(1)

The Council, by Regulation (EC) No 1015/94 (2), imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of television camera systems (‘TCS’) originating in Japan.

(2)

In Article 1(3)(e) of Regulation No 1015/94, the Council specifically excluded from the scope of the anti-dumping duty camera systems listed in the Annex to that Regulation (‘the Annex’), representing high-end professional camera systems technically falling within the product definition under Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1015/94, but which cannot be regarded as television camera systems.

(3)

In October 1995, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 2474/95 (3), amended Regulation (EC) No 1015/94, in particular as regards the definition of the like product and certain models of professional camera systems which were explicitly exempted from the definitive anti-dumping duty.

(4)

In October 1997, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 1952/97 (4), amended the rates of the definitive anti-dumping duty for two companies concerned, namely for Sony Corporation and Ikegami Tsushinki Co. Ltd pursuant to Article 12 of the basic Regulation. Furthermore, the Council specifically excluded from the scope of the anti-dumping duty certain new models of professional camera systems by adding them to the Annex.

(5)

In January 1999 and January 2000, the Council, by Regulations (EC) No 193/1999 (5) and (EC) No 176/2000 (6), amended Regulation (EC) No 1015/94 by adding certain successor models of professional camera systems to the Annex and thus excluding those from the application of the definitive anti-dumping duty. In October 2004, the Council, by Regulation (EC) 1754/2004 (7), amended Regulation (EC) No 176/2000.

(6)

In September 2000, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 (8), confirmed the definitive anti-dumping duties imposed by Regulation (EC) No 1015/94 pursuant to Article 11(2) of the basic Regulation.

(7)

In January 2001 and in May 2001, the Council, by Regulations (EC) No 198/2001 (9) and (EC) No 951/2001 (10), amended Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 by adding certain successor models of professional camera systems to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 and thus excluding them from the application of the definitive anti-dumping duty.

(8)

In September 2001, further to an interim review pursuant to Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 1900/2001 (11) confirmed the level of the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 on imports of TCS from the exporting producer Hitachi Denshi Ltd.

(9)

In September 2002, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 1696/2002 (12), amended Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 by adding certain successor models of professional camera systems to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 and thus excluding them from the application of the definitive anti-dumping duty.

(10)

In April 2004, the Council, by Regulation (EC) No 825/2004, amended Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 by adding certain successor models of professional camera systems to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 and thus excluding them from the application of the definitive anti-dumping duty.

(11)

Two Japanese exporting producers, namely Sony Corporation (‘Sony’) and Victor Company of Japan Limited (‘JVC’) informed the Commission that they intended to introduce new models of professional camera systems into the Community market and requested the Commission to add these new models of professional camera systems, including their accessories, to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 and thus exempt them from the scope of the anti-dumping duties.

(12)

The Commission informed the Community industry accordingly and commenced an investigation limited to the determination of whether the products under consideration fall within the scope of the anti-dumping duties and whether the operational part of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 should be amended accordingly.

(13)

The requests for exemption were received for the following models of camera systems, supplied with the relevant technical information:

The Sony viewfinder was presented as a model which can only be used with camcorders, cameras that are outside the scope of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000. The JVC model was presented as a successor to a professional camera model already excluded from the anti-dumping measure in force.

(14)

It was found that viewfinder HDVF-C30W falls under the product description of Article 1(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000. However, it can only be used with camera heads that do not fall under the product description of Article 1(2)(a) of that Regulation. In particular, the signal-to-noise ratio of these camera heads is 54 dB, whereas the description in Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 for the camera heads requires ‘55 dB or more at normal gain’. Therefore, it was concluded that this viewfinder should be regarded as a professional camera system falling within the definition of Article 1(3)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000. As a result, this viewfinder should be excluded from the scope of the existing anti-dumping measures and added to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000.

(15)

In accordance with the established Community Institutions' practice, this model should be exempted from the duty from the date of receipt by the Commission services of the relevant request for exemption. Therefore, all imports of Sony-Viewfinder HDVF-C30W imported on or after 1 April 2003 should be exempted from the duty from this date.

(16)

It was found that camera head KY-F560E, although falling within the product description of Article 1(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000, is mainly used in technical and medical applications. It was therefore concluded that this model was to be regarded as a professional camera system falling within the definition of Article 1(3)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000. It should therefore be excluded from the scope of the existing anti-dumping measures and added to the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000.

(17)

In accordance with the established Community Institutions’ practice, this model should be exempted from the duty from the date of receipt by the Commission services of the relevant request for exemption. Therefore, all imports of JVC-Camera head KY-F560E imported on or after 15 April 2004 should be exempted from the duty from this date.

(18)

The Commission informed the Community industry and the exporters of the TCS of its findings and provided them with an opportunity to present their views. None of the parties objected to the Commission's findings.

(19)

On the basis of the foregoing, Regulation (EC) No 2042/2000 should be amended accordingly,