52003PC0518

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty, and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed, on imports of steel ropes and cables originating, inter alia, in Poland and Ukraine

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

On 20 May 1998, an anti-dumping proceeding was initiated by the Commission which led to the imposition of a definitive anti-dumping duty on certain iron or steel ropes and cables originating, inter alia, in Ukraine by Council Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999. [1]

[1] OJ L 217, 17.8.1999, p.1.

On 30 July 1998, an anti-dumping proceeding was initiated by the Commission which led to the imposition of a definitive anti-dumping duty on certain iron or steel ropes and cables originating, inter alia, in Poland by Council Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999.

Exemptions to the duty were granted, however, inter alia, for imports produced and directly exported to the Community by the Polish exporter Drumet and from which the Commission accepted an undertaking (cf Commission Regulation No 362/1999 [2]) Furthermore, the Commission accepted a price undertaking from, inter alia, the Ukrainian exporting producer Joint Stock Company Silur (Silur) by Commission Decision 1999/572/EC of 13 August 1999 [3].

[2] OJ L 45, 19.2.1999, p.8

[3] OJ L 217, 17.8.1999, p 63

Following a verification by the Commission's services in charge of the monitoring of the undertaking, it was established that Drumet had breached its undertaking and an investigation carried out by OLAF revealed that Silur had breached its undertaking.

A definitive anti-dumping duty should therefore be imposed on imports of certain iron or steel ropes and cables manufactured by the companies concerned.

The purpose of the present proposal is therefore to propose to the Council to amend Regulation (EC) 1796/1999 with a view to imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports from the companies concerned by replacing the table of companies benefiting from an undertaking. In parallel, acceptance of the relevant undertakings will be withdrawn and Commission Regulation No 362/1999 as well as Commission Decision 1999/572/EC will be amended accordingly.

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty, and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed, on imports of steel ropes and cables originating, inter alia, in Poland and Ukraine

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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 [4], and in particular Articles 8 and 9 thereof,

[4] OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1, Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1972/2002 (OJ L 305, 7.11.2002, p.1).

Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

A. PREVIOUS PROCEDURE

(1) On 20 May 1998, an anti-dumping proceeding was initiated by the Commission [5] on imports of steel ropes and cables (SWR) originating, inter alia, in Ukraine.

[5] OJ C 155, 20.5.1998, p.11

(2) On 30 July 1998, an anti-dumping proceeding was initiated by the Commission [6] on imports of SWR originating, inter alia, in Poland.

[6] OJ C 239, 30.7.1998, p.3

(3) Provisional measures were imposed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 362/1999 [7]. In parallel, the Commission accepted, inter alia, a price undertaking from the Polish exporting producer Drumet (Drumet) by Article 2(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 362/1999. Imports of the products covered produced and directly exported to the Community by Drumet were exempted from the anti-dumping duty by Article 1(3) of the same Regulation.

[7] OJ L 45, 19.2.1999, p.8

(4) These proceedings were combined and ultimately resulted in a definitive anti-dumping duty being imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 [8] of 12 August 1999 in order to eliminate the injurious effects of dumping. Drumet continued to be exempted from the definitive duties by virtue of and subject to its undertaking.

[8] OJ L 217, 17.8.1999, p.1

(5) Furthermore, the Commission accepted a price undertaking from, inter alia, the Ukrainian exporting producer Joint Stock Company Silur (Silur) by Commission Decision 1999/572/EC of 13 August 1999 [9].

[9] OJ L 217, 17.8.1999, p 63

B. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE UNDERTAKING

1. Drumet (Poland)

(6) The undertaking accepted from Drumet only applied to imports into the Community of SWR which have been produced and sold directly (i.e. invoiced and shipped) by Drumet to its first unrelated customers in the Community (clause 2 of the undertaking).

(7) Furthermore, Drumet undertook not to circumvent the provisions of the undertaking, inter alia, "by any other means", according to Clause 6 of the undertaking.

(8) Following verifications by the Commission services in charge of the monitoring of the undertaking, it was established that Drumet had committed two types of breaches of the above obligations. First, it had not sold all its exports of SWR to the Community directly to unrelated importers, but via a related importer in the Community. Second, it had repeatedly submitted misleading information about the relationship with this importer, thus not only breaching clause 6 of the undertaking , but also the relationship of trust established with the Commission which was the basis for acceptance of any undertaking. Commission Regulation (EC) No. xxx/2003 of xxxxx sets out in detail the nature of the breaches found.

(9) Acceptance of the undertaking has been withdrawn by means of the abovementioned Commission Regulation and, therefore, in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995, definitive anti-dumping duties should be imposed forthwith on imports of the product concerned manufactured by Drumet.

2. Silur (Ukraine)

(10) Silur undertook, inter alia, not to circumvent the provisions of the undertaking by making misleading declarations regarding the origin of SWR or by any other means. Furthermore, the scope of the undertaking is limited to certain product types of SWR (SWR covered). Other SWR than SWR covered are subject to the payment of the anti-dumping duty.

(11) An investigation carried out by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) revealed that imports of SWR into the Community which had been produced by Silur were, with Silur's knowledge, imported into the Community with a declared false origin. Furthermore, it was established that other SWR than SWR covered had been sold to the Community as if they were covered by the undertaking and thus unduly benefiting from the exemption of the payment of the anti-dumping duties. Commission Regulation (EC) No. xxx/2003 of xxx sets out in detail the nature of the breaches found.

(12) In the circumstances, acceptance of the undertaking has been withdrawn by the above mentioned Commission Regulation., upon the request of Silur. Therefore in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995, definitive anti-dumping duties should be imposed forthwith on imports of the product concerned manufactured by Silur.

C. AMENDMENT OF REGULATION (EC) No 1796/1999

In view of the withdrawal of the undertakings and pursuant to Article 8(9) of Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96, Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 should be amended, and goods manufactured by Drumet and Silur should be subject to the appropriate rate of anti-dumping duty for each company as set in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 (27,9 % for Drumet and 51,8% for Silur),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. In the table in Article 1 (2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 the TARIC additional code concerning Ukraine "8900" is replaced with "-".

2. The table in Article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1796/1999 is replaced by the following table:

>TABLE POSITION>

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President