Non-opposition to a notified concentration

(Case M.10695 – APOLLO MANAGEMENT / BANK AND ACQUIRERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDING)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 217/01)

On 23 May 2022, the Commission decided not to oppose the above notified concentration and to declare it compatible with the internal market. This decision is based on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1). The full text of the decision is available only in English and will be made public after it is cleared of any business secrets it may contain. It will be available:

—	in the merger section of the ‘Competition policy’ website of the Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/). This website provides various facilities to help locate individual merger decisions, including company, case number, date and sectoral indexes,

—	in electronic form on the EUR-Lex website (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html?locale=en) under document number 32022M10695. EUR-Lex is the online point of access to European Union law.

---

(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.

Euro exchange rates (1)

31 May 2022

(2022/C 217/02)

1 euro =

	Currency	Exchange rate
USD	US dollar	1,0713
JPY	Japanese yen	137,36
DKK	Danish krone	7,4394
GBP	Pound sterling	0,85138
SEK	Swedish krona	10,5053
CHF	Swiss franc	1,0281
ISK	Iceland króna	136,30
NOK	Norwegian krone	10,0983
BGN	Bulgarian lev	1,9558
CZK	Czech koruna	24,714
HUF	Hungarian forint	396,20
PLN	Polish zloty	4,5805
RON	Romanian leu	4,9408
TRY	Turkish lira	17,5817
AUD	Australian dollar	1,4933
CAD	Canadian dollar	1,3573
HKD	Hong Kong dollar	8,4063
NZD	New Zealand dollar	1,6459
SGD	Singapore dollar	1,4687
KRW	South Korean won	1 329,32
ZAR	South African rand	16,7450
CNY	Chinese yuan renminbi	7,1402
HRK	Croatian kuna	7,5410
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	15 580,15
MYR	Malaysian ringgit	4,6907
PHP	Philippine peso	56,323
RUB	Russian rouble
THB	Thai baht	36,751
BRL	Brazilian real	5,0965
MXN	Mexican peso	20,9870
INR	Indian rupee	83,2310

---

(1)  Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

COMMISSION DECISION

of 1 April 2022

instructing the Central Administrator of the European Union Transaction Log to enter changes to the national allocation tables of Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania, Finland and Sweden into the European Union Transaction Log

(2022/C 217/03)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry (1), and in particular Article 46(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)	Member States submitted to the Commission the list of installations in their territory pursuant to Article 11(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC (2).

(2)

In accordance with Article 2 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/355 (3), the Commission raised no objections to the lists of installations covered by Directive 2003/87/EC as submitted by Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, except as set out in Article 1 and Annexes of that Decision.

(3)	Member States determined and notified the preliminary annual amounts of free allowances per installation using the revised benchmark values determined in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447 (4), pursuant to Article 14(5) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 (5).

(4)	In Article 1 of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/927 (6), it was determined that no adjustment needs to be applied to the preliminary annual amounts of free allowances pursuant to Article 10a(5) of Directive 2003/87/EC, as demand did not exceed the maximum amount.

(5)

Czechia notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 7 March 2022. Installation CZ-116 has been excluded by mistake in final national implementation measures. The final national implementation measures did not include the most recent version of the data to installation CZ-238, which has been corrected.

(6)

Denmark notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 8 March 2022. The electricity generator status of installations DK-279 and DK-282 has been corrected to electricity generator. The starting date of operation and the historical activity level of the district heating sub-installation to installation DK-291 has been corrected.

(7)

Germany notified changes to its national allocation table, by letters dated 16 February 2022 and 7 March 2022. Installations DE-485, DE-486, DE-202664, DE-202665 and DE-202667 merged with installation DE-410. Activities were merged under installation DE-410, whilst full cessations were reported to installations DE-485, DE-486, DE-202664, DE-202665 and DE-202667. Errors in the calculation of the historical activity level for sub-installations respectively in installation DE-460 and DE-461 have been identified and corrected. Installation DE-1726 has undergone a change in the perimeter of its greenhouse gas permit, leading to an increase in the activity level of its sub-installation. The electricity generator status of installation DE-1126 has been corrected to electricity generator. The electricity exchange factor has been corrected for installation DE-3597.

(8)	Greece notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 22 February 2022. Installation GR-205354 was reported in the initial national allocation table with the wrong identification number of the registry account. The new permanent number replaces identification number GR-64.

(9)

France notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 10 March 2022. Installation FR-205923 merged with installation FR-206056. Activities were merged under installation FR-206056, whilst full cessation was reported to installation FR-205923. Installation FR-216100 was included in the initial national allocation table with its provisional identification number of the registry account. France reported the new permanent number. Errors due to incorrect versions of national implementation measures data have been corrected for installations FR-475 and FR-67. The sub-installation split of installation FR-205864 has been corrected, reducing the level of allocation of the installation. The amount of heat exported by installation FR-111 has been corrected, subsequently this installation is no longer eligible to receive free allowances.

