[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58434-58435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29145]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-357-812]


Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair 
Value; Honey From Argentina

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

ACTION: Notice of amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: November 21, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Blackledge, Charles Rast, or 
Donna Kinsella, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Enforcement Group 
III, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230, at (202) 482-3518, (202) 482-1324, or (202) 482-
0194, respectively.
    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 Tariff Act) by the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the 
Department of Commerce's (the Department's) regulations refer to the 
regulations codified at 19 CFR part 351 (2001).

Amendment to the Final Determination

    On September 26, 2001, the Department determined that honey from 
Argentina is being, or is likely to be, sold in the United States at 
less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735(a) of the 
Tariff Act. See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Honey From Argentina, 66 FR 50611 (October 4, 2001) (Final 
Determination). On October 9, 2001, respondent Asociacion Cooperativas 
Argentinas (ACA) timely filed an allegation that the Department had 
made several ministerial errors in its final determination. ACA 
requested that we correct the errors and publish a notice of amended 
final determination in the Federal Register, pursuant to 19 CFR 
351.224(e). In addition, on October 15, 2001, petitioners filed 
comments in rebuttal of ACA's alleged errors.
    ACA's submission alleges the following errors:
     The Department mistakenly omitted in its calculation of 
ACA's G&A expenses total invoiced economic activity, which should have 
been used as the G&A denominator instead of ACA's cost of goods sold;
     The Department inadvertently failed to include in its G&A 
expense ratio denominator the costs associated with services provided 
by ACA, which are part of its cost of sales;
     The Department failed to include other income earned by 
ACA's administrative departments (``Organos de Direccion y 
Asesoramiento'', ``Organos de Ejecucion General'', and ``Adminstracion 
Descentralizada'') in the calculation of the numerator used in the G&A 
expense ratio;
     The Department inadvertently included income taxes in the 
calculation of the numerator used to derive the G&A expense ratio; and
     Finally, the Department inadvertently erred in calculating 
an interest expense ratio based on gross rather than net financing 
costs because the Department failed to deduct interest revenue from the 
financing costs.
See Letter, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, October 9, 2001 passim.
    In their rebuttal submission, petitioners claim all errors alleged 
by the respondent are not ministerial errors. Regarding alleged errors 
in the calculation of the G&A expense ratio, petitioners assert the 
Department, according to normal practice, calculated the G&A expense 
ratio by dividing the company-wide G&A expenses by the company-wide 
total cost of goods sold per respondent's audited financial statement. 
Petitioners also contend the costs of services provided by ACA were 
most likely the costs associated with inter-company transactions 
omitted from the financial statement. Petitioners further contend there 
is no evidence on the record that the income items identified by the 
respondent were earned solely by the departments incurring G&A 
expenses, and no evidence that the expenses associated with the income 
items were not included in another part of the financial statement. 
Regarding interest income, petitioners claim there is no evidence that 
the amount of interest income ACA proposes should be included as 
interest income was indeed earned from short-term investments of 
working capital. See Letter, Collier Shannon Scott, October 15, 2001.
    The Department's regulations define a ministerial error as one 
involving

[[Page 58435]]

``addition, subtraction, or other arithmetic function, clerical error 
resulting from inaccurate copying, duplication or the like, and any 
other similar type of unintentional error which the Secretary considers 
ministerial.'' See 19 CFR 351.224(f).
    After reviewing ACA's allegations and petitioners rebuttal we have 
determined, in accordance with 19 CFR 351.224, that the Final 
Determination includes two ministerial errors. We agree with ACA that 
the unintentional omission of other income from the G&A expense ratio 
and the inadvertent inclusion of income taxes in the G&A expense ratio 
constitute ministerial errors. See 19 CFR 351.224(e); see also 
Memorandum For Richard Weible; ``Allegations of Ministerial Errors; 
Final Determination in the Investigation of Honey from Argentina'' 
(Ministerial Errors Memorandum), dated October 26, 2001, a public 
version of which is on file in room B-099 of the main Commerce 
building, and the Final Determination, 66 FR at 50408.
    We do not agree with ACA's assertions that (1) using ACA's cost of 
goods sold as the G&A denominator was a ministerial error; (2) 
excluding from the G&A expense ratio denominator the costs associated 
with services provided by ACA as costs of sales was a ministerial 
error; and (3) calculating an interest expense ratio based on gross 
rather than net financing costs was a ministerial error. For a detailed 
description of each of these allegations and, where applicable, our 
resultant corrections, see the Ministerial Errors Memorandum.
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(e), we are amending the final 
determination of the antidumping duty investigation of honey from 
Argentina. The revised weighted-average dumping margins are in the 
``Amended Final Determination'' section, below.

Scope of the Investigation

    For purposes of these investigations, the products covered are 
natural honey, artificial honey containing more than 50 percent natural 
honey by weight, preparations of natural honey containing more than 50 
percent natural honey by weight, and flavored honey. The subject 
merchandise includes all grades and colors of honey whether in liquid, 
creamed, comb, cut comb, or chunk form, and whether packaged for retail 
or in bulk form.
    The merchandise subject to these investigations is currently 
classifiable under subheadings 0409.00.00, 1702.90, and 2106.90.99 of 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS''). 
Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and U.S. 
Customs Service (``U.S. Customs'') purposes, the Department's written 
description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Amended Final Determination

    We are amending the final determination of the antidumping duty 
investigation of Honey from Argentina to reflect correction of the 
above-cited ministerial errors. The revised final weighted-average 
dumping margins are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Weighted-
                                                               average
                   Manufacturer/exporter                        margin
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asociacion Cooperativas Argentinas (ACA)...................        37.44
All Others.................................................        35.76
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B) of the Tariff Act, we are 
directing the United States Customs Service (Customs) to continue 
suspending liquidation on all imports of the subject merchandise from 
Argentina. Customs shall require a cash deposit or the posting of a 
bond equal to the weighted-average amount by which normal value exceeds 
the export price as indicated in the chart above. These suspension-of-
liquidation instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

ITC Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Tariff Act, we have 
notified the International Trade Commission of our amended final 
determination. This determination is issued and published in accordance 
with section 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended.

    Dated: November 9, 2001.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-29145 Filed 11-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P