[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]
[[Page 38543]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VI
Department of Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
International Trade Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
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
[[Page 38545]]
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