(10)

The Netherlands notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 4 February 2022. Errors in the calculation of the historical activity level of the testliner and fluting sub-installation as well as the recovered paper pulp sub-installation due to wrong normalization of the moisture content to installation NL-83 have been corrected. Errors in the calculation of the historical activity level of the coated carton board sub-installation due to wrong normalisation of the moisture content to installation NL-86 have been corrected.

(11)	Austria notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 20 January 2022. The electricity generator status of installation AT-60 has been corrected to not electricity generator.

(12)

Poland notified a correction in its national allocation table by letter dated 11 March 2022. Omissions in the heat flows of installations PL-31, PL-861 and PL-203089 have been corrected, and an initially missing fuel benchmark sub-installation has been added for PL-203089 and a missing heat benchmark sub-installation has been added for PL-31.

(13)	Romania notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 4 March 2022. The split of heat produced into carbon leakage risk and non-carbon leakage risk sub-installations was corrected to installation RO-9.

(14)

Finland notified changes to its national allocation table, by letter dated 2 March 2022. An error in the calculation of the historical activity level of the sub-installation of installation FI-496 has been identified and corrected. Errors found in the attribution of heat and fuel in installation FI-407 have been corrected.

(15)

Sweden notified corrections to its national allocation table by letter dated 22 November 2021. The corrections regarding installation SE-350 concern reported values for electricity consumption that are used for calculating the electricity exchange factor. The corrections regarding installation SE-426 concern errors in determination of the CWT values for propylene production. As regards installation SE-428, the operator did not report the uncoated carton board expressed units of air dry tonnes (6 % water content) but instead they reported the uncoated carton board with a humidity of 1,2 to 1,4 %. As regards installation SE-812, the reported status regarding electricity production was erroneously reported as ‘False’ while it should be ‘True’.

(16)	The notified national allocation tables are in conformity with Directive 2003/87/EC and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and Decision (EU) 2021/355,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

---

(1)  OJ L 177, 2.7.2019, p. 3.

(2)  Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).

(3)  Commission Decision (EU) 2021/355 of 25 February 2021 concerning national implementation measures for the transitional free allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances in accordance with Article 11(3) of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 68, 26.2.2021, p. 221).

(4)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447 of 12 March 2021 determining revised benchmark values for free allocation of emission allowances for the period from 2021 to 2025 pursuant to Article 10a(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 87, 15.3.2021, p. 29).

(5)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 of 19 December 2018 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 59, 27.2.2019, p. 8).

(6)  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/927 of 31 May 2021 determining the uniform cross-sectoral correction factor for the adjustment of free allocations of emission allowances for the period 2021 to 2025 (OJ L 203, 9.6.2021, p. 14).

Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of tungsten carbide, fused tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide simply mixed with metallic powder originating in the People’s Republic of China

(2022/C 217/04)

Following the publication of a Notice of impending expiry (1) of the anti-dumping measures in force on the imports of tungsten carbide, fused tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide simply mixed with metallic powder originating in the People’s Republic of China (‘the country concerned’ or ‘PRC’), the European Commission (’the Commission’) has received a request for review pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union (2) (’the basic Regulation’).

1.   Request for review

The request was submitted on 25 February 2022 by Global Tungsten & Powders spol s.r.o., H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH, Tikomet Oy, Treibacher Industrie AG, Umicore Specialty Powders France and Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG (’the applicants’) on behalf of the Union industry of tungsten carbide, fused tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide simply mixed with metallic powder, in the sense of Article 5(4) of the basic Regulation.

An open version of the request and the analysis of the degree of support by Union producers for the request are available in the file for inspection by interested parties. Section 5.6 of this Notice provides information about access to the file for interested parties.

2.   Product under review

The product subject to this review is tungsten carbide, fused tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide simply mixed with metallic powder (‘the product under review’), currently falling under CN codes 2849 90 30 and ex 3824 30 00 (TARIC code 3824300010). The CN and TARIC codes are given for information only without prejudice to their possible amendment at future steps of the proceeding.

3.   Existing measures

The measures currently in force are a definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/942 (3).

4.   Grounds for the review

The request is based on the grounds that the expiry of the measures would be likely to result in continuation or recurrence of dumping and recurrence of injury to the Union industry.

4.1.    Allegation of likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping

The applicants claimed that it is not appropriate to use domestic prices and costs in the PRC, due to the existence of significant distortions within the meaning of point (b) of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation.

