[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38547-38549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18705]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[A-475-818]


Notice of Antidumping Duty Order and Amended Final Determination 
of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Italy

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brinkmann at (202) 482-5288, 
Jennifer Katt at (202) 482-0498, or Greg Thompson (202) 482-3003, 
Office of Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Import 
Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 
20230.

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 by the Uruguay 
Round Agreements Act (URAA).

Amended Final Determination

    In accordance with section 735(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act), on June 3, 1996, the Department made its final 
determination that certain pasta (pasta) from Italy is being, or is 
likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (61 FR 
30287 (June 14, 1996)). Subsequent to the final determination, we 
received submissions, timely filed pursuant to 19 CFR 353.28(b), from 
La Molisana Industrie Alimentari S.p.A. (La Molisana), Pastificio 
Fratelli Pagani S.p.A. (Pagani), and De Matteis Agroalimentare S.p.A. 
(De Matteis), alleging ministerial errors in the Department's final 
determination for these respondents. We also received submissions from 
Borden Inc., Hershey Foods Corp., and Gooch Foods, Inc. (collectively 
the petitioners) alleging ministerial errors in the Department's final 
determination for Arrighi S.p.A. Industrie Alimentari (Arrighi) and its 
affiliate, Italpasta S.p.A. (Italpasta), Delverde, SrL (Delverde) 
including its affiliate Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata, SrL 
(Tamma), and Pagani. The parties filed comments to the

[[Page 38548]]

clerical error allegations on June 21, 27, and July 1, 1996.
    We determine, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.28(d), that ministerial 
errors were made in our margin calculations for Arrighi and Pagani. 
Specifically, our calculation of Arrighi's cost of production failed to 
fully capture the semolina cost of affiliated suppliers. In the case of 
Pagani, our calculation incorrectly included the amount reported in the 
field old discount (OLDDISU) when calculating U.S. credit and discount 
expenses, and also understated certain general administrative expenses. 
Additionally, in preparing the recalculation for the ministerial error 
described above, we noted two minor inadvertent errors in the 
programming for Pagani which were not noted by either the petitioners 
or the respondents. For a detailed discussion of the above-cited 
ministerial errors and the Department's analysis, see Memorandum from 
Case Analysts to Barbara R. Stafford, dated July 8, 1996. In accordance 
with 19 CFR 353.28(c), we are amending the final determination of the 
antidumping duty investigation of pasta from Italy to correct these 
ministerial errors. The revised final weighted-average dumping margins 
are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Manufacturer/producer/                                                                                       
          exporter                   Original margin percentage                 Revised margin percentage       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrighi/Italpasta...........  20.24...................................  21.34                                   
De Cecco....................  46.67 (facts available).................  46.67 (facts available)                 
De Matteis..................  0.67 (de minimis).......................  0.67 (de minimis)                       
Delverde/Tamma..............  2.80....................................  2.80                                    
La Molisana.................  14.78...................................  14.78                                   
Liguori.....................  12.41...................................  12.41                                   
Pagani......................  12.90...................................  18.30                                   
All Others..................  11.21...................................  12.09                                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scope of Order

    The scope of this order 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 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 antidumping 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 the 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 under 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 
investigation is dispositive.

Antidumping Duty Order

    On July 17, 1996, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department that 
the U.S. pasta industry is materially injured by imports of pasta from 
Italy. Therefore, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, the 
Department will direct United States Customs officers to assess, upon 
further advice by the administering authority pursuant to section 
736(a)(1) of the Act, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which 
the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price or 
constructed export price for all entries of pasta from Italy. These 
antidumping duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of 
pasta from Italy entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption 
on or after January 19, 1996, the date on which the Department 
published its preliminary determination notice in the Federal Register 
(61 FR 1347). 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, the following 
cash deposits for the subject merchandise:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Revised 
               Manufacturer/producer/exporter                   margin  
                                                              percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrighi/Italpasta...........................................      21.34 
De Cecco....................................................      46.67 
De Matteis..................................................       0.00 
Delverde/Tamma..............................................       2.80 
La Molisana.................................................      14.78 
Liguori.....................................................      12.41 
Pagani......................................................      18.30 
All Others..................................................      12.09 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Article VI (5) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947) 
prohibits assessing dumping duties on the portion of the margin 
attributable to an export subsidy. In this case, the product under 
investigation is subject to a countervailing duty investigation (see 
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta from 
Italy (61 FR 30288 (June 14, 1996)). Therefore, for all entries of 
pasta from Italy, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption 
made on or after the date on which the order in the companion 
countervailing duty investigation is published in the Federal Register, 
we will request for duty deposit purposes, that United States Customs 
deduct the portion of the margin attributable to the export subsidy 
from the countervailing duty investigation. The cash deposit rates for 
antidumping purposes will be as follows:

[[Page 38549]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Cash 
                 Manufacturer/producer/exporter                  deposit
                                                                   rate 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrighi/Italpasta..............................................    19.09
De Cecco.......................................................    46.67
De Matteis.....................................................     0.00
Delverde/Tamma.................................................     1.68
La Molisana....................................................    14.73
Liguori........................................................    12.41
Pagani.........................................................    18.30
All Others.....................................................    11.26
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to 
pasta from Italy, pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested 
parties may contact the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Main 
Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list of antidumping duty 
orders currently in effect.
    This order is published pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act (19 
U.S.C. 1673e (a)) and 19 CFR 353.21.

    Dated: July 17, 1996.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-18705 Filed 7-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P