[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9055-9057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4648]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-822-805]


Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: 
Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from Belarus

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

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

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EFFECTIVE DATE: February 27, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Martin or Tom Futtner, AD/CVD 
Enforcement, Office 4, Group II, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3936, and (202) 482-3814, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Final Determination

    We determine that urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UANS) from 
Belarus are being sold, or are likely to be sold, in the United States 
at less than fair value (LTFV), as provided in section 735 of the Act. 
The estimated margins of sales at LTFV are shown in the Final 
Determination of Investigation section of this notice.

Case History

    On October 3, 2002, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
published the preliminary determination of sales at LTFV in the 
antidumping duty investigation of UANS from Belarus. See Notice of 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Urea 
Ammonium Nitrate Solutions From Belarus, 67 FR 62015 (October 3, 2002) 
(Preliminary Determination). Since the preliminary determination, the 
following events have occurred.
    On November 7, 2002, the Department published a postponement of the 
final determination of sales at LTFV in the antidumping duty 
investigation of UANS from Belarus. See Postponement of the Final 
Determinations in the Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations of Urea 
Ammonium Nitrate Solutions From Belarus, the Russian Federation, and 
Ukraine, 67 FR 67823 (November 7, 2002).
    During November 2002, the Department conducted a verification of 
Grodno Production Republican Enterprise's (Grodno) sales and factors of 
production (FOP) information. See Memorandum from Tom Martin, Import 
Compliance Specialist, through Tom Futtner, Program Manager, to The 
File, ``Verification of Sales and Factors of Production Information 
Reported by Grodno Production Republican Enterprise,'' dated December 
20, 2002 (Verification Report). Both the petitioner and Grodno filed 
surrogate value information and data on November 26, 2002.\1\
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    \1\ The petitioner in this investigation is the Nitrogen 
Solutions Fair Trade Committee. Its members consist of CF 
Industries, Inc., Mississippi Chemical Corporation, and Terra 
Industries, Inc.
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    On November 1, 2002, the petitioner requested a hearing pursuant to 
19 CFR 351.301(e). However, no hearing was held in this investigation 
because the petitioner withdrew its request for a hearing.
    In a memorandum filed on December 23, 2002, we altered the time 
limit for submitting case briefs pursuant to 351.309(c)(1)(i) of the 
Department's regulations. We received a case brief from the petitioner 
on January 7, 2003. On January 14, 2003, the respondent, through the 
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus, requested, and the Department 
granted, an extension for Grodno to submit comments. The respondent 
provided comments on January 17, 2003.

Scope of the Investigation

    For purposes of this investigation, the product covered is all 
mixtures of urea and ammonium nitrate in aqueous or ammoniacal 
solution, regardless of nitrogen content by weight, and regardless of 
the presence of additives, such as corrosion inhibitors. The 
merchandise subject to this investigation is classified in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item 
number 3102.80.00.00. Although the HTSUS item number is provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
merchandise under investigation is dispositive.

Period of Investigation

    The period of investigation (POI) is October 1, 2001, through March 
31, 2002.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the comments by parties to this proceeding and 
to which we have responded are listed in the Appendix to this notice 
and addressed in the Memorandum from Bernard T. Carreau, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, to Faryar Shirzad, Assistant Secretary, ``Issues 
and Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination in the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation of Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from Belarus C 
October 1, 2001, through March 31, 2002,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (Decision Memorandum), which is hereby adopted by this notice. 
Parties can find a complete discussion of the issues raised in this 
investigation and the corresponding recommendations in this public 
memorandum which is on file in the Central Records Unit (CRU), room B-
099 of the main Department building. In addition, a complete version of 
the Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov. The paper copy and

[[Page 9056]]

electronic version of the Decision Memorandum are identical in content.

Non-Market Economy

    The Department has treated Belarus as a nonmarket economy (NME) 
country in all previous antidumping investigations. See Notice of Final 
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Steel Concrete 
Reinforcing Bars From Belarus, 66 FR 33528 (June 22, 2001). In 
accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any determination 
that a foreign country is an NME country shall remain in effect until 
revoked. Therefore, pursuant to section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, the 
Department has continued to treat Belarus as an NME country for the 
purposes of this investigation.