To substantiate the allegations of significant distortions, the applicants relied on the information contained in the country report produced by the Commission services on 20 December 2017 describing the specific market circumstances in the PRC (4). In particular, the applicants referred to distortions such as State presence in general and more specifically in the non-ferrous industry, bankruptcy and property laws, and distortions with regard to land, energy, capital, raw materials and labour.

In addition, the applicants relied on publicly available information, in particular on the 13th five-year plan (2016-2020) (5), the 13th five-year plan for the non-ferrous metals Industry (6), the 14th Five-year planning cycle (2021-2025) (7), the Made in China 2025 initiative (8), and a number of previous anti-dumping regulations published by the Commission (9).

The country report is available in the file for inspection by interested parties and on DG Trade’s website (10).

As a result, in view of Article 2(6a)(a) of the basic Regulation, the allegation of continuation or recurrence of dumping from the PRC was based on a comparison of a constructed normal value on the basis of costs of production and sale reflecting undistorted prices or benchmarks in an appropriate representative country with the export price (at ex-works level) of the product under review when sold to the Union. This comparison shows dumping and therefore the applicants allege that there is a likelihood of continuation of dumping from the PRC.

The applicants also allege that there is a likelihood of recurrence of dumping from the PRC, shown by the comparison of a constructed normal value on the basis of costs of production and sale reflecting undistorted prices or benchmarks in an appropriate representative country with the export price of the product under review exported from the PRC to third countries.

The applicants also allege that despite the imposition of anti-dumping measures, the EU market still remains attractive to tungsten carbide producers from the PRC that continue to hold a significant market share in the EU.

In light of the information available, the Commission considers that there is sufficient evidence pursuant to Article 5(9) of the basic Regulation tending to show that, due to significant distortions affecting prices and costs, the use of domestic prices and costs in the country concerned is inappropriate, thus warranting the initiation of an investigation on the basis of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation.

4.2.    Allegation of likelihood of recurrence of injury

The applicants allege the likelihood of recurrence of injury from the PRC. In this respect the applicants have provided sufficient evidence that, should measures be allowed to lapse, the current import level of the product under review from the country concerned to the Union is likely to increase due to the existence of unused capacity in the PRC.

The applicants allege that the government of the PRC continues to massively subsidise and closely control the Chinese tungsten industry and to manipulate raw material price. Moreover, the applicants argue that the existence of the measures have ensured the Union industry’s survival. Lastly, the evidence submitted shows that the spare capacity of tungsten carbide in the PRC is greater than the entire Union consumption and that the production capacity in the PRC has increased by more than 50 % since the latest expiry review. The production capacity of the PRC could fulfil its domestic supply of tungsten carbide more than twice, indicating that it is an export-oriented sector. Therefore, should the measures be allowed to lapse, the Chinese exporting producers would have a spare capacity to flood the Union market with dumped tungsten carbide and injury would likely recur.

5.   Procedure

Having determined, after consulting the Committee established by Article 15(1) of the basic Regulation, that sufficient evidence of a likelihood of dumping and injury exists to justify the initiation of an expiry review, the Commission hereby initiates a review in accordance with Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation.

The expiry review will determine whether the expiry of the measures would be likely to lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping of the product under review originating in the PRC and a recurrence of injury to the Union industry.

The Commission also draws the attention of the parties to the published Notice (11) on the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations that may be applicable to this proceeding.

5.1.    Review investigation period and period considered

The investigation of a continuation or recurrence of dumping will cover the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 (‘the review investigation period’). The examination of trends relevant for the assessment of the likelihood of a recurrence of injury will cover the period from 1 January 2018 to the end of the review investigation period (‘the period considered’).

5.2.    Comments on the request and the initiation of the investigation

All interested parties wishing to comment on the request (including matters pertaining to injury and causality) or any aspects regarding the initiation of the investigation (including the degree of support for the request) must do so within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (12).

Any request for a hearing with regard to the initiation of the investigation must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice.

5.3.    Procedure for the determination of a likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping

In an expiry review, the Commission examines exports that were made to the Union in the review investigation period and, irrespective of exports to the Union, considers whether the situation of the companies producing and selling the product under review in the country concerned is such that exports at dumped prices to the Union would be likely to continue or recur if measures expire.

Therefore, all producers (13) of the product under review from the country concerned, including those that did not cooperate in the investigation(s) leading to the measures in force, are invited to participate in the Commission investigation.

5.3.1.   Investigating producers in the country concerned

In view of the potentially large number of producers in the PRC involved in this expiry review and in order to complete the investigation within the statutory time limits, the Commission may limit the producers to be investigated to a reasonable number by selecting a sample (this process is also referred to as ’sampling’). The sampling will be carried out in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation.

