[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6348-6349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3618]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-489-805]


Notice of Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Turkey

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 20, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brinkmann or Michelle Frederick, 
Office of Antidumping Investigations, Import Administration, 
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 
Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 
(202) 482-5288 or (202) 482-0186, respectively.

APPLICABLE STATUTE AND REGULATIONS: Unless otherwise indicated, all 
citations to the statute are references to the provisions effective 
January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the 
Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act) by the Uruguay Rounds Agreements Act 
(URAA).

Scope of Investigation

    The scope of this investigation consists of certain non-egg dry 
pasta in packages of five pounds (or 2.27 kilograms) or less, whether 
or not enriched or fortified or containing milk or other optional 
ingredients such as chopped vegetables, vegetable purees, milk, gluten, 
diastases, vitamins, coloring and flavorings, and up to two percent egg 
white. The pasta covered by this scope is typically sold in the retail 
market, in fiberboard or cardboard cartons or polyethylene or 
polypropylene bags, of varying dimensions.
    Excluded from the scope of this investigation are refrigerated, 
frozen, or canned pastas, as well as all forms of egg pasta, with the 
exception of non-egg dry pasta containing up to two percent egg white.
    The merchandise under investigation is currently classifiable under 
item 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 
(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

Case History

    On December 14, 1995, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
made its affirmative preliminary determination of sales at less than 
fair value (Preliminary Determination) in the above-referenced 
investigation (61 FR 1351, January 19, 1996). On January 18 and 19, 
1996, we disclosed our calculations for the preliminary determination 
to the respondents, Filiz Gida Sanayii ve Ticaret (Filiz) and Maktas 
Makarnacilik ve Ticaret T.A.S (Maktas), and to the petitioners, 
respectively, pursuant to their requests. On January 25, 1996, we 
received a submission from the petitioners alleging ministerial errors 
in the Department's preliminary determination calculations. The 
respondents, in their January 26, 1996, submission alleged that the 
Department made a ministerial error by failing to include appropriate 
language instructing Customs to limit the duration of provisional 
measures to four months.
    For both Filiz and Maktas, the petitioners alleged two ministerial 
errors. First, the petitioners alleged that the Department understated 
U.S. packing expenses by mistakenly converting the expenses from 
Turkish lira to U.S. dollars twice. Second, the petitioners alleged 
that the Department inadvertently omitted selling expenses from its 
calculation of an amount for profit included in constructed value (CV).
    With regard to U.S. packing expenses, we agree that the error as 
alleged by the petitioners constitutes a ministerial error within the 
meaning of 19 CFR 353.28(d). With regard to the petitioners' allegation 
concerning the calculation of CV profit, we disagree that the error 
alleged by the petitioners is a ministerial error. The Department in 
its margin programs correctly calculated the amount for CV profit for 
both respondents. (For specific details of these allegations and our 
analysis of them, see Memorandum from the Team to Barbara R. Stafford 
dated February 6, 1996.) With regard to the respondents' allegation 
concerning provisional measures, we have determined that their 
allegation does not constitute a ministerial error. For further 
discussion on this issue, see Memorandum from Marguerite Trossevin to 
Susan G. Esserman dated February 7, 1996.

Amendment of Preliminary Determination

    The Department has stated that it will amend a preliminary 
determination only to correct for significant ministerial errors (i.e., 
corrections that result in a difference of at least 5 absolute 
percentage points and that are at least 25 percent greater or less than 
the preliminary margin, and corrections resulting in a margin of zero 
or de minimis). See Notice of Amendment to Preliminary Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: 
Bicycles From 

[[Page 6349]]
the People's Republic of China, 60 FR 64016 (December 13, 1995).
    Given the facts of this investigation, as noted above, we are 
amending Filiz's and Maktas' preliminary dumping margins to correct for 
the ministerial error regarding U.S. packing expenses, since the 
correction of this ministerial error results in a difference of at 
least five absolute percentage points and is at least 25 percent 
greater than the preliminary margin. The corrected dumping margins for 
Filiz and Maktas are 34.04 and 45.84 percent, respectively. As a result 
the ``All Others'' rate is now 41.33 percent.

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing 
the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries 
of pasta from Turkey that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of this amended 
preliminary determination notice in the Federal Register. As discussed 
in the Preliminary Determination, we are subtracting for deposit 
purposes, the rate attributable to the export subsidies found in the 
concurrent countervailing duty investigation (14.72 percent and 19.80 
percent for Filiz and Maktas, respectively) from the antidumping margin 
percentages for Filiz and Maktas. The ``All Others'' deposit rate is 
based on subtracting the rate attributable to the export subsidies 
included in the countervailing duty investigation for those companies 
that are respondents in the antidumping investigation and that are 
found to have dumping margins. In keeping with Article 17.4 of the WTO 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the Department will 
terminate the suspension of liquidation in the companion countervailing 
duty investigation of Certain Pasta From Turkey, effective February 14, 
1996, which is 120 days after the date of publication of the 
preliminary determination. Accordingly, on February 14, 1996, the 
antidumping deposit rate will revert to the full amount calculated in 
this amended preliminary determination. These suspension of liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

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                                                                     Original                                   
                 Manufacturer/producer/exporter                       margin      Revised margin      Deposit   
                                                                    percentages     percentages     percentages 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filiz...........................................................           10.44           34.04           19.32
Maktas..........................................................           18.80           45.84           26.04
All Others......................................................           15.61           41.33           23.41
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the 
International Trade Commission of our amended preliminary 
determination.
    This amended preliminary determination is published in accordance 
with section 733(f) of the Act.

    Dated: February 12, 1996.
Susan G. Esserman,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-3618 Filed 2-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P