[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 21 (Monday, February 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5354-5360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2482]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[A-301-602]


Certain Fresh Cut Flowers From Colombia: Preliminary Results and 
Partial Termination of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review.

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

ACTION: Notice of Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review.

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SUMMARY: In response to requests from interested parties, the 
Department of Commerce is conducting an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on certain fresh cut flowers from Colombia for 
the period March 1, 1996 through February 28, 1997.
    We have preliminarily determined that sales have been made below 
the normal value by various companies subject to this review. If these 
preliminary results are adopted in our final results of this 
administrative review, we will instruct U.S. Customs to assess 
antidumping duties equal to the difference between the export price or 
constructed export price and the normal value (NV). For certain 
companies who have requested that we rescind their requests for review, 
we have granted that request.
    We invite interested parties to comment on these preliminary 
results. Parties who submit arguments are requested to submit with each 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument. The deadlines for submission of argument are listed at the 
end of this notice. All memoranda referred to in this notice can be 
found in the public reading room, located in the Central

[[Page 5355]]

Records Unit, room B-099 of the main Department of Commerce building.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 2, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosa Jeong or Marian Wells, Office of 
AD/CVD Enforcement, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-
1278 or 482-6309, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended (the Act), are references to the provisions effective 
January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Act 
by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless 
otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department of Commerce's (the 
Department's) regulations are to the regulations codified at 19 CFR 
part 353 (April 1997).

Background

    On March 7, 1997, the Department published in the Federal Register 
a notice of ``Opportunity to Request Administrative Review'' with 
respect to the antidumping duty order on certain fresh cut flowers from 
Colombia. See 62 FR 10521. In accordance with 19 CFR 353.22(c), on 
April 15, 1997, we initiated an administrative review of this order. 
See 62 FR 18312. On October 15, 1997, in accordance with section 
751(a)(3)(A) of the Act, we extended the deadline for these preliminary 
results until January 26, 1998. See 62 FR 53593. From December 8 
through December 16, 1997, we verified the responses of one respondent, 
the Caicedo Group. The Department has conducted this administrative 
review in accordance with section 751 of the Act.

Scope of Review

    The scope of the order under review is shipments of certain fresh 
cut flowers from Colombia (standard carnations, miniature (spray) 
carnations, standard chrysanthemums and pompon chrysanthemums). These 
products are currently classifiable under item numbers 0603.10.30.00, 
0603.10.70.10, 0603.10.70.20, and 0603.10.70.30 of the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule (HTS). Although the HTS numbers are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope 
is dispositive. The period of review (POR) is March 1, 1996 through 
February 28, 1997.

Respondent Selection

    Section 777A(c)(2) of the Act provides the Department with the 
authority to determine margins by limiting its examination to a 
statistically valid sample of exporters or exporters accounting for the 
largest volume of the subject merchandise that can reasonably be 
examined. This subparagraph is formulated as an exception to the 
general requirement of the Act that each company for which a review is 
requested will be individually examined and receive a calculated 
margin. In this administrative review, 424 companies were either named 
in the initiation notice or have been identified as being affiliated 
with a company named in the initiation notice.
    Because of the large number of companies involved in the review and 
the limited resources available to the Department, we determined that 
it was administratively necessary to restrict the number of respondents 
selected for examination. This enabled us to conduct thorough and 
accurate analyses of the responses to our questionnaires and other 
relevant issues within the statutory deadlines. Restricting the number 
of respondents for examination is consistent with the most recent 
administrative review of this order and other past cases involving 
large numbers of potential respondents, statutory deadlines and limited 
resources. See, e.g., Certain Fresh Cut Flowers From Colombia: 
Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 62 FR 16772 (April 8, 1997) (Flowers Ninth 
Review); Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Pasta from Italy, 61 FR 1344 (January 19, 1996); Preliminary 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Brake Drums and Brake 
Rotors from the People's Republic of China, 61 FR 53190 (October 10, 
1996).
    The Department limited its examination in the present review to ten 
groups of exporters and producers accounting for the largest volume of 
flowers, in accordance with section 777A(c)(2)(B) of the Act. These 
exporters accounted for over 30 percent by volume of the total exports 
made during the POR to the United States from Colombia. Therefore, 
respondents are the following ten parties: the Agrodex Group (Agrodex); 
Caicedo Group (Caicedo); Claveles Colombianos Group (Clavecol); 
Cultivos Miramonte Group (Cultivos Miramonte); Floraterra Group 
(Floraterra); Florex Group (Florex); Guacatay Group (Guacatay); Queens 
Flowers Group (Queens); Tinzuque Group (Tinzuque); and Tuchany Group 
(Tuchany).

