dumping margins between 4.0% and 10.6% were attributed to companies that were part of the sample, while an average weighted margin of 6.3% was applied to firms that had cooperated, although not part of this sample. Firms that did not make themselves known or that did not cooperate in the investigation are subject to a 10.6% duty.