[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 240 (Thursday, December 13, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64398-64399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30823]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-489-806]


Certain Pasta From Turkey: Final Results of Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Review

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

ACTION: Notice of final results of countervailing duty administrative 
review.

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SUMMARY: The Department is issuing the final results of the first 
administrative review of the countervailing duty order on pasta from 
Turkey.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 13, 2001.

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Annika O'Hara or Melanie Brown, Office of 
AD/CVD Enforcement 1, Import Administration, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Room 3099, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-3798 and (202) 482-4987, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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'') regulations are to 19 CFR part 351 
(April 2000).

Background

    On July 24, 1996, the Department published in the Federal Register 
(61 FR 38546) the countervailing duty order on certain pasta from 
Turkey.
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(b), this review of the order 
covers the following producers or exporters of the subject merchandise 
for which a review was specifically requested: Filiz Gida Sanayi ve 
Ticaret A.S. (``Filiz''), Beslen Makarna Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. 
and Beslen Pazarlama Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (``Beslen''), 
Pastavilla Makarnacilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (``Pastavilla''), and 
Maktas Makarnacilik ve Ticaret A.S. (``Maktas'').
    Since the publication of the preliminary results (see Certain Pasta 
from Turkey: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review, 66 FR 41553 (August 8, 2001)), the following events have 
occurred: On October 11, 2001, the Department issued a third 
supplemental questionnaire to Pastavilla, Maktas, and the Government of 
Turkey. Responses were received between October 19 and October 23, 
2001. On October 31, 2001, Maktas submitted a case brief. No rebuttal 
briefs were submitted and we received no requests for a hearing.

Scope of Order

    Covered by the order are shipments of certain non-egg dry pasta in 
packages of five pounds (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 order is typically sold in the retail market, in 
fiberboard or cardboard cartons or polyethylene or polypropylene bags, 
of varying dimensions.
    Excluded from the 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.
    The merchandise under review is currently classifiable under 
subheading 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope 
of the order is dispositive.

Scope Ruling

    To date, the Department has issued the following scope ruling:
    On October 26, 1998, the Department self-initiated a scope inquiry 
to determine whether a package weighing over five pounds as a result of 
allowable industry tolerances may be within the scope of the 
countervailing duty order. On May 24, 1999, we issued a final scope 
ruling finding that, effective October 26, 1998, pasta in packages 
weighing or labeled up to (and including) five pounds four ounces is 
within the scope of the countervailing duty order. (See May 24, 1999 
memorandum from John Brinkman to Richard Moreland, which is on file in 
the Central Records Unit (``CRU'') in Room B-099 of the main Commerce 
building.)

Period of Review

    The period of review (``POR'') for which we are measuring subsidies 
is from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case by parties to this administrative 
review are addressed in the December 6, 2001 Issues and Decision 
Memorandum from Richard Moreland, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import 
Administration, to Bernard Carreau, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Import Administration (``Decision Memorandum''), which is hereby 
adopted by this notice. Only one interested party, Maktas, filed a case 
brief. No parties filed rebuttal briefs. The only issue raised by 
Maktas concerned the calculation of the benefit conferred by the 
Resource Utilization Support Fund (``KKDF'') tax exemption program. 
Parties can find a complete discussion of this issue and the 
corresponding recommendation in the public Decision Memorandum which is 
on file in the CRU. In addition, a complete version of the memorandum 
can be accessed directly on the Internet at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/ 
under the heading ``Turkey.'' The paper copy and electronic version of 
the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    In the preliminary results, we found a program called ``Exemption 
from KKDF, BIST, and Stamp Taxes on Export-related Loans'' to provide 
countervailable benefits. In addition to being countervailed as a 
separate tax program under this heading, the benefit from these tax 
exemptions was added to the benefit conveyed by preferential interest 
rates on pre-shipment export loans in order to capture the total

[[Page 64399]]

benefit from these loans. Based upon the comment received and further 
review of the questionnaire responses, we have made three changes 
related to this program since the preliminary results: (1) We have 
found the exemption from stamp taxes to be not countervailable; (2) we 
have analyzed the KKDF and the BIST (Banking and Insurance 
Transactions) tax exemptions as two separate programs; and (3) we have 
changed the benefit calculation methodology for the KKDF and BIST tax 
exemptions on certain loans. These changes are discussed in further 
detail in the relevant sections of the Decision Memorandum.

Final Results of Review

    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4)(i), we calculated an 
individual subsidy rate for each producer/exporter subject to this 
administrative review. For the period January 1, 1999 through December 
31, 1999, we determine the net subsidy rates for producers/exporters 
under review to be those specified in the chart shown below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Ad valorem
                          Company                                rate
                                                              (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beslen Makarna Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. and Beslen               0.00
 Pazarlama Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S......................
Filiz Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S...........................         0.00
Maktas Makarnacilik ve Ticaret A.S.........................         6.52
Pastavilla Makarnacilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S..............         1.73
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We will instruct the Customs Service (``Customs'') to assess 
countervailing duties as indicated above. The Department will also 
instruct Customs to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the percentages detailed above of the f.o.b. invoice prices 
on all shipments of the subject merchandise from the producers/
exporters under review, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this administrative review.
    The cash deposit rates for all companies not covered by this review 
are not changed by the results of this review. Thus, we will instruct 
Customs to continue to collect cash deposits for non-reviewed 
companies. Accordingly, the cash deposit rates that will be applied to 
non-reviewed companies covered by this order are those established in 
the Notice of Countervailing Duty Order: Certain Pasta (``Pasta'') from 
Turkey, 61 FR 38546 (July 24, 1996), which provides the most recently 
published countervailing duty rates for companies not reviewed in this 
administrative review. These rates shall apply to all non-reviewed 
companies until a review of a company assigned these rates is 
completed. In addition, for the period January 1, 1999 through December 
31, 1999, the assessment rates applicable to all non-reviewed companies 
covered by these orders are the cash deposit rates in effect at the 
time of entry.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    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 351.305(a)(3). Timely written 
notification of return or 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 administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
section 751(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)).

    Dated: December 6, 2001.
Bernard Carreau,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-30823 Filed 12-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P