Non-Selected Respondents

    Consistent with our practice in Flowers Ninth Review, we have 
assigned the non-selected respondents a weighted-average margin based 
on the calculated margins of selected respondents, excluding any de 
minimis margins and margins based on facts available. The firms in 
question are listed under ``Non-Selected Respondents'' in the 
Preliminary Results of Review section below.

Terminations

    On July 9, 1997, Flexport de Colombia & Cia S.A. (Flexport), Flores 
Silvestres S.A. (Silvestres), Vegaflor, and Agropecuaria Sierra Loma 
S.A. (Sierra Loma) withdrew their requests for review. Silvestres, 
Sierra Loma, and Vegaflor were included in the Department's initiation 
notice, but Flexport was inadvertently omitted from the initiation 
notice. In accordance with 19 CFR 353.22(a)(5), we are terminating this 
review with respect to Sierra Loma and Vegaflor because these companies 
have filed timely requests for withdrawal and no other interested party 
requested that they be reviewed. The cash deposit rates for Sierra Loma 
and Vegaflor will continue to be the rates established for them in the 
most recently completed final results. Because Flexport was 
inadvertently omitted from the initiation notice and because no other 
party requested a review of it, Flexport continues not to be included 
in this review.
    With respect to Silvestres, a request for review was received for 
this company from the petitioner, the Floral Trade Council (FTC), on 
March 3, 1997. Because of the FTC's request, we are not terminating our 
review for this company.

Verification

    All ten selected respondents were verified during the two 
immediately preceding reviews. With the exception of one respondent, 
Caicedo, the verifications of all selected respondents during the two 
preceding reviews were successful. Therefore, Caicedo was the only 
respondent verified in the present review. We verified information 
provided by Caicedo using standard verification procedures, including 
on-site examination of relevant sales and financial records, and 
inspection of original documentation containing relevant information.

[[Page 5356]]

Use of Facts Available

Tuchany

    In Flowers Ninth Review and during the POR of the present review, 
the Tuchany group consisted of five growers. The group has since 
dissolved with three of the companies now out of business and the 
remaining two growers sold to different, unaffiliated owners. While 
Tuchany was able to report sales data for all subject merchandise sold 
by the group during the POR, it was not able to report the cost data 
for the three growers no longer in existence. The questionnaire 
response, therefore, contained only the costs of the two operational 
farms.
    Section 776(a)(1) of the Act requires, inter alia, that if 
necessary information is not available on the record, the Department 
shall use facts available (FA). Pursuant to the Act, if the Department 
``finds that an interested party has failed to cooperate by not acting 
to the best of its ability to comply with a request for information,'' 
the Department may use an adverse inference in selecting from among FA.
    Based on the circumstances described by Tuchany, we find it 
reasonable that the company would have difficulty compiling a complete 
response. Tuchany indicated that it acted to the best of its ability to 
locate the missing data and provided a detailed explanation of its 
efforts. Tuchany explained that cost data, unlike sales records, were 
maintained individually by each company and Tuchany's exhaustive 
efforts at locating the former employees and accounting records of the 
three defunct companies were futile. Accordingly, we believe the use of 
adverse FA is not warranted in this case. Therefore, for purposes of 
these preliminary results, we have used the cost data of the two 
operational farms as FA for the margin calculations of the entire 
Tuchany group, including the three companies dissolved shortly after 
the POR. Where cost data for a flower type was unavailable because that 
flower type was not grown by one of the growers for which cost 
information was reported, we have applied to those sales, as FA, the 
margin calculated for the flower type for which cost data was 
available. See Memorandum from Team to Richard W. Moreland, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Import Administration, re: Constructed Value Data 
for Tuchany Group Companies, dated January 26, 1998.

