[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38544-38545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18702]


      

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Part VI





Department of Commerce





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International Trade Administration



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Countervailing Duties: Certain Pasta From Italy and Turkey; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 24, 1996 / 
Notices  

[[Page 38544]]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[C-475-819]


Notice of Countervailing Duty Order and Amended Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta (``Pasta'') From Italy

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Hansen, Jennifer Yeske, Vincent 
Kane, or Cynthia Thirumalai, Import Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Room 3099, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-1276, 482-0189, 482-2815, 
or 482-4087, respectively.

Case History

    On June 14, 1996, the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') 
published its final determination in the countervailing duty 
investigation of pasta from Italy (61 FR 30288). We disclosed our 
calculations for the final determination to counsel for respondents and 
petitioners pursuant to their requests on June 5 through 28, 1996. None 
of the responding or petitioning parties alleged ministerial errors on 
the part of the Department.
    Upon further review of the calculations of countervailable subsidy 
rates, we discovered that ministerial errors were made in calculating 
the countervailable subsidy rate for Delverde, S.r.l. (``Delverde'') 
and Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata (``Tamma''), and the 
countervailable subsidy rate for Industria Alimentare Colavita, S.p.A. 
(``Indalco''). The ministerial errors also affect the all-others rate.
    On July 17, 1996, the U.S. International Trade Commission (``ITC'') 
notified us of its final determination that an industry in the United 
States suffered material injury as a result of subsidized imports of 
pasta from Italy.

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 Round Agreements Act.

Scope of Order

    The merchandise covered by this order is 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 order 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. Also excluded 
are imports of organic pasta from Italy that are accompanied by the 
appropriate certificate issued by the Associazione Marchigiana 
Agricultura Biologica (AMAB) or by Bioagricoop scrl.
    On July 9, 1996, after the date of our final countervailing duty 
determination, Euro-USA Trading Co., Inc., of Pawcatuck, CT, submitted 
materials to the Department supporting its request for an exclusion for 
pasta certified to be ``organic pasta.'' Among the documents submitted 
are a decree from the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 
authorizing Bioagricoop scrl to certify foodstuffs as organic for the 
implementation of EEC Regulation 2029/91. Also submitted is a letter 
(with an accompanying translation into English) from the Director of 
Controls of Processing and Marketing Firms at Bioargricoop stating that 
the organization will take responsibility for its organic pasta 
certificates and will supply and necessary documentation to U.S. 
authorities. On this basis, imports of organic pasta from Italy that 
are accompanied by the appropriate certificate issued by Bioagricoop 
scrl are excluded from the scope of this order.
    The merchandise covered by this order is currently classifiable 
under items 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope 
of this order is dispositive.

Ministerial Errors in Final Results of Investigation

    We discovered ministerial errors in our calculations after the 
publication of our final determination for the countervailing duty 
investigation. The ministerial errors resulted from an error in the 
application of the 0.5 percent test in the case of Delverde and Tamma, 
and the use of an inappropriate sales denominator in the case of 
Indalco, for calculations concerning certain industrial development 
grants and loans received pursuant to Law 64/86 and predecessor laws. 
The corrected countervailable subsidy rate for industrial development 
grants received is 2.21 percent ad valorem for Delverde and Tamma and 
0.46 percent ad valorem for Indalco. The corrected countervailable 
subsidy rate for industrial development loans for Indalco is 0.07 
percent ad valorem. For a further discussion of these ministerial 
errors, a public version of the memorandum to file dated July 5, 1996, 
is on file in the Central Records Unit in room B-099 in the main 
Commerce Building.
    The ministerial errors resulted in an increase in the final 
countervailable subsidy rate for Delverde and Tamma, a decrease in the 
final subsidy rate for Indalco, and an increase in the final 
countervailable subsidy rate for producers and exporters of pasta from 
Italy which are subject to the all-others rate. The corrected 
countervailable subsidy rates are published in the Countervailing Duty 
Order section of this notice, below.

