Luxemburg, 19/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Advocate General Philippe Léger has proposed to the Court of Justice that it authorise the reimbursement to importers of anti-dumping duties paid on the basis of the 1997 Council regulation (No. 2398/97) instituting the definitive duties on cotton-type bed linen originating in Egypt, India and Pakistan. Philippe Léger concludes that this regulation is invalid insofar as the Council used the method of “zeroing” to determine the dumping margin for these products. Insofar as the Council applied a wrong methodology in calculating the dumping margin “the competent Community authorities ought, in my view, to review the contested regulation and recalculate, on the basis of the information gathered in the course of the initial investigation, the dumping margin for imports originating in India, Egypt and Pakistan,” he says.
This English case was sent to the European Court of Justice by the High Court of Justice (England and Wales) Chancery Division, which has to rule in a lawsuit opposing IKEA Wholesale and the Commissioners of Customs and Excise. IKEA Wholesale is contesting the payment of anti-dumping duties, claiming the regulation instituting them was invalid. The institution of anti-dumping duties led to the opening of a dispute settlement procedure at the WTO which found they were incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules. The High Court of Justice asked the European Court of Justice to assess the legality of the anti-dumping regulations at issue in this case taking into account the decisions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Philippe Léger also examined the legality of the regulations determining the method of economic analysis adopted by the Community authorities for the purpose of imposing the anti-dumping measures at issue.
The Court of Justice is expected to deliver its ruling within six months. Observers point to procedural facilities which allow England and Wales to challenge the Council regulation through a preliminary ruling.