In order to enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary, and if so, to select a sample, all producers, or representatives acting on their behalf, including the ones who did not cooperate in the investigation leading to the measures subject to the present review, are hereby requested to provide the Commission with information on their companies within 7 days of the date of publication of this Notice. This information must be provided via TRON.tdi at the following address: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/tdi/form/R772_SAMPLING_FORM_FOR_EXPORTING_PRODUCER. Tron access information can be found in sections 5.6 and 5.9 below.

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for the selection of the sample of producers, the Commission will also contact the authorities of the PRC and may contact any known associations of producers in this country.

If a sample is necessary, the producers will be selected based on the largest representative volume of production, sales or exports which can reasonably be investigated within the time available. All known producers in the PRC, the authorities of the country concerned and associations of producers will be notified by the Commission, via the authorities of the country concerned if appropriate, of the companies selected to be in the sample.

Once the Commission has received the necessary information to select a sample of producers, it will inform the parties concerned of its decision whether they are included in the sample. The sampled producers will have to submit a completed questionnaire within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision of their inclusion in the sample, unless otherwise specified.

The Commission will add a note to the file for inspection by interested parties reflecting the sample selection. Any comment on the sample selection must be received within 3 days of the date of notification of the sample decision.

A copy of the questionnaire for producers in the country concerned is available in the file for inspection by interested parties and on DG Trade’s Internet: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/investigations/case-view?caseId=2604.

Without prejudice to the possible application of Article 18 of the basic Regulation, companies that have agreed to their possible inclusion in the sample but are not selected to be in the sample will be considered to be cooperating.

5.3.2.   Additional procedure with regard to the PRC that is subject to significant distortions

Subject to the provisions of this Notice, all interested parties are hereby invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence regarding the application of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice.

In particular, the Commission invites all interested parties to make their views known on the inputs and the Harmonised System (HS) codes provided in the request, propose (an) appropriate representative country(ies) and provide the identity of producers of the product under review in those countries. This information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice.

Pursuant to point (e) of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation, the Commission will, shortly after initiation, by means of a note to the file for inspection by interested parties, inform parties to the investigation about the relevant sources that it intends to use for the purpose of determining normal value in the PRC pursuant to Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation. This will cover all sources, including the selection of an appropriate representative country where appropriate. Parties to the investigation shall be given 10 days from the date at which that note is added to that file to submit comments.

According to the information available to the Commission, possible representative countries for the PRC in this case are Russia and Turkey. With the aim of finally selecting the appropriate representative country, the Commission will examine whether there are countries with a similar level of economic development as the PRC, in which there is production and sales of the product under review and in which relevant data are readily available. Where there is more than one such country, preference will be given, where appropriate, to countries with an adequate level of social and environmental protection.

With regard to the relevant sources, the Commission invites all producers in the PRC to provide information on the materials (raw and processed) and energy used in the production of the product under review within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice. This information must be provided via TRON.tdi at the following address: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/tdi/form/R772_INFO_ON_INPUTS_FOR_EXPORTING_PRODUCER_FORM. Tron access information can be found in sections 5.6 and 5.9 below.

Furthermore, any submissions of factual information to value costs and prices pursuant to point (a) of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation must be filed within 65 days of the date of publication of this Notice. Such factual information should be taken exclusively from publicly available sources.

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation with regard to the alleged significant distortions within the meaning of point (b) of Article 2(6a) of the basic Regulation, the Commission will also send a questionnaire to the Government of the PRC.

5.3.3.   Investigating unrelated importers (14) (15)

Unrelated importers of the product under review from the country concerned to the Union, including those that did not cooperate in the investigation leading to the measures in force, are invited to participate in this investigation.

In view of the potentially large number of unrelated importers involved in this expiry review and in order to complete the investigation within the statutory time limits, the Commission may limit to a reasonable number the unrelated importers that will be investigated by selecting a sample (this process is also referred to as ’sampling’). The sampling will be carried out in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation.

In order to enable the Commission to decide whether sampling is necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all unrelated importers, or representatives acting on their behalf, including the ones who did not cooperate in the investigation leading to the measures subject to the present review, are hereby requested to make themselves known to the Commission. These parties must do so within 7 days of the date of publication of this Notice by providing the Commission with the information on their company(ies) requested in Annex to this Notice and send it to the email address related to the injury aspects provided in section 5.9 below.

In order to obtain information it deems necessary for the selection of the sample of unrelated importers, the Commission may also contact any known associations of importers.

If a sample is necessary, the importers may be selected based on the largest representative volume of sales of the product under review from the country concerned in the Union that can reasonably be investigated within the time available. All known unrelated importers and associations of importers will be notified by the Commission of the companies selected to be in the sample.

