[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 59 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14942-14943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7359]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-827]


Notice of Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances 
Review, and Determination to Revoke Order in Part: Certain Cased 
Pencils from the People's Republic of China

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

ACTION: Notice of Final Results of Aantidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review and Determination to Revoke Order in Part.

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SUMMARY: On February 13, 2003, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of 
an antidumping duty changed circumstances review with the intent to 
revoke, in part, the antidumping duty order on certain cased pencils 
(pencils) from the People's Republic of China (PRC). See Notice of 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review, and Intent to Revoke Order in Part: Certain 
Cased Pencils from the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 7344,7345 
(February 13, 2003) (Initiation and Preliminary Results). We are now 
revoking this order, in part, with respect to pencils meeting the 
specifications described below, based on the fact that domestic parties 
have expressed no interest in the continuation of the order with 
respect to these particular pencils. The Department will instruct the 
U.S. Customs Service (Customs) to liquidate, without regard to 
antidumping duties, all unliquidated entries of pencils meeting the 
specifications described below. Further, the Department will instruct 
Customs to refund with interest any estimated antidumping duties 
collected with respect to unliquidated entries of pencils meeting the 
specifications described below entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 
for consumption after November 30, 2000.\1\ In addition, the Department 
will order the suspension of liquidation ended for the merchandise 
covered by this partial revocation, effective on the date of 
publication of this notice.
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    \1\ We inadvertently identified the date as December 1, 2001, in 
the Initiation and Preliminary Results.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: March 27, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Mire or Howard Smith, AD/CVD 
Enforcement, Group II, Office 4, Import Administration, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-4711 
and 482-5193, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 23, 2002, The Smencil Company (Smencil Co.) filed a 
request with the Department to revoke the antidumping duty order on 
certain cased pencils from the PRC with respect to the patented, scent-
infused pencils produced in the PRC that it imports. See Smencil Co.'s 
letter to the Secretary, dated December 10, 2002 (Smencil Co. Request 
Letter).
    Specifically, Smencil Co. requested that the Department revoke the 
antidumping duty order with respect to imports meeting the following 
description: scent-infused pencils manufactured in the PRC under U.S. 
patent number 6,217,242,\2\ (Patent) that are made from rolled sheets 
of paper, namely rolled sheets of recycled newspaper, and infused with 
various scents so as to create scented pencils named Smencils. See 
Smencil Co. Request Letter at 1-2.
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    \2\ Patent number 6,217,242 (April 17, 2001) describes the 
invention as a ``scented writing implement (comprising) . . . a 
fragrant pencil and a method for making same.'' (See Smencil Co. 
Request Letter at Appendix 2.) The patent is owned by Evaco, Ltd., 
doing business as The Smencil Company (See Smencil Co. Request 
Letter at 1).
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    Smencil Co. attached to its request a letter dated December 10, 
2002, from the petitioners in the pencils antidumping duty 
proceeding\3\ stating that they are not interested in having the order 
on pencils from PRC apply to pencils manufactured in the PRC under U.S. 
patent number 6,217,242 that are made from rolled sheets of recycled 
newspaper that are infused with various scents, thereby creating 
products with odors distinct from those that may emanate from pencils 
made without the scent infusion. The petitioners indicated that the 
exclusion of the above-described pencils from the order should be 
narrowly drawn and not encompass pencils manufactured from recycled 
paper products without the scent infusion or with odors infused by 
means not covered by the Patent.
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    \3\ The petitioners are the Pencil Section of the Writing 
Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA), a trade association 
comprised of domestic pencil producers, and Sanford Corporation, 
Dixon-Ticonderoga Corporation, Tennessee Pencil Company, Musgrave 
Pencil Company, Moon Products, Inc., and Aakron Rule, Inc.
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    Subsequent to Smencil Co.'s request, the petitioners reconfirmed 
their position stated in their December 10, 2002, letter, as well as 
informed the Department that they account for more than 90 percent of 
the production of the domestic like product. See Memorandum to The File 
from Holly A. Kuga, Senior Office Director, ``Telephone Discussion with 
Counsel for Petitioners,'' dated January 31, 2003, which is on file in 
Import Administration's Central Records Unit, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Room B-099, 
Washington, DC 20230.
    As noted above, on February 13, 2003, we published the Initiation 
and Preliminary Results and gave interested parties an opportunity to 
comment. We received no comments from interested parties.

New Scope Based on this Changed Circumstances Review

    The products covered by this antidumping duty order are shipments 
of certain cased pencils of any shape or dimension which are writing 
and/or drawing instruments that feature cores of graphite or other 
materials, encased in wood and/or man-made materials, whether or not 
decorated and whether or not tipped (e.g., with erasers, etc.) in any 
fashion, and either sharpened or unsharpened. The pencils subject to 
the order are classified under subheading 9609.10.00 of the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Specifically excluded 
from the scope of the order are mechanical pencils, cosmetic pencils, 
pens, non-cased crayons (wax), pastels, charcoals, chalks, and pencils 
produced under U.S. patent number 6,217,242, from paper infused with 
scents by the means covered in the above-referenced patent, thereby 
having odors distinct from those that may emanate from pencils lacking 
the scent infusion.
    Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes, our written description of the scope of the order is 
dispositive.

Final Results of Review; Partial Revocation of Antidumping Duty Order

    The affirmative statement of no interest by petitioners concerning

[[Page 14943]]

pencils meeting the specifications described above constitutes changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant partial revocation of this order. 
Also, no party commented on the Initiation and Preliminary Results. 
Therefore, the Department is partially revoking the order on pencils 
from the PRC with regard to the pencils meeting the specifications 
described above, in accordance with sections 751(b), 751(d)(1), and 
782(h)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), and 19 CFR 
351.222(g)(1)(2002).
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.222(g)(4), the Department will order 
the suspension of liquidation ended for pencils meeting the 
specifications described above, effective on the date of publication of 
this notice. The Department will further instruct Customs to refund 
with interest any estimated antidumping duties collected with respect 
to unliquidated entries of pencils meeting the specifications described 
above entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption after 
November 30, 2000, (i.e., any entries after the last day of the period 
covering the last completed administrative review), in accordance with 
section 778 of the Act. In addition, the Department will instruct 
Customs to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, all 
unliquidated entries of pencils meeting the specifications described 
above.
    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 351.306. Timely written notification of 
the return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial 
protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the 
regulations and terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This changed circumstances administrative review, partial 
revocation of the antidumping duty order and notice are in accordance 
with sections 751(b), 751(d)(1), and 782(h)(2) of the Act and sections 
351.216(e) and 351.222(g) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: March 20, 2003.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-7359 Filed 3-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S