[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43278-43280]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16198]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-201-820]


Fresh Tomatoes From Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to terminate suspension agreement, intent to 
terminate the five-year sunset review, intent to resume antidumping 
investigation, and request for comments on the use of updated 
information: fresh tomatoes from mexico.

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SUMMARY: On May 31, 2002, Mexican tomato growers accounting for a large 
percentage of all fresh tomatoes imported into the United States from 
Mexico provided written notice to the Department of Commerce of their 
withdrawal from the agreement suspending the antidumping investigation 
on fresh tomatoes from Mexico. Because the suspension agreement will no 
longer cover substantially all imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico 
when these withdrawals become effective, the Department of Commerce 
intends to terminate the suspension agreement, terminate the five-year 
sunset review, and resume the antidumping investigation.
    The Department of Commerce invites interested parties to submit 
comments on whether it should use updated information to complete the 
antidumping investigation. Comments must be submitted to the Department 
of Commerce within five days from the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yang Jin Chun or Mark Ross at (202) 
482-5760 or (202) 482-4794, respectively; Office of AD/CVD Enforcement 
3, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 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 (the Act) by the 
Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, 
all citations to Department of Commerce (Department) regulations refer 
to the regulations codified at 19 CFR part 353 (1996).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 43279]]

Background

    On April 18, 1996, the Department initiated an antidumping 
investigation to determine whether imports of fresh tomatoes from 
Mexico are being, or are likely to be, sold in the United States at 
less than fair value (LTFV) (61 FR 18377, April 25, 1996). On May 16, 
1996, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) notified 
the Department of its affirmative preliminary injury determination.
    On October 10, 1996, the Department and Mexican tomato growers 
initialed a proposed agreement suspending the antidumping 
investigation, and on October 28, 1996, the Department preliminarily 
determined that imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico are being sold at 
LTFV in the United States. See Notice of Preliminary Determination of 
Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination: 
Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico, 61 FR 56607 (November 1, 1996) (Preliminary 
Determination). On the same day, the Department and certain producers/
exporters of fresh tomatoes from Mexico signed the final suspension 
agreement. See Suspension of Antidumping Investigation: Fresh Tomatoes 
from Mexico, 61 FR 56618 (November 1, 1996). On May 31, 2002, Mexican 
tomato growers accounting for a large percentage of all fresh tomatoes 
imported into the United States from Mexico submitted to the Department 
a notice of their withdrawal from the agreement suspending the 
antidumping investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico.

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are all fresh or chilled 
tomatoes (fresh tomatoes) except for cocktail tomatoes and those 
tomatoes which are for processing. For purposes of this investigation, 
cocktail tomatoes are greenhouse-grown tomatoes, generally larger than 
cherry tomatoes and smaller than roma or common round tomatoes, and are 
harvested and packaged on-the-vine for retail sale. For purposes of 
this investigation, processing is defined to include preserving by any 
commercial process, such as canning, dehydrating, drying or the 
addition of chemical substances, or converting the tomato product into 
juices, sauces or purees. Further, imports of fresh tomatoes for 
processing are accompanied by an ``Importer's Exempt Commodity Form'' 
(FV-6) (within the meaning of 7 CFR 980.501(a)(2) and 980.212(i)). 
Fresh tomatoes that are imported for cutting up, not further processed 
(e.g., tomatoes used in the preparation of fresh salsa or salad bars), 
and not accompanied by an FV-6 form are covered by the scope of this 
investigation.
    All commercially grown tomatoes sold in the United States, both for 
the fresh market and for processing, are classified as Lycopersicon 
esculentum. Important commercial varieties of fresh tomatoes include 
common round, cherry, plum, and pear tomatoes, all of which, with the 
exception of cocktail tomatoes, are covered by this investigation. 
Tomatoes imported from Mexico covered by this investigation are 
classified under the following subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedules of the United States (HTSUS), according to the season of 
importation: 0702 and 9906.07.01 through 9906.07.09. Although the HTSUS 
numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written 
description of the scope of this proceeding is dispositive.