The Commission will also add a note to the file for inspection by interested parties reflecting the sample selection. Any comment on the sample selection must be received within 3 days of the date of notification of the sample decision.

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the Commission will make available questionnaires to the sampled unrelated importers. Those parties must submit a completed questionnaire within 30 days from the date of the notification of the sample selection, unless otherwise specified.

A copy of the questionnaire for unrelated importers is available in the file for inspection by interested parties and on DG Trade’s Internet: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/investigations/case-view?caseId=2604.

5.4.    Procedure for the determination of a likelihood of a continuation or recurrence of injury and investigating Union producers

In order to establish whether there is a likelihood of a continuation or recurrence of injury to the Union industry, the Commission invites Union producers of the product under review to participate in the investigation.

In view of the large number of Union producers involved in this expiry review and in order to complete the investigation within the statutory time limits, the Commission has decided to limit to a reasonable number the Union producers that will be investigated by selecting a sample (this process is also referred to as ’sampling’). The sampling is carried out in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation.

The Commission has provisionally selected a sample of Union producers. Details can be found in the file for inspection by interested parties.

Interested parties are hereby invited to comment on the provisional sample. In addition, other Union producers, or representatives acting on their behalf, including Union producers who did not cooperate in the investigation(s) leading to the measures in force, that consider that there are reasons why they should be included in the sample must contact the Commission within 7 days of the date of publication of this Notice. All comments regarding the provisional sample must be received within 7 days of the date of publication of this Notice, unless otherwise specified.

The Commission will notify all known Union producers and/or associations of Union producers of the companies finally selected to be in the sample.

The sampled Union producers will have to submit a completed questionnaire within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision of their inclusion in the sample, unless otherwise specified.

A copy of the questionnaire for Union producers is available in the file for inspection by interested parties and on DG Trade’s Internet: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/investigations/case-view?caseId=2604.

5.5.    Procedure for the assessment of Union interest

Should the likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury be confirmed, a decision will be reached, pursuant to Article 21 of the basic Regulation, as to whether maintaining the anti-dumping measures would not be against the Union interest.

Union producers, importers and their representative associations, users and their representative associations, trade unions and representative consumer organisations are invited to provide the Commission with information on the Union interest.

Information concerning the assessment of the Union interest must be provided within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice, unless otherwise specified. This information may be provided either in a free format or by completing a questionnaire prepared by the Commission.

A copy of the questionnaires, including the questionnaire for users of the product under review, is available in the file for inspection by interested parties and on DG Trade’s Internet: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/investigations/case-view?caseId=2604.

In any case, information submitted pursuant to Article 21 of the basic Regulation will only be taken into account if supported by factual evidence at the time of submission, which substantiates its validity.

5.6.    Interested parties

In order to participate in the investigation, interested parties, such as producers in the country concerned, Union producers, importers and their representative associations, users and their representative associations, trade unions and representative consumer organisations first have to demonstrate that there is an objective link between their activities and the product under review.

Producers in the country concerned, Union producers, importers and representative associations who made information available in accordance to the procedures described in sections 5.3.1, 5.3.3 and 5.4 will be considered as interested parties if there is an objective link between their activities and the product under review.

Other parties will only be able to participate in the investigation as interested party from the moment they make themselves known, and provided that there is an objective link between their activities and the product under review. Being considered as an interested party is without prejudice to the application of Article 18 of the basic Regulation.

Access to the file available for inspection for interested parties is made via Tron.tdi at the following address: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/tdi. Please follow the instructions on that page to get access (16).

5.7.    Other written submissions

Subject to the provisions of this Notice, all interested parties are hereby invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice.

5.8.    Possibility to be heard by the Commission investigation services

All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard must be made in writing and must specify the reasons for the request as well as a summary of what the interested party wishes to discuss during the hearing. The hearing will be limited to the issues set out by the interested parties in writing beforehand.

In principle, hearings will not be used to present factual information which is not yet on file. Nevertheless, in the interest of good administration and to enable Commission services to progress with the investigation, interested parties may be directed to provide new factual information after a hearing.

5.9.    Instructions for making written submissions and sending completed questionnaires and correspondence

Information submitted to the Commission for the purpose of trade defence investigations shall be free from copyrights. Interested parties, before submitting to the Commission information and/or data which is subject to third party copyrights, must request specific permission to the copyright holder explicitly allowing the Commission a) to use the information and data for the purpose of this trade defence proceeding and b) to provide the information and/or data to interested parties to this investigation in a form that allows them to exercise their rights of defence.