Fair Value Comparisons

United States Price

    Consistent with section 777A(d)(2) of the Act and Flowers Ninth 
Review, we determined that it was appropriate to average U.S. prices on 
a monthly basis in order (1) to use actual price information that is 
often available only on a monthly basis, (2) to account for large sales 
volumes, and (3) to account for perishable-product pricing practices.
    For the price to the United States, we used export price (EP) or 
constructed export price (CEP) as defined in sections 772(a) and 772(b) 
of the Act, as appropriate. CEP was used for consignment sales through 
unaffiliated U.S. consignees and sales (consignment or otherwise) made 
through affiliated importers.
    We calculated EP based on the packed price, consisting of invoice 
price (either f.o.b. Bogota, c.i.f. Miami or c.i.f. Chicago) plus 
certain additional charges, e.g., box charges and antidumping duties 
paid, to the first unaffiliated purchaser in the United States. We made 
deductions, where appropriate, for discounts and rebates, foreign 
inland freight, international (air) freight, brokerage and handling, 
U.S. customs fees, and return credits.
    For sales made on consignment, CEP was calculated based on the 
packed price consisting of invoice price plus certain additional 
charges by the consignee, e.g., box charges and antidumping duty 
deposits paid, to the unaffiliated purchaser. For sales made through 
affiliated parties, CEP was based on the packed price, consisting of 
invoice price plus certain additional charges, e.g., box charges and 
antidumping duty deposits paid, to the first unaffiliated customer in 
the United States. We made adjustments to these prices, where 
appropriate, for box charges, discounts and rebates, foreign inland 
freight, international (air) freight, freight charges incurred in the 
United States, brokerage and handling, U.S. customs fees, direct 
selling expenses (credit expense and contributions to the Colombian 
Flower Council) relating to commercial activity in the United States, 
return credits, royalties and indirect selling expenses incurred in the 
home market that related to commercial activity in the United States. 
Finally, consistent with our practice in Flowers Ninth Review, we made 
adjustments for either commissions paid to unrelated U.S. consignees or 
the indirect U.S. selling expenses of related consignees.
    Pursuant to section 772(d)(3) of the Act, the price was further 
reduced by an amount for profit to arrive at the CEP for sales made 
through affiliated parties. The CEP profit rate was calculated using 
the expenses incurred by the responding companies on their sales of the 
subject merchandise in the United States and of the like product in the 
home market (for those companies that had home market sales) and the 
profit associated with those sales.

Normal Value

    Section 773 of the Act provides that the normal value (NV) of the 
subject merchandise shall be (1) the price at which the foreign like 
product is first sold (or, in the absence of a sale, offered for sale) 
for consumption in the exporting country (home market (HM) sales), in 
the usual commercial quantities and in the ordinary course of trade 
and, to the extent practicable, at the same level of trade as the 
export price or constructed export price, (2) the price at which the 
foreign like product is so sold (or offered for sale) for consumption 
in a country other than the exporting country or the United States 
(third country (TC) sales) or (3) the constructed value of that 
merchandise.
    Some companies selected to respond in this review have sales in the 
home market of export quality flowers exceeding 5 percent of the sales 
to the U.S. market, i.e., have a viable home market. However, most 
companies report no selling expenses on these sales and report them as 
being incidental to their real purpose of business, the production and 
exportation of flowers. They also state that export quality sales in 
the home market are not planned on and generally are the result of 
excess production. Consistent with our practice in previous reviews of 
this order and based on information provided by respondents, we have 
determined that these sales are not within the ordinary course of 
trade.
    Section 773(a)(4) of the Act states that if the administering 
authority determines that the NV of the subject merchandise cannot be 
determined using home market prices, then, notwithstanding the possible 
use of third country prices, the NV of the subject merchandise may be 
the constructed value (CV) of that merchandise. We received comments 
and factual information concerning this issue from petitioners on 
October 10, 1997 and January 9, 1998, and from respondents on December 
15, 1997.
    During this POR, certain companies selected to respond had viable 
third country markets in Europe, Japan, and Canada. In prior reviews, 
we have rejected using prices to Europe because the particular market 
situation prevents a proper comparison. See Certain Fresh Cut Flowers 
from Colombia; Final

[[Page 5357]]

Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Administrative Review, 62 
FR 53287 at 53296 (October 14, 1997). Information submitted by 
respondents shows that this market situation has continued. Therefore, 
we are not basing NV on sales to European markets.
    With respect to Japan and Canada, because these are not significant 
export markets for Colombia, we have determined that, under the facts 
of this case, prices to Canada or Japan are not representative within 
the meaning of section 773(a)(1)(B)(ii)(I) of the Act. As discussed 
above in the section on ``Respondent Selection,'' we have limited our 
analysis to a subset of the Colombian companies exporting to the United 
States and we are basing the antidumping duty assessments for the non-
selected companies on the margins calculated for the selected 
companies. Given this, we want to make our analysis as representative 
as possible of the companies that were not selected to respond to our 
questionnaire.
    It is clear that neither Japan nor Canada is an important export 
market for Colombian flower growers. Evidence on the record indicates 
that Canada represents less than three percent of flower exports from 
Colombia and Japan represents less than one percent of flower exports 
from Colombia. Thus, to use sales to Japan or Canada as the basis of 
our margin calculations for the few exporters that have viable markets 
in Japan and Canada and then include those results in calculating the 
rate used for assessing duties on the non-selected respondents would be 
inappropriate for the vast majority of growers. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 773(a)(4) of the Act, we are basing NV on CV. 
As an alternative method for ensuring that NV was representative, we 
considered using third country sales for those companies with a viable 
third country market, but excluding those companies from the 
calculation of the assessment rate for non-selected exporters. However, 
that methodology would substantially reduce the percentage of exports 
during the POR that would form the basis of the assessment calculation 
for non-selected exporters. Therefore, we determine that the use of CV 
is a more reasonable means of establishing a representative NV for 
purposes of calculating the assessment rates for all exporters under 
review.
    We calculated CV in accordance with section 773(e) of the Act. We 
included the cost of materials and fabrication, and the selling, 
general and administrative expenses reported by respondents. Consistent 
with the methodology used in the Final Results of Flowers Ninth Review 
to calculate a per-unit CV, see 62 FR 53287 (October 14, 1997), we 
first converted each month's CVs from pesos to dollars using the 
corresponding month's exchange rate. We totaled the monthly CV 
expressed in dollars over the POR and divided by the quantity of export 
quality flowers sold by the grower/exporter to arrive at the per-stem 
CV in U.S. dollars. The dollar per-stem CV was then converted to pesos 
using the period-end exchange rate and then deflated these peso-
denominated amounts to the value of Colombian peso in each month of the 
POR. Next, we converted the peso per-stem CV to dollars based on the 
date of the U.S. sale, in accordance with section 773A(a) of the Act.
    We consider non-export quality flowers (culls) that are produced in 
conjunction with export quality flowers to be by-products. Therefore, 
revenue from the sales of culls was offset against the cost of 
producing the export quality flowers.
    We based selling, general and administrative expenses on the 
amounts incurred and realized by the respondents in connection with the 
production and sale of the foreign like product for consumption in the 
home market. Where respondents had no home market sales, we used the 
general and administrative expenses associated with their sales to all 
other markets. Regarding selling expenses, with the exception of 
Floraterra, all respondents reporting sales of export quality flowers 
in the home market stated they had no selling expenses in that market. 
Therefore, we did not include selling expenses for those respondents. 
For Floraterra, we included the actual selling expenses incurred.
    With respect to profit, we preliminarily determine that the 
conditions that led to the use of FA for the profit rate in Flowers 
Ninth Review continue to exist in the current POR. We find that home 
market sales of culls and/or export quality flowers were outside the 
ordinary course of trade because the record indicates that they were 
made at below cost prices. Consequently, we are unable to apply the 
methods specified in section 773(e)(2)(A) or 773(e)(2)(B)(ii) of the 
Act for calculating profit. Also, none of the respondents realized a 
profit on merchandise in the same general category as flowers produced 
for sale in Colombia. Therefore, we are also not able to apply the 
profit methodology described in section 773(e)(2)(B)(i) of the Act.
    Section 773(e)(2)(B)(iii) permits the Department to use ``any other 
reasonable method'' to compute an amount for profit, provided that the 
amount ``may not exceed the amount normally realized by exporters or 
producers . . . in connection with the sale, for consumption in the 
foreign country, of merchandise that is in the same general category of 
products as the subject merchandise.'' Despite our efforts, we have not 
been able to find any information on the profits earned in Colombia by 
producers of merchandise that is in the same general category of 
products as flowers. Therefore, we cannot determine a ``profit cap'' as 
described in section 773(e)(2)(B)(iii). Consistent with our practice in 
Flowers Ninth Review, we have applied section 773(e)(2)(B)(iii) on the 
basis of facts available and have developed a profit figure from the 
financial statements of a Colombian producer of agricultural and 
processed agricultural goods. See Statement of Administrative Action 
(SAA) at 841. We preliminarily determine that it is appropriate to use 
the profit rate for that company, 4.47 percent of cost of production, 
for all respondents.
    We added U.S. packing to constructed value. In addition, for EP 
sales, we made circumstance of sale adjustments for direct expenses, 
where appropriate, in accordance with section 773(a)(6)(C)(iii) of the 
Act. Finally, we adjusted for commissions paid in the U.S. market by 
deducting any indirect selling expenses included in CV up to the amount 
of the U.S. commissions.