Countervailing Duty Order

    On July 17, 1996, pursuant to section 705(d) of the Act, the ITC 
notified the Department that an industry in the United States is 
materially injured by imports of the subject merchandise from Italy 
within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A) of the Act. Therefore, 
countervailing duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of 
pasta from Italy entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on 
or after October 17, 1995, the date on which the Department published 
its preliminary countervailing duty determination in the Federal 
Register, and before February 14, 1996, the date the Department 
instructed the U.S. Customs Service to terminate the suspension of 
liquidation in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, and on all 
entries and withdrawals made on or after the date of publication of 
this countervailing duty order in the Federal Register. Section 703(d) 
states that the suspension of liquidation pursuant to a preliminary 
determination may not remain in effect for more than four months. 
Entries of pasta made on or after February 14, 1996, and prior to the 
date of publication of this order in the Federal Register are not 
liable for the assessment of countervailing duties due to the 
Department's termination, effective February 14, 1996, of the 
suspension of liquidation.
    In accordance with section 706 of the Act, the Department will 
direct United

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States Customs officers to reinstate suspension of liquidation an to 
assess, upon further advice by the administering authority pursuant to 
section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of 
the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable 
subsidy rate for the subject merchandise.
    On or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, U.S. Customs officers must require, at the same time as 
importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise, 
a cash deposit equal to the countervailable subsidy rates as noted 
below. The ad valorem countervailable subsidy rates are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Ad   
                           Company                              valorem 
                                                                  rate  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agritalia, S.r.l.............................................       2.55
Arrighi S.p.A. Industrie Alimentari..........................       2.44
Barilla G. e R. F.lli S.p.A..................................       0.65
De Matteis Agroalimentare S.p.A..............................       2.47
Delverde, S.r.l..............................................       5.90
F.lli De Cecco di Filippo Fara S. Martino S.p.A..............       3.37
Gruppo Agricoltura Sana S.r.L................................       0.00
Industria Alimentare Colavita, S.p.A.........................       2.04
Isola del Grano S.r.L........................................      11.23
Italpast S.p.A...............................................      11.23
Italpasta S.r.L..............................................       2.44
La Molisana Alimentari S.p.A.,...............................       4.17
Labor S.r.L..................................................      11.23
Molino e Pastificio De Cecco S.p.A. Pescara..................       3.37
Pastificio Guido Ferrara.....................................       1.21
Pastificio Campano, S.p.A....................................       2.59
Pastificio Riscossa F.lli Mastromauro S.r.L..................       6.91
Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata.....................       5.90
All Others...................................................       3.85
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The ``All Others'' rate applies to all exporters and producers of 
pasta from Italy not specifically listed.
    Since the estimated net countervailable subsidy rate for Barilla G. 
e R. F.lli S.p.A. (``Barilla'') and Gruppo Agricoltura Sana S.r.L. 
(``Gruppo'') is either zero or de minimis, these companies are excluded 
from the application of the countervailing duty order on pasta from 
Italy. Pursuant to section 705(c)(3) of the Act, we are instructing the 
U.S. Customs Service to liquidate all pasta from Italy entered or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption by Barilla between October 17, 
1995 and February 14, 1996, and to proceed with liquidation of 
merchandise from Barilla and Gruppo which enter the United States on or 
after the date of publication of this countervailing duty order in the 
Federal Register without regard to countervailing duties. Additionally, 
we are instructing the U.S. Customs Service that any cash deposit or 
bond collected with respect to countervailing duties on pasta from 
Barilla should be released or refunded. Gruppo was assigned a zero 
margin in our preliminary determination, and, accordingly, was excluded 
from the suspension of liquidation which resulted from our preliminary 
determination.
    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 355.34(d). Timely written notification of 
return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial 
protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the 
regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This notice constitutes the countervailing duty order with respect 
to pasta from Italy. Interested parties may contact the Central Records 
Unit, room B-099 of the main Commerce Building, for copies of an 
updated list of countervailing duty orders currently in effect.
    This notice of amendment of final determination and countervailing 
duty order is published in accordance with sections 705 (d) and (e) and 
706(a) of the Act.
    Dated: July 17, 1996.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-18702 Filed 7-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P