All written submissions, including the information requested in this Notice, completed questionnaires and correspondence provided by interested parties for which confidential treatment is requested shall be labelled ‘Sensitive’ (17). Parties submitting information in the course of this investigation are invited to reason their request for confidential treatment.

Parties providing ‘Sensitive’ information are required to furnish non-confidential summaries of it pursuant to Article 19(2) of the basic Regulation, which will be labelled ’For inspection by interested parties’. These summaries must be sufficiently detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence. If a party providing confidential information fails to show good cause for a confidential treatment request or does not furnish a non-confidential summary of it in the requested format and quality, the Commission may disregard such information unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct.

Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests via TRON.tdi (https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/TDI) including requests to be registered as interested parties, scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets. By using TRON.tdi or email, interested parties express their agreement with the rules applicable to electronic submissions contained in the document ‘CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES’ published on the website of DG Trade: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf. The interested parties must indicate their name, address, telephone and a valid email address and they should ensure that the provided email address is a functioning official business email which is checked on a daily basis. Once contact details are provided, the Commission will communicate with interested parties by TRON.tdi or email only, unless they explicitly request to receive all documents from the Commission by another means of communication or unless the nature of the document to be sent requires the use of a registered mail. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the Commission including principles that apply to submissions via TRON.tdi and by email, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to above.

Commission address for correspondence:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Trade

Directorate G

Office: CHAR 04/039

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

TRON. tdi: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/tdi

Email:	TRADE-R772-TC-DUMPING@ec.europa.eu
	TRADE-R772-TC-INJURY@ec.europa.eu

6.   Schedule of the investigation

The investigation shall normally be concluded within 12 months and in any event no later than 15 months from the date of the publication of this Notice, pursuant to Article 11(5) of the basic Regulation.

7.   Submission of information

As a rule, interested parties may only submit information in the timeframes specified in section 5 of this Notice.

In order to complete the investigation within the mandatory deadlines, the Commission will not accept submissions from interested parties after the deadline to provide comments on the final disclosure or, if applicable, after the deadline to provide comments on the additional final disclosure.

8.   Possibility to comment on other parties’ submissions

In order to guarantee the rights of defence, interested parties should have the possibility to comment on information submitted by other interested parties. When doing so, interested parties may only address issues raised in the other interested parties’ submissions and may not raise new issues.

Comments on the information provided by other interested parties in reaction to the disclosure of the definitive findings should be submitted within 5 days from the deadline to comment on the definitive findings, unless otherwise specified. If there is an additional final disclosure, comments on the information provided by other interested parties in reaction to this further disclosure should be made within 1 day from the deadline to comment on this further disclosure, unless otherwise specified.

The outlined timeframe is without prejudice to the Commission’s right to request additional information from interested parties in duly justified cases.

9.   Extension to time limits specified in this Notice

Extensions to time limits provided for in this Notice may be granted upon request of interested parties showing due cause.

Any extension to the time limits provided for in this Notice should only be requested in exceptional circumstances and will only be granted if duly justified. In any event, any extensions to the deadline to reply to questionnaires will be limited normally to 3 days, and as a rule will not exceed 7 days. Regarding time limits for the submission of other information specified in the Notice of initiation, extensions will be limited to 3 days unless exceptional circumstances are demonstrated.

10.   Non-cooperation

In cases where any interested party refuses access to or does not provide the necessary information within the time limits, or significantly impedes the investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of facts available, in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation.

Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information, the information may be disregarded and use may be made of facts available.

If an interested party does not cooperate or cooperates only partially and findings are therefore based on facts available in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation, the result may be less favourable to that party than if it had cooperated.

Failure to give a computerised response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation, provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. The interested party should immediately contact the Commission.

11.   Hearing Officer

Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer in trade proceedings. The Hearing Officer reviews requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and any other request concerning the rights of defence of interested parties and third parties as may arise during the proceeding.

The Hearing Officer may organise hearings and mediate between the interested party/-ies and Commissions services to ensure that the interested parties’ rights of defence are being fully exercised. A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. The Hearing Officer will examine the reasons for the requests. These hearings should only take place if the issues have not been settled with the Commission services in due course.

Any request must be submitted in good time and expeditiously so as not to jeopardise the orderly conduct of proceedings. To that effect, interested parties should request the intervention of the Hearing Officer at the earliest possible time following the occurrence of the event justifying such intervention. Where hearing requests are submitted outside the relevant timeframes, the Hearing Officer will also examine the reasons for such late requests, the nature of the issues raised and the impact of those issues on the rights of defence, having due regard to the interests of good administration and the timely completion of the investigation.

For further information and contact details interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer’s web pages on DG Trade’s Internet: https://ec.europa.eu/trade/trade-policy-and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/.

