[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2202-2204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-946]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-351-605]
Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice From Brazil: Preliminary Results
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; Termination in Part; and
Intent Not to Revoke in Part
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of antidumping duty
administrative review; termination in part; and intent to revoke in
part.
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SUMMARY: In response to timely requests from three producer/exporters,
Branco Peres Citrus, S.A. (Branco Peres), CTM Citrus, S.A. (CTM)
(formerly Citro-pectina), and Citrovita, S.A., the Department of
Commerce (the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) from
Brazil. This review covers the period May 1, 1993, through April 30,
1994. Since Citrovita timely withdrew its request for review in
accordance with 19 CFR 353.22(a)(5), and no other party requested a
review of Citrovita, we are terminating the review with respect to this
firm.
For these results, we preliminarily determine the dumping margins
for Branco Peres and CTM to be 0.52 percent and zero, respectively.
Moreover, we do not intend to revoke the order with respect to CTM
because, although CTM submitted a timely request for revocation, it has
not met the necessary requirements. We invite interested parties to
comment on these preliminary results. Parties who submit argument in
this proceeding are requested to submit with the argument (1) a
statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the argument.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 14, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Fabian Rivelis or Irina Itkin, Office 5, Office of AD/CVD Enforcement,
Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3853 or (202) 482-0656,
respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On May 5, 1987, the Department published in the Federal Register
(52 FR 16426) the antidumping duty order on FCOJ from Brazil. On May 4,
1994, the Department published a notice of ``Opportunity to Request an
Administrative Review'' of this antidumping duty order for the period
May 1, 1993, through April 30, 1994. We received timely requests for
review from three respondents: Branco Peres, Citrovita, and CTM. In
addition, CTM submitted a timely request for revocation of the
antidumping duty order, accompanied by the certification required by 19
CFR 353.25(b)(1) of the Department's regulations.
On June 15, 1994, the Department published a notice of initiation
(59 FR 30770) covering Branco Peres and CTM. On July 15, 1994, we
published a notice of initiation covering Citrovita (59 FR 36161),
which we had inadvertently omitted from the June initiation notice.
Because Citrovita subsequently withdrew its request for review in a
timely manner, the Department is terminating the review of Citrovita
for this period.
Applicable Statute and Regulations
The Department is conducting this administrative review in
accordance with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the
Act). Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute and to
the Department's regulations are in reference to the provisions as they
existed on December 31, 1994.
Scope of the Review
The merchandise covered by this review is frozen concentrated
orange juice from Brazil. The merchandise is currently classifiable
under item 2009.11.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS). The HTSUS item number is provided for convenience and
for customs purpose. The written description remains dispositive.
Period of Review
The review period is May 1, 1993, through April 30, 1994.
Verification
As provided in section 776(b) of the Act, we verified information
provided by one respondent, CTM, using standard verification
procedures, including on-site inspection of the manufacturer's
facilities, examination of relevant sales and financial records, and
selection of original documentation containing relevant information.
Our verification results are outlined in the public version of the
verification report.
United States Price
In calculating the United States price (USP), we used purchase
price as defined in section 772 of the Act because all of Branco
Peres's and CTM's sales to the first unrelated purchaser took place
prior to importation to the United States and exporter's sales price
methodology was not otherwise indicated.
We calculated purchase price based on the packed FOB or C&F price
to the first unrelated trading company/wholesale distributor because
respondents had knowledge that their sales to these unrelated parties
were destined for the United States. We made deductions from USP, where
appropriate, for foreign inland freight, Brazilian brokerage and
handling expenses, ocean freight, and insurance, in accordance with
section 772(d)(2) of the Act.
Foreign Market Value
In order to determine whether there were sufficient sales of FCOJ
in the home market to serve as a viable basis for calculating foreign
market value (FMV), we compared each respondent's volume of FCOJ to the
volume of third-country sales, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B)
of the Act and 19 CFR 353.48(a). We found that the home market was not
viable for either
[[Page 2203]]
respondent. Based on each respondent's questionnaire response, we
selected the Netherlands as the appropriate third-country market for
each respondent, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.49(b).
A. Branco Peres
In accordances with 19 CFR 353.49(a)(1), we calculated FMV for
Branco Peres based on third-country FOB sales or offers for sale. If a
contemporaneous third country sale was available, we based FMV on the
third country sale. Where contemporaneous third-county sales were not
available, we based FMV on the applicable minimum export price \1\
(MEP) as a third-country offer for sale.\2\ We made deductions, where
appropriate, for foreign inland freight, port expenses, and insurance.