Currency Conversion

    For purposes of the preliminary results, we made currency 
conversions based on the official exchange rates in effect on the dates 
of the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 
See Change in Policy Regarding Currency Conversions, 61 FR 9434 (March 
8, 1996). Section 773A(a) of the Act directs the Department to use a 
daily exchange rate in order to convert foreign currencies into U.S. 
dollars, unless the daily rate involves a ``fluctuation.'' In 
accordance with the Department's practice, we have determined as a 
general matter that a fluctuation exists when the daily exchange rate 
differs from a benchmark by 2.25 percent. See Notice of Final 
Determination of Less Than Fair Value: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon 
Steel Plate from South Africa, 62 FR 61971 (November 19, 1997). The 
benchmark is defined as the rolling average of rates for the past 40 
business days. When we determine that a fluctuation exists, we 
substitute the benchmark for the daily rate.

[[Page 5358]]

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of our comparison of EP and CEP with NV, we 
preliminarily determine that there are margins in the amounts listed 
below for the period March 1, 1996 through February 28, 1997.

Selected Respondents

    The following 10 groups of firms (composed of 86 companies) were 
selected as respondents and received individual rates, as indicated 
below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Percent 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agrodex Group..............................................         0.88
  Agricola de las Mercedes S.A.                                         
  Agricola el Retiro Ltda.                                              
  Agrodex Ltda.                                                         
  Degaflores Ltda.                                                      
  Flores Camino Real Ltda.                                              
  Flores Cuatro Esquinas Ltda.                                          
  Flores de la Comuna Ltda.                                             
  Flores de Los Amigos Ltda.                                            
  Flores de los Arrayanes Ltda.                                         
  Flores de Mayo Ltda.                                                  
  Flores del Gallinero Ltda.                                            
  Flores del Potrero Ltda.                                              
  Flores dos Hectareas Ltda.                                            
  Flores de Pueblo Viejo Ltda.                                          
  Flores el Trentino Ltda.                                              
  Flores la Conejera Ltda.                                              
  Flores Manare Ltda.                                                   
  Florlinda Ltda.                                                       
  Horticola el Triunfo Ltda.                                            
  Horticola Montecarlo Ltda.                                            
Caicedo Group..............................................         3.71
  Agrobosque S.A.                                                       
  Andalucia S.A.                                                        
  Aranjuez S.A.                                                         
  Consorcio Agroindustrial Colombiano S.A. ``CAICO''                    
  Exportaciones Bochica S.A.                                            
  Floral Ltda.                                                          
  Flores del Cauca S.A.                                                 
  Productos el Rosal S.A.                                               
  Productos el Zorro S.A.                                               
Claveles Colombianos Group.................................         0.90
  Claveles Colombianos Ltda.                                            
  Elegant Flowers Ltda.                                                 
  Fantasia Flowers Ltda.                                                
  Splendid Flowers Ltda.                                                
  Sun Flowers Ltda.                                                     
Cultivos Miramonte Group...................................         0.61
  C.I. Colombiana de Bouquets S.A.                                      
  Cultivos Miramonte S.A.                                               
  Flores Mocari S.A.                                                    
Floraterra Group...........................................         6.10
  Floraterra S.A.                                                       
  Flores Casablanca S.A.                                                
  Flores Novaterra Ltda.                                                
  Flores San Mateo S.A.                                                 
  Siete Flores S.A.                                                     
Florex Group...............................................         1.17
  Agricola Guacari S.A.                                                 
  Agricola el Castillo                                                  
  Flores San Joaquin                                                    
  Flores Altamira S.A.                                                  
  Flores de Exportacion S.A.                                            
  Flores Primavera S.A.                                                 
Guacatay Group.............................................         2.49
  Agricola Cunday S.A.                                                  
  Agricola Guacatay S.A.                                                
  Agricola Ventura                                                      
  Jardines Bacata Ltda.                                                 
  Multiflora Comercializadora Internacional S.A.                        
Queens Flowers Group.......................................         0.11
  Agroindustrial del Rio Frio                                           
  Cultivos General Ltda.                                                
  Flora Nova                                                            
  Flora Atlas Ltda.                                                     
  Flores Calima S.A.                                                    
  Flores Canelon Ltda.                                                  
  Flores de Bojaca                                                      
  Flores del Cacique                                                    
  Flores del Hato                                                       
  Flores el Aljibe Ltda.                                                
  Flores el Cipres                                                      
  Flores El Pino Ltda.                                                  
  Flores el Tandil                                                      
  Flores la Mana                                                        
  Flores las Acacias Ltda.                                              
  Flores la Valvanera Ltda.                                             
  Flores Jayvana                                                        
  Flores Ubate Ltda.                                                    
  Jardines de Chia Ltda.                                                
  Jardines Fredonia Ltda.                                               
  M.G. Consultores Ltda.                                                
  Mountain Roses                                                        
  Queens Flowers de Colombia Ltda.                                      
  Quality Flowers S.A.                                                  
  Florval S.A. (Floval)                                                 
Jardines del Rosal.........................................             
Tinzuque Group.............................................         1.23
  Tinzuque Ltda.                                                        
  Catu S.A.                                                             
Tuchany Group..............................................         9.21
  Tuchany S.A.                                                          
  Flores Sibate                                                         
  Flores Tikaya                                                         
  Flores Munya                                                          
  Flores Xue S.A.                                                       
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non-Selected Respondents