12.   Possibility to request a review under Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation

As this expiry review is initiated in accordance with the provisions of Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation, the findings thereof will not lead to the existing measures being amended but will lead to those measures being repealed or maintained in accordance with Article 11(6) of the basic Regulation.

If any interested party considers that a review of the measures is warranted so as to allow for the possibility to amend the measures, that party may request a review pursuant to Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation.

Parties wishing to request such a review, which would be carried out independently of the expiry review mentioned in this Notice, may contact the Commission at the address given above.

13.   Processing of personal data

Any personal data collected in this investigation will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (18).

A data protection notice that informs all individuals of the processing of personal data in the framework of Commission’s trade defence activities is available on DG Trade’s Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/accessing- markets/trade-defence/.

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(1)  OJ C 354, 3.9.2021, p. 2.

(2)  OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21.

(3)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/942 of 1 June 2017 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of tungsten carbide, fused tungsten carbide and tungsten carbide simply mixed with metallic powder originating in the People’s Republic of China following an expiry review pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 142, 2.6.2017, p. 53).

(4)  Commission Staff Working Document, on Significant Distortions in the Economy of the People’s Republic of China for the Purposes of Trade Defence Investigations, 20 December 2017, SWD(2017) 483 final/2, available at: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/december/tradoc_156474.pdf.

(5)  The 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (2016- 2020).

(6)  The 13th Five-Year Plan for Non-ferrous Metals Industry (2016- 2020).

(7)  The 14th Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China and the Outline of the Long-term Goals for 2035.

(8)  Notice of the State Council on Issuing the ‘Made in China (2025)’ (No.28 [2005] of the State Council)

(9)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1267 of 26 July 2019 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of tungsten electrodes originating in the People’s Republic of China following an expiry review under Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 (OJ L 200, 29.7.2019, p. 4), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1428 of 12 October 2020 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of aluminium extrusions originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 336, 13.10.2020, p. 8), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1812 of 14 October 2021 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of certain graphite electrode systems originating in the People’s Republic of China (OJ L 366, 15.10.2021, p. 62).

(10)  Documents cited in the country report may also be obtained upon a duly reasoned request.

(11)  OJ C 86, 16.3.2020, p. 6.

(12)  All references to the publication of this Notice will be references to publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, unless otherwise specified.

(13)  A producer is any company in the country concerned which produces the product under review, including any of its related companies involved in the production, domestic sales or exports of the product under review.

(14)  Only importers not related to producers in the country(ies) concerned can be sampled. Importers that are related to producers have to fill in Annex I to the questionnaire for these producers. In accordance with Article 127 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code, two persons shall be deemed to be related if: (a) they are officers or directors of the other person’s business; (b) they are legally recognised partners in business; (c) they are employer and employee; (d) a third party directly or indirectly owns, controls or holds 5 % or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of both of them; (e) one of them directly or indirectly controls the other; (f) both of them are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person; (g) together they control a third person directly or indirectly; or (h) they are members of the same family (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558). Persons shall be deemed to be members of the same family only if they stand in any of the following relationships to one another: (i) husband and wife, (ii) parent and child, (iii) brother and sister (whether by whole or half blood), (iv) grandparent and grandchild, (v) uncle or aunt and nephew or niece, (vi) parent-in-law and son-in-law or daughter-in-law, (vii) brother-in-law and sister-in-law. In accordance with Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code, ’’person’’ means a natural person, a legal person, and any association of persons which is not a legal person but which is recognised under Union or national law as having the capacity to perform legal acts (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1).

(15)  The data provided by unrelated importers may also be used in relation to aspects of this investigation other than the determination of dumping.

(16)  In case of technical problems please contact the Trade Service Desk by Email: trade-service-desk@ec.europa.eu or by Tel. +32 22979797.

(17)  A ‘Sensitive’ document is a document which is considered confidential pursuant to Article 19 of the basic Regulation and Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-Dumping Agreement). It is also a document protected pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

(18)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.10698 – MITSUI / INDOMOBIL / PTL / JV)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 217/05)

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(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

(2022/C 217/06)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1) .

The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Cordero Manchego’

EU No: PGI-ES-0047-AM03 – 1.12.2020

PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name

‘Cordero Manchego’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Spain

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.1. Fresh meat (and offal)

3.2.   Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

Fresh meat exclusively from lambs of the Manchego breed, irrespective of their sex. Carcasses in the ‘Extra’ and ‘First’ categories, weighing between 10 and 15 kg in the case of the ‘Recental’ (young lambs) type or between 5 and 8 kg in the case of the ‘Lechal’ (suckling lamb) type (1 kg less if headless and without the pluck), with an elongated profile, slightly rounded contours and harmonious proportions. Meats that are lean to moderately fatty. Fat that is a creamy-white colour and has a firm consistency. Meat that is pale pink in colour, is very tender and succulent, and has a very pleasant smell.