Intent To Terminate Suspension Agreement and Resume the Antidumping 
Investigation

    On May 31, 2002, Mexican tomato growers accounting for a large 
percentage of all fresh tomatoes imported into the United States from 
Mexico provided written notice to the Department of their withdrawal 
from the agreement suspending the antidumping investigation on fresh 
tomatoes from Mexico. Pursuant to the terms of the suspension 
agreement, these withdrawals will become effective 60 days after this 
notification to the Department, i.e., July 30, 2002. Because the 
suspension agreement will no longer cover substantially all imports of 
fresh tomatoes from Mexico, the Department intends to terminate the 
suspension agreement effective July 30, 2002.

Intent To Resume Antidumping Investigation

    With the termination of the suspension agreement on July 30, 2002, 
in accordance with section 734(i)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department 
intends to resume the underlying antidumping investigation. Pursuant to 
section 734(i)(1)(B) of the Act, the Department intends to resume the 
investigation as if it had published the affirmative preliminary 
determination under section 733(b) of the Act on July 30, 2002. As 
explained in the Preliminary Determination at 61 FR 56609, the 
Department postponed the final determination until the 135th day after 
the date of the preliminary determination. The Department therefore 
intends to make its final determination in the resumed investigation by 
December 12, 2002.

Intent To Terminate the Five-Year Sunset Review

    On October 1, 2001, the Department initiated a five-year sunset 
review of the suspended antidumping investigation on fresh tomatoes 
from Mexico pursuant to section 751(c) of the Act (66 FR 49926, October 
1, 2001). On January 29, 2002, the Department published its preliminary 
results of the sunset review (67 FR 4237, January 29, 2002) 
(Preliminary Results). In the Preliminary Results, the Department 
preliminarily found that termination of the suspended antidumping duty 
investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico would be likely to lead to 
the continuation or recurrence of dumping. On May 13, 2002, the 
Department extended the deadline for the final results of sunset review 
until August 27, 2002 (67 FR 35099, May 17, 2002).
    If the Department terminates the suspension agreement, there will 
no longer be a suspended investigation for which to perform a sunset 
review. Therefore, the Department hereby announces its intent to 
terminate the sunset review of the suspended LTFV investigation on 
fresh tomatoes from Mexico, effective July 30, 2002.

Request for Comments on the Use of Updated Information

    Given the unusual nature of this proceeding (e.g., based on our 
analysis of U.S. Customs data, three of the originally investigated 
companies have not exported tomatoes to the United States in the last 
two years) and the significant lapse of time since initiation of the 
investigation (i.e., over six years), the Department is considering 
selecting new respondents and collecting updated information for use in 
completing the investigation of sales at LTFV. In the event we collect 
updated information, the period of investigation will be from April 1, 
2001, through March 31, 2002. This period reflects the most recently 
completed four fiscal quarters before the Mexican tomato growers 
accounting for a large percentage of all fresh tomatoes imported into 
the United States from Mexico provided written notice to the Department 
of their withdrawal from the suspension agreement. The Department 
invites interested parties to submit comments on this issue.
    Interested parties should submit comments to the U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Room 1870, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230, within five days of the date of publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register. Interested parties must file 
rebuttal comments within three days after the deadline for submission 
of

[[Page 43280]]

comments. A list of authorities used, a table of contents, and an 
executive summary of each comment should accompany these submissions to 
the Department.

International Trade Commission

    The Department has notified the International Trade Commission 
(ITC) of its intent to terminate the suspension agreement and resume 
the LTFV investigation. If the Department makes a final affirmative 
determination, then the ITC is scheduled to make its final 
determination concerning injury within 45 days after publication of the 
Department's final determination (by approximately January 27, 2003). 
If both the Department's and the ITC's final determinations are 
affirmative, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order.

Suspension of Liquidation

    The Department will instruct the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to 
suspend liquidation of entries of fresh tomatoes from Mexico that are 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the 
effective date of the termination of the suspension agreement, which is 
July 30, 2002. Customs shall require antidumping duty cash deposits or 
bonds for entries of the subject merchandise based on the preliminary 
dumping margins, which range from 4.16 to 188.45 percent.

Administrative Protective Order Access

    Administrative protective orders previously granted in the original 
investigation will remain in effect. Any necessary amendments for 
changes in staff must be submitted promptly.
    This determination is issued and published in accordance with 
section 733(f) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1673b(f)) and 19 CFR 353.15(1996).

    Dated: June 19, 2002.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-16198 Filed 6-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P