    The following 338 companies were not selected as respondents and 
will receive a rate of 2.55 percent, calculated as discussed above in 
the section on ``Non-Selected Respondents'':
Abaco Tulipanex de Colombia
Achalay
Aga Group
    Agricola la Celestina
    Agricola la Maria
    Agricola Benilda Ltda.
Agrex de Oriente
Agricola Acevedo Ltda.
Agricola Altiplano
Agricola Arenales Ltda.
Agricola Bonanza Ltda.
Agricola Circasia Ltda.
Agricola de Occident
Agricola del Monte
Agricola el Cactus S.A.
Agricola el Redil
Agricola Guali S.A.
Agricola la Corsaria Ltda.
Agricola la Siberia
Agricola Las Cuadras Group
    Agricola las Cuadras Ltda.
    Flores de Hacaritama
Agricola Megaflor Ltda.
Agricola Yuldama
Agrocaribu Ltda.
Agro de Narino
Agroindustrial Don Eusebio Ltda. Group
    Agroindustrial Don Eusebio Ltda.
    Celia Flowers
    Passion Flowers
    Primo Flowers
    Temptation Flowers
Agroindustrial Madonna S.A.
Agroindustrias de Narino Ltda.
Agromonte Ltda.
Agropecuria Cuernavaca Ltda.
Agropecuaria la Marcela
Agropecuaria Mauricio
Agrorosas
Agrotabio Kent
Aguacarga
Alcala
Alstroflores Ltda.
Amoret
Ancas Ltda.
Andalucia
Andes Group
    Cultivos Buenavista Ltda.
    Flores de los Andes Ltda.
    Flores Horizonte Ltda.
    Inversiones Penas Blancas Ltda.
A.Q.
Arboles Azules Ltda.
Aspen Gardens Ltda.
Astro Ltda.
Becerra Castellanos y Cia.
Bojaca Group
    Agricola Bojaca
    Universal Flowers
    Flores y Plantas Tropicales
    Flores del Neusa Nove Ltda.
    Tropiflora
Cantarrana Group
    Cantarrana Ltda.
    Agricola los Venados Ltda.
Carcol Ltda.
Cienfuegos Group
    Cienfuegos Ltda.
    Flores la Conchita
Cigarral Group
    Flores Cigarral
    Flores Tayrona
Classic
Claveles de los Alpes Ltda.
Clavelez
Coexflor
Colibri Flowers Ltda.
Color Explosion
Combiflor
Consorcio Agroindustrial
Cota
Crest D'or
Crop S.A.
Cultiflores Ltda.
Cultivos Guameru
Cultivos Medellin Ltda.
Cultivos Tahami Ltda.
Cypress Valley
Daflor Ltda.

[[Page 5359]]