In cases where FMV was based on the MEP, we used the weighted average
of the charges and the adjustments reported for actual third-country
sales.
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\1\ The minimum export price is a floor price set by the
Carteira do Comercio Exterior de Banco do Brasil (CACEX), the export
department of the Bank of Brazil. Minimum export prices are based on
the price of FCOJ on the New York Cotton Exchange. Because the price
movements of FCOJ on the futures market are irregular, the minimum
export price may remain the same or change several times within a
month.
\2\ Since Branco Peres's prices are linked to the MEP, we
followed the methodology used in the sixth review where comparison
periods were based on a change in the minimum export price
throughout the continuum of the POR. See Notice of Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Frozen Concentrated Orange
Juice from Brazil (62 FR 5798 (February 7, 1997)).
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B. CTM
In accordance with 19 CFR 353.49(a)(1), we calculated FMV for CTM
based on third-country FOB and CIF sales. An analysis of CTM's
questionnaire response reveals that it did not set prices for export
sales based on MEPs. Therefore, we did not use the minimum export price
methodology described above with respect to CTM. Where there was no
contemporaneous Dutch sale to compare to a U.S. sale, we based FMV on a
contemporaneous sale to another third country, Belgium. Because we did
not request CTM to submit constructed value information, we find that
use of this sale is appropriate as a reasonable surrogate for
constructed value.
We made deductions, where appropriate, for foreign inland freight,
port expenses, ocean freight, and insurance. In accordance with section
773(a)(1) of the Act, we deducted, where applicable, third-country
packing expenses and added U.S. packing. We made circumstance-of-sale
adjustments, where appropriate, for differences in credit expenses and
commissions.
Currency Conversion
No certified rates of exchange, as furnished by the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York, were available for the POR. In place of the official
certified rates, we used the daily official exchange rates for the
Brazilian currency published by the Central Bank of Brazil which were
provided by CTM in its August 29, 1994, response and verified by the
Department.
Preliminary Results of Review
We preliminarily determine that the following margins exist for the
period May 1, 1993 through April 30, 1994:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent
Manufacturer/exporter Review period margin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Branco Peres............................... 5/1/93-4/30/94 0.52
CTM........................................ 5/1/93-4/30/94 .00
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The Department does not intend to revoke the antidumping duty order
with respect to CTM because CTM has not demonstrated three consecutive
years of sales at not less than FMV (see Notice of Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: Frozen Concentrated Orange
Juice from Brazil (62 FR 5798 (February 7, 1997))).
Interested parties may request a disclosure within 5 days of
publication of this notice and may request a hearing within 10 days of
the date of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44
days after the date of publication, or the first workday thereafter.
Interested parties may submit case briefs within 30 days of the date of
publication. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs,
may be filed not later than 37 days after the date of publication.
Copies of case briefs and rebuttal briefs must be served on interested
parties in accordance with 19 CFR 353.38(c). Representatives of parties
to the proceeding may request disclosure of proprietary information
under administrative protective order no later than 10 days after the
representative's client or employer becomes a party to the proceeding,
but in any event, not later than the date the case briefs are due,
under 19 CFR 353.38(c). The Department will publish the final results
of this administrative review, which will include the results of its
analysis of issues raised in any such case briefs.
The Department shall determine, and the Customs Service shall
assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries. Individual
differences between USP and FMV may vary from the percentages stated
above. We have calculated a company-specific duty assessment rate based
on the ratio of the total amount of AD duties calculated for the
examined sales made during the POR to the total value of subject
merchandise entered during the POR. The rate will be assessed uniformly
on all entries of that particular company made during the POR. The
Department will issue appraisement instructions directly to the Customs
Service.
Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective
for all shipments of FCOJ from Brazil, entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the
final results of this administrative review, as provided by section
751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) Because a subsequent administrative review of
Branco Peres has been completed, the cash deposit rate for this company
will continue to be the rate calculated in the administrative review
(see Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice from Brazil: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review (62 FR 29328 (May 30, 1997)));
(2) the cash deposit rate for CTM will be the calculated margin in the
final results of this administrative review; (3) for previously
reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, the cash deposit
rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the
most recent period; (4) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this
review, a prior review, or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV)
investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will be
the rate established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of
the merchandise; and (5) for all other producers and/or exporters of
this merchandise, the cash deposit rate will be 1.96 percent, the ``all
others'' rate from the LTFV investigation. These cash deposit
requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until publication of
the final results of the next administrative review.
This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of
their responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
This administrative review and notice are in accordance with
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and 19 CFR 353.22.
[[Page 2204]]
Dated: January 8, 1998.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-946 Filed 1-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M