3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

Lambs must be fed in stables on their mothers’ milk supplemented, ad libitum, with white straw and concentrates permitted by the Regulatory Council, until they can be weaned and fed only on white straw and the aforementioned concentrates.

3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The lambs must be reared and fattened within the identified geographical area.

3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product to which the registered name refers

—

3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product to which the registered name refers

Carcasses protected by the PGI are marked with an indelible ink stamp containing the letters ‘CM’ on the shanks, ribs and shoulders and are labelled with an individual number depicting the logo of the Regulatory Council. The colour differs depending on the type of ‘Cordero Manchego’ [Recental (young lamb) or Lechal (suckling lamb)].

Logo of the Regulatory Board for the ‘Cordero Manchego’ PGI, ‘Recental’ (young lamb) type

Logo of the Regulatory Board for the ‘Cordero Manchego’ PGI, ‘Lechal’ (suckling lamb) type

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The production or breeding area in which the Manchego breed is farmed covers the geographical area of La Mancha, which comprises the following districts:

1.	Albacete: Mancha, Manchuela, Centro and Almansa.

2.	Ciudad Real: Mancha, Campo de Calatrava and Campo de Montiel.

3.	Cuenca: Manchuela, Mancha Baja and Mancha Alta.

4.	Toledo: La Mancha With an area of 79 230 km2, Castile-La Mancha is the third largest Autonomous Community in Spain

5.   Link with the geographical area

The link between the ‘Cordero Manchego’ PGI [and the geographical area] is based on the characteristics of the fresh meat, which is exclusively from lambs of the Manchego breed. The meat is lean to moderately fatty and the fat is creamy-white in colour and firm in consistency. The meat is pale pink in colour. It is very tender and succulent and has a very pleasant smell.

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area

La Mancha is an ancient steppe, cultivated by the Romans for esparto grass, which the Arabs called ‘Manyá’, meaning ‘waterless’. These two names clearly denote the character of the region.

Although Castile-La Mancha has traditionally been considered a plain (given that its most characteristic feature is the geographical area of La Mancha), it is actually more like a raised plateau criss-crossed by mountains; two thirds of the area is at an altitude of above 600 m, and no part of it is less than 200 m above sea level. The area is therefore predominantly flat and high country with mountainous areas both on the edges and in the interior of the region, resulting in a wide variety of topographical features and landscape.

In geological terms it is a plain formed of Miocene sediments, at an altitude of between 650 and 800 metres above sea level. Large shallow ponds and pools form across the flat plain during the rainy season, which retain the water for a certain amount of time.

The main rivers of the area are the Tagus, the upper reaches of the Guadiana, the upper and middle reaches of the Júcar, the Záncara, the Cigüela, the Jabalón and the Riánsares which, despite having very erratic watercourses, are utilised extensively for irrigation, particularly in recent times, when large tracts of land have been irrigated.

An analysis of the average annual temperatures for four settlements in the region shows that absolute maximum temperatures may exceed 35 oC in the summer months. The hottest month is July, when average temperatures can rise to as much as 25 oC.

Average annual precipitation is typically close to 400 mm, as compared to an average of 600 mm for Spain as a whole. Apart from being scarce, the rainfall is also distributed unevenly. First of all, this is the result of considerable unevenness of rainfall from year to year, meaning that volumes of rainfall in a climatic series can be very different from one another. A second reason is the annual distribution of rainfall; summer stands out as the driest season, accounting for barely 10-15 % of annual rainfall. By contrast, spring and autumn are usually the wettest seasons.

5.2.   Specificity of the product

The lamb’s varied diet, obtained by grazing in arid areas, and the peculiarities of the breed itself gives its meat special characteristics in terms of succulence, colour and flavour which are related to its origins.

5.3.   Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The Manchego breed is a native ovine species which has adapted to this region since the earliest times and is one of the main sources of wealth in this district. It has managed to remain pure and free from cross-breeding, and it has adapted over time to grazing in arid areas. It exploits the area’s natural resources, flora, pasture, forage, fallow land, stubble and scrubland; this varied diet and the peculiarities of the breed itself give its meat special characteristics in terms of succulence, colour and flavour which are related to its origins.

Lambs from ewes of the Manchego breed have been sold on the market since ancient times. It follows that over the centuries, breeding and fattening practices have been honed to bring out the best qualities in this meat, which is traditional of La Mancha.

Reference to publication of the product specification

https://pagina.jccm.es/agricul/paginas/comercial-industrial/consejos_new/pliegos/Pliego_Condiciones_CM_Modificado_20200619.pdf

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(1)  OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.