Degaflor
De La Pava Guevara E. Hijos Ltda.
Del Monte
Del Tropico Ltda.
Dianticola Colombiana Ltda.
Disagro
Diveragricola
Dynasty Roses Ltda.
El Antelio S.A.
Elite Flowers (The Elite Flower/Rosen Tantau)
El Milaro
El Tambo
El Timbul Ltda.
Envy Farms Group
    Envy Farms
    Flores Marandua Ltda.
Euroflora
Exoticas
Exotic Flowers
Exotico
Expoflora Ltda.
Exportadora
Falcon Farms de Colombia S.A. (formerly Flores de Cajibio Ltda.)
Farm Fresh Flowers Group
    Agricola de la Fontana
    Flores de Hunza
    Flores Tibati
    Inversiones Cubivan
Ferson Trading
Flamingo Flowers
Flor Colombiana S.A.
Flora Bellisima
Flora Intercontinental
Floralex Ltda..
    Floralex Ltda.
    Flores el Puente Ltda.
    Agricola Los Gaques Ltda.
Florandia Herrera Camacho & Cia.
Floreales Group
    Floreales Ltda.
    Kimbaya
Florenal (Flores el Arenal) Ltda.
Flores Abaco S.A.
Flores Acuarela S.A.
Flores Agromonte
Flores Aguila
Flores Colon Ltda.
Flores de la Sabana S.A.
Flores de Serrezuela S.A.
Flores de Suesca S.A.
Flores del Rio Group
    Agricola Cardenal S.A.
    Flores del Rio S.A.
    Indigo S.A.
Flores El Molino S.A.
Flores El Zorro Ltda.
Flores la Cabanuela
Flores la Fragrancia
Flores la Gioconda
Flores la Lucerna
Flores la Macarena
Flores la Pampa
Flores la Union/Gomez Arango & Cia. Group
    Santana
Flores las Caicas
Flores las Mesitas
Flores los Sauces
Flores Monserrate Ltda.
Flores Montecarlo
Flores Monteverde
Flores Palimana
Flores Ramo Ltda.
Flores S.A.
Flores Sagaro
Flores Saint Valentine
Flores Sairam Ltda.
Flores San Andres
Flores San Carlos
Flores San Juan S.A.
Flores Santa Fe Ltda.
Flores Santana
Flores Sausalito
Flores Selectas
Flores Silvestres
Flores Sindamanoi
Flores Suasuque
Flores Tenerife Ltda.
Flores Tiba S.A.
Flores Tocarinda
Flores Tomine Ltda.
Flores Tropicales (Happy Candy) Group
    Flores Tropicales Ltda.
    Happy Candy Ltda.
    Mercedes Ltda.
    Rosas Colombianos Ltda.
Flores Urimaco
Flores Violette
Florexpo
Floricola
Floricola la Gaitana S.A.
Florimex Colombia Ltda.
Florisol
Florpacifico
Flor y Color
Flowers of the World/Rosa
Four Seasons
Fracolsa
Fresh Flowers
F. Salazar
Funza Group
    Flores Alborada
    Flores de Funza S.A.
    Flores del Bosque Ltda.
Garden and Flowers Ltda.
    German Ocampo
    Granja
Green Flowers
Grupo el Jardin
    Agricola el Jardin Ltda.
    La Marotte S.A.
    Orquideas Acatayma Ltda.
Gypso Flowers
Hacienda la Embarrada
Hacienda Matute
Hana/Hisa Group
    Flores Hana Ichi de Colombia Ltda.
    Flores Tokai Hisa
Hernando Monroy
Horticultra Montecarlo
Horticultura de la Sasan
Horticultura El Molino
Hosa Group
    Horticultura de la Sabana S.A.
    HOSA Ltda.
    Innovacion Andina S.A.
    Minispray S.A.
    Prohosa Ltda.
Illusion Flowers
Industria Santa Clara
Industrial Agricola
Industrial Terwengel Ltda.
Ingro Ltda.
Inverpalmas
Inversiones Almer Ltda.
Inversiones Bucarelia
Inversiones Cota
Inversiones el Bambu Ltda.
Inversiones Flores del Alto
Inversiones Maya, Ltda.
Inversiones Morcote
Inversiones Morrosquillo
Inversiones Playa
Inversiones & Producciones Tecnica
Inversiones Santa Rita Ltda.
Inversiones Silma
Inversiones Sima
Inversiones Supala S.A.
Inversiones Valley Flowers Ltda.
Iturrama S.A.
Jardin de Carolina
Jardines Choconta
Jardines Darpu
Jardines Natalia Ltda.
Jardines Tocarema
Jardines de America
Jardines de Timana
J.M. Torres
Karla Flowers
Kingdom S.A.
La Colina
La Embairada
La Flores Ltda.
La Floresta
La Plazoleta Ltda.
Las Amalias Group
    Las Amalias S.A.
    Pompones Ltda.
    La Fleurette de Colombia Ltda.
    Ramiflora Ltda.
Las Flores
Laura Flowers
L.H.
Linda Colombiana Ltda.
Loma Linda
Loreana Flowers
Los Geranios Ltda.
Luisa Flowers
Luisiana Farms
M. Alejandra
Manjui Ltda.
Mauricio Uribe
Maxima Farms Group
    Agricola los Arboles S.A.
    Colombian D.C. Flowers
    Polo Flowers
    Rainbow Flowers
    Maxima Farms Inc.
Merastec
Monteverde Ltda.
Morcoto
Nasino
Natuflora Ltda../San Martin Bloque B
Olga Rincon
Oro Verde Group

