[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 4, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62428-62430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27690]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 antidumping duty changed 
circumstances review and determination to revoke order in part.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On September 22, 2003, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of initiation and preliminary results of 
an antidumping duty (AD) 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 Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review and Intent to Revoke Order in Part: Certain Cased 
Pencils from the People's Republic of China, 68 FR 55029 (September 22, 
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

[[Page 62429]]

interest in the continuation of the order with respect to these 
particular pencils. See ``Final Results of Review; Partial Revocation 
of Antidumping Duty Order'' below. The Department will instruct the 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to liquidate, without regard 
to antidumping duties, all unliquidated entries of pencils meeting the 
specifications described below. Further, the Department will instruct 
CBP 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specifications described below entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, 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 on or after December 1, 2001. 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 4, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Blackledge 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) 482-3518 and 482-5193, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On July 30, 2003, Accoutrements, a U.S. importer, filed a request 
with the Department to revoke the AD order on pencils from the PRC with 
respect to a large novelty pencil. See Accoutrements' letter to the 
Secretary, dated July 25, 2003 (Accoutrements Request Letter). 
Specifically, Accoutrements requested that the Department revoke the AD 
order with respect to imports meeting the following description: 
novelty jumbo pencil that is octagonal in shape, approximately fourteen 
inches long, one-and-one quarter inches in diameter, and three-and-
three quarter inches in circumference, composed of turned wood 
imprinted with the word, ACCOUTREMENTS, and the number 2, on one side, 
encasing one-and-one half inches of sharpened lead on one end and a 
rubber eraser on the other end. See Accoutrements Request Letter at 1.
    On August 11, 2003, the petitioner submitted a letter to the 
Department stating that it ``would not support inclusion in the 
referenced antidumping duty order of a jumbo novelty pencil 
(approximately 1 foot long and 1 inch in diameter) that a company 
called Accoutrements is considering importing.'' On September 8, 2003, 
the petitioner submitted a letter to the Department clarifying its 
August 11, 2003 submission. In its September 8, 2003, letter, the 
petitioner submitted the following proposed scope language with respect 
to the above-mentioned jumbo novelty pencil: ``Also excluded from the 
scope of the order are pencils with all of the following physical 
characteristics: 1) length: 14 or more inches; 2) sheath diameter: not 
less than one-and-one quarter inches at any point (before sharpening); 
and 3) core length: not more than 15 percent of the length of the 
pencil.''
    In response to the Department's invitation to comment on the 
preliminary results, on October 6, 2003, Accoutrements submitted a 
letter to the Department in which it requested that the Department 
change the proposed scope language from 14 or more inches to 13.5 or 
more inches, ``in order to cover possible manufacturing variances from 
production run to production run.'' On October 15, 2003, the petitioner 
submitted a letter to the Department in which it stated that it did not 
object to Accoutrement's requested change in the scope language.

New Scope Based on this Changed Circumstances Review

    Imports covered by this order are shipments of certain cased 
pencils of any shape or dimension (except as noted below) 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. Also excluded from the scope of the order 
are pencils with all of the following physical characteristics: 1) 
length: 13.5 or more inches; 2) sheath diameter: not less than one-and-
one quarter inches at any point (before sharpening); and 3) core 
length: not more than 15 percent of the length of the pencil.
    Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and 
customs purposes our written description of the scope of the order is 
dispositive.

Partial Revocation of Antidumping Duty Order

    The petitioner has expressed no interest in continuing the AD order 
on pencils from the PRC with respect to pencils with all the following 
physical characteristics: 1) length: 13.5 or more inches; 2) sheath 
diameter: not less than one-and-one quarter inches at any point (before 
sharpening); and 3) core length: not more than 15 percent of the length 
of the pencil. The affirmative statement of no interest by the 
petitioner concerning pencils meeting the above specifications 
constitutes changed circumstances sufficient to warrant partial 
revocation of this order. 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 C.F.R. Sec. 351.222(g)(1). The Department has 
modified the scope of the AD order on pencils from the PRC to exclude 
the pencils described above.
    In accordance with 19 C.F.R. Sec. 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 CBP 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 on or after 
December 1, 2001 (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 CBP 
to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, all unliquidated 
entries of pencils meeting the specifications described above entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after December 1, 
2001.

Administrative Protective Order

    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 C.F.R. Sec. 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

[[Page 62430]]

and terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This changed circumstances 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 19 C.F.R. 
Sec. 351.216(e) and Sec. 351.222(g).

    Dated: October 27, 2003.
James J. Jochum,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-27690 Filed 11-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S