Separate Rates

    In our Preliminary Determination, we found that the only responding 
company, Grodno, met the criteria for the application of separate, 
company-specific antidumping duty rates. We have not received any other 
information since the preliminary determination which would warrant 
reconsideration of our separates rates determination with respect to 
this company. For a complete discussion of the Department's 
determination that the respondent is entitled to a separate rate, see 
the Preliminary Determination. We have also addressed an allegation 
made by the petitioner in the Decision Memorandum at Comment 4.

The Belarus-Wide Rate

    In all NME cases, the Department makes a rebuttable presumption 
that all exporters or producers located in the NME country comprise a 
single exporter under common government control, ``the NME entity.'' 
The Department assigns a single NME rate to the NME entity unless an 
exporter can demonstrate eligibility for a separate rate.
    In the Preliminary Determination, Grodno qualified for a separate 
rate. Furthermore, information on the record of this investigation 
indicates that Grodno accounted for all imports of subject merchandise 
during the POI. Since Grodno is the only known Belarusian exporter of 
UANS to the United States during the POI, we have calculated a Belarus-
wide rate for this investigation based on the weighted-average margin 
determined for Grodno.

Surrogate Country

    When the Department is investigating imports from an NME country, 
section 773(c)(1) of the Act directs the Department to base normal 
value (NV) on the NME producer's FOP, valued in a comparable market 
economy that is a significant producer of comparable merchandise. For 
purposes of the final determination, we continue to find that South 
Africa remains the appropriate surrogate country for Belarus. We 
received comments from the respondent pertaining to our selection of 
South Africa, which are discussed in the accompanying Decision 
Memorandum at Comment 1.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, we verified the 
information submitted by the respondent for use in our final 
determination. We used standard verification procedures including 
examination of relevant accounting and production records, and original 
source documents provided by the respondents. For changes from the 
Preliminary Determination as a result of verification, see the Changes 
Since the Preliminary Determination section below.

Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on our findings at verification and on our analysis of the 
comments received, we have made adjustments to the calculation 
methodologies. We are valuing the river water FOP and the steam FOPs 
separately from surrogate overhead value, and we are applying truck 
freight rather than rail freight to three FOPs. These adjustments are 
discussed in detail in the (1) Decision Memorandum, (2) Memorandum from 
the Team to the File, ``Additional Surrogate Country Values Used for 
the Final Determination of the Antidumping Duty Investigation of Urea 
Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from Belarus,'' dated February 18, 2003, and 
(3) Memorandum from the Team to the File, ``Calculation Memorandum for 
the Final Determination,'' dated February 18, 2003.

Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation

    In accordance with section 735(c)(1)(B)(ii) of the Act, we are 
directing the U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to continue suspension of 
liquidation of entries of subject merchandise from Belarus that are 
entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after 
October 3, 2002 (the date of publication of the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register). We will instruct the Customs 
Service to require a cash deposit or the posting of a bond equal to the 
weighted-average amount by which the NV exceeds the U.S. price, as 
indicated in the chart below. These suspension-of-liquidation 
instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

Final Determination of Investigation

    We determine that the following weighted-average percentage margins 
exist for the period October 1, 2001, through March 31, 2002:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Weighted-Average
           Manufacturer/exporter               [chyph]Margin (percent)
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Grodno Production Republican Enterprise...                        226.82
Belarus-Wide Rate.........................                        226.82
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    The Belarus-wide rate applies to all entries of the subject 
merchandise except for entries from Grodno.

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we have notified the 
U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of our determination. As our 
final determination is affirmative, the ITC will determine, within 45 
days, whether these imports are materially injuring, or threaten 
material injury to, the U.S. industry. If the ITC determines that 
material injury, or threat of material injury does not exist, the 
proceeding will be terminated and all securities posted will be 
refunded or canceled. If the ITC determines that such injury does 
exist, the Department will issue an antidumping duty order directing 
Customs officials to assess antidumping duties on all imports of 
subject merchandise entered for consumption on or after the effective 
date of the suspension of liquidation.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order (APO)

    This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to APO of 
their responsibility concerning the

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disposition of proprietary information disclosed under APO in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.305. Timely notification of return/
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 determination is issued and published in accordance with 
sections 735(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: February 19, 2003.
Faryar Shirzad,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix--Issues in Decision Memorandum

1. Whether Lithuania Should Be Used as a Surrogate Country
2. Whether Catalysts Should Be Valued Separately
3. Whether Water and Water-based Inputs (Steam and Raw Condensate) 
Should Be Valued Separately
4. Whether Grodno Should Be Issued a Separate Rate
[FR Doc. 03-4648 Filed 2-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S