Notice of Initiation of a safeguard investigation concerning imports of certain textile products originating in the People's Republic of China

(2005/C 104/07)

The Commission has collected information on the trend of imports of certain textile products originating in the People's Republic of China (‘the PRC’) that appear to call for the opening of an investigation into whether to invoke the textile specific safeguard provisions concerning products originating in the PRC pursuant to Article 10a of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 (1).

1.   Information collected by the Commission

The information on imports collected by the Commission through the import monitoring system pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/2004 (2) contains indications that imports of product categories listed in the Annex to this Notice may threaten to impede the orderly development of trade. In particular, imports of those product categories have clearly exceeded the indicative thresholds laid down in the Notice on Application of Article 10(a) of Council regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 (3) during the first quarter of 2005.

2.   Products

The products concerned are certain textile product categories as listed in the Annex to this Notice.

3.   Trends of imports originating in the PRC

The following import growths have been recorded during the first quarter of 2005 when compared with the same period of 2004:

4.   Procedure

The Commission has concluded that there is sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of an investigation in relation to the product categories concerned. The Commission has therefore decided to initiate an investigation to determine whether the application of textile specific safeguard measures in relation to those product categories is warranted.

4.1.   Written submissions, questionnaire replies and correspondence

All interested parties are invited to make their views known in writing and submit information. Any interested party wishing to do so must submit its views and information within 21 calendar days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, failing which its views and information may not be taken into account during the investigation.

In addition, the Commission will solicit information from associations of producers in the Community of the product categories listed in the Annex to this Notice. The Commission will also solicit information from producers of these product categories in the Community. Due account taken of the time limits to conclude the investigation and the fragmentation of the industry, these producers will be selected on the basis of information available, inter alia, at the relevant associations of producers in the Community. Interested parties in third countries or in the Community may be invited to or otherwise directly submit information on the impact of any changes in export trends to the Community on their own industries. Likewise, consumer associations and distributors in the Community are hereby invited to make their views known and submit any pertinent evidence.

The solicited information should reach the Commission within the above mentioned deadline of 21 calendar days. All relevant information is to be communicated to the Commission. All submissions and requests made by interested parties should be made in writing (not in electronic format unless otherwise specified) and should indicate the name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax, and/or telex numbers of the interested party. All written submissions, including the information requested in this notice, questionnaire replies and correspondence provided by interested parties on a confidential basis should be labelled as ‘Limited’ and should be accompanied by a non-confidential version, which should be labelled ‘For inspection by interested parties’.

The Commission address for correspondence is:

4.2   Hearings

The Commission may hear interested parties. Any interested party may apply to be heard orally by the Commission. The Commission will grant an oral hearing to any interested party who applies in writing within 21 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, showing that they are actually likely to be affected by the outcome of the investigation and that there are special reasons for them to be heard orally.

5.   Inspection of information

Interested parties who have made their views known or submitted information may, upon a written request, inspect all information made available to the Commission in connection with the investigation other than internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States, provided that such information is relevant to the presentation of their case and not confidential and that it is used by the Commission in the investigation. Interested parties which have come forward may communicate their views on the information in question to the Commission and those views may be taken into consideration where they are supported by sufficient evidence.

6.   Schedule of the investigation

The investigation shall be conducted within no more than 60 days of the date of the publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. This period may be extended by 10 working days in exceptional circumstances. If at the end of the investigation the Commission concludes that the conditions for the imposition of textile specific safeguard measures regarding the products concerned are fulfilled, it shall consult the Textiles Committee and decide in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93, in particular, whether to request formal consultations with the PRC pursuant to Article 10a(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93. The Commission will publish the decision and its reasons in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(1)  OJ L 275, 8.11.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/2004 (OJ L 374, 22.12.2004, p. 1).

(2)  OJ L 374, 22.12.2004, p. 1.

(3)  Not yet published in the Official Journal.