[[Page 5360]]

    Inversiones Miraflores S.A.
    Inversiones Oro Verde S.A.
Otono (Agroindustrial Otono)
Papagayo Group
    Agricola Papagayo Ltda.
    Inversiones Calypso S.A.
Petalos de Colombia Ltda.
Pinar Guameru
Piracania
Pisochago Ltda.
Plantaciones Delta Ltda.
Plantas S.A.
Prismaflor
Propagar Plantas S.A.
Reme Salamanca
Rosa Bella
Rosaflor
Rosales de Colombia Ltda.
Rosales de Suba Ltda.
Rosas Sabanilla Group
    Flores la Colmena Ltda.
    Rosas Sabanilla Ltda.
    Inversiones la Serena
    Agricola la Capilla
Rosas y Jardines
Rose
Rosex Ltda.
Roselandia
San Ernesto
San Valentine
Sansa Flowers
Santa Rosa Group
    Flores Santa Rosa Ltda.
    Floricola La Ramada Ltda.
Santana Flowers Group
    Santana Flowers Ltda.
    Hacienda Curibital Ltda.
    Inversiones Istra Ltda.
Sarena
Select Pro
Senda Brava Ltda.
Shasta Flowers y Compania Ltda.
Shila
Siempreviva
Soagro Group
    Agricola el Mortino Ltda.
    Flores Aguaclara Ltda.
    Flores del Monte Ltda.
    Flores la Estancia
    Jaramillo y Daza
Solor Flores Ltda.
Starlight
Superflora Ltda.
Susca
Sweet Farms
    Flores Santa Rosa Ltda.
    Floricola la Ramada Ltda.
Tag Ltda.
The Beall Company
The Rose
Tomino
Toto Flowers Group
    Flores de Suesca S.A.
    Toto Flowers
Tropical Garden
Uniflor Ltda.
Velez de Monchaux Group
    Velez De Monchaux e Hijos y Cia S. en C.
    Agroteusa
Victoria Flowers
Villa Cultivos Ltda.
Villa Diana
Vuelven Ltda.
Zipa Flowers
    Parties to the proceeding may request disclosure within five days 
of publication of this notice. Interested parties may request a hearing 
not later than ten days after publication of this notice. Interested 
parties may also submit written arguments in case briefs on these 
preliminary results within 45 days of the date of publication of this 
notice. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in case briefs, may 
be filed no later than five days after the time limit for filing case 
briefs. Any hearing, if requested, will be held two days after the 
scheduled date for submission of rebuttal briefs. Copies of case briefs 
and rebuttal briefs must be served on interested parties in accordance 
with 19 CFR 353.38(e).
    The Department will publish the final results of this 
administrative review, including a discussion of its analysis of issues 
raised in any case or rebuttal brief or at a hearing. The Department 
will issue final results of this review within 120 days of publication 
of these preliminary results.
    Upon completion of the final results in this review, the Department 
shall determine, and the U.S. Customs Service shall assess, antidumping 
duties on all appropriate entries. We have calculated an importer-
specific per-stem duty assessment rate based on the ratio of the total 
amount of antidumping duties calculated for the examined sales made 
during the POR to the quantity of subject merchandise entered during 
the POR. We have used the number of stems entered during the POR, 
rather than entered values, because respondents reported average 
monthly prices and, moreover, the entered values were not associated 
with particular importers. This rate will be assessed uniformly on all 
entries of that particular importer made during the POR. The Department 
will issue appraisement instructions on each exporter directly to the 
Customs Service.
    Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective 
for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
final results of this administrative review, as provided for by section 
751(a)(1) of the Act: (1) the cash deposit rates for the reviewed 
companies will be those rates established in the final results of this 
review; (2) 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; (3) 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 (4) for all other 
producers and/or exporters of this merchandise, the cash deposit rate 
shall be 3.10 percent, the adjusted ``all others'' rate from the LTFV 
investigation. These 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(c)(5).

    Dated: January 26, 1998.
Robert S. LaRussa,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 98-2482 Filed 1-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P