[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 21 (Monday, February 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4981-4984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2063]


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INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Investigation No. 731-TA-44 (Review)]


Sorbitol From France

AGENCY: International Trade Commission.

ACTION: Institution of a five-year review concerning the antidumping 
duty order on sorbitol from France.

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SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives notice that it has instituted a 
review pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1675(c)) (the Act) to determine whether revocation of the antidumping 
duty order on sorbitol from France would be likely to lead to 
continuation or recurrence of material injury. Pursuant to section 
751(c)(2) of the Act, interested parties are requested to respond to 
this notice by submitting the information specified below to the

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Commission; \1\ to be assured of consideration, the deadline for 
responses is March 23, 2004. Comments on the adequacy of responses may 
be filed with the Commission by April 16, 2004. For further information 
concerning the conduct of this review and rules of general application, 
consult the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, part 201, 
subparts A through E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207, subparts A, D, E, 
and F (19 CFR part 207).
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    \1\ No response to this request for information is required if a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number is not 
displayed; the OMB number is 3117-0016/USITC No. 04-5-081, 
expiration date June 30, 2005. Public reporting burden for the 
request is estimated to average 7 hours per response. Please send 
comments regarding the accuracy of this burden estimate to the 
Office of Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20436.

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EFFECTIVE DATE: February 2, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Messer (202-205-3193), Office of 
Investigations, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired persons can obtain information 
on this matter by contacting the Commission's TDD terminal on 202-205-
1810. Persons with mobility impairments who will need special 
assistance in gaining access to the Commission should contact the 
Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000. General information concerning 
the Commission may also be obtained by accessing its Internet server 
(http://www.usitc.gov). The public record for this review may be viewed 
on the Commission's electronic docket (EDIS) at http://edis.usitc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background. On April 9, 1982, the Department 
of Commerce issued an antidumping duty order on imports of sorbitol 
from France (47 FR 15391). Following five-year reviews by Commerce and 
the Commission, effective March 17, 1999, Commerce issued a 
continuation of the antidumping duty order on imports of sorbitol from 
France (64 FR 42920, August 6, 1999). The Commission is now conducting 
a second review to determine whether revocation of the order would be 
likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to the 
domestic industry within a reasonably foreseeable time. It will assess 
the adequacy of interested party responses to this notice of 
institution to determine whether to conduct a full review or an 
expedited review. The Commission's determination in any expedited 
review will be based on the facts available, which may include 
information provided in response to this notice.
    Definitions. The following definitions apply to this review:
    (1) Subject Merchandise is the class or kind of merchandise that is 
within the scope of the five-year review, as defined by the Department 
of Commerce.
    (2) The Subject Country in this review is France.
    (3) The Domestic Like Product is the domestically produced product 
or products which are like, or in the absence of like, most similar in 
characteristics and uses with, the Subject Merchandise. In its original 
determination and in response to the July 18, 1993, order of the United 
States Court of International Trade remanding the investigation, the 
Commission defined two Domestic Like Products, crystalline and liquid 
sorbitol. In its original determination, the Commission made 
affirmative findings for both Domestic Like Products; however, in the 
remand investigation, the Commission made an affirmative determination 
with respect to crystalline sorbitol only. Certain Commissioners 
defined the Domestic Like Product differently in the original and 
remand investigations. In its expedited five-year review determination, 
the Commission found that the appropriate definition of the Domestic 
Like Product is the same as Commerce's scope: crystalline sorbitol, a 
polyol produced by the hydrogenation of sugars (glucose), used in the 
production of sugarless gum, candy, groceries, and pharmaceuticals. For 
the purposes of this notice, you should consider the Domestic Like 
Product to be crystalline sorbitol, a polyol produced by the 
hydrogenation of sugars (glucose), used in the production of sugarless 
gum, candy, groceries, and pharmaceuticals.
    (4) The Domestic Industry is the U.S. producers as a whole of the 
Domestic Like Product, or those producers whose collective output of 
the Domestic Like Product constitutes a major proportion of the total 
domestic production of the product. In its original determination and 
in response to the July 18, 1993, order of the United States Court of 
International Trade remanding the investigation, the Commission defined 
two Domestic Industries, one producing crystalline sorbitol and one 
producing liquid sorbitol. In its original determination, the 
Commission made affirmative findings for both Domestic Industries; 
however, in the remand investigation, the Commission made an 
affirmative determination with respect to only the U.S. producers of 
crystalline sorbitol. Certain Commissioners defined the Domestic 
Industry differently in the original and remand investigations. In its 
expedited five-year review determination, the Commission defined the 
Domestic Industry to encompass all U.S. producers of crystalline 
sorbitol. For the purposes of this notice, you should consider the 
Domestic Industry to be all U.S. producers of crystalline sorbitol.
    (5) An Importer is any person or firm engaged, either directly or 
through a parent company or subsidiary, in importing the Subject 
Merchandise into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or 
through its selling agent.
    Participation in the review and public service list. Persons, 
including industrial users of the Subject Merchandise and, if the 
merchandise is sold at the retail level, representative consumer 
organizations, wishing to participate in the review as parties must 
file an entry of appearance with the Secretary to the Commission, as 
provided in Sec. 201.11(b)(4) of the Commission's rules, no later than 
21 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. The 
Secretary will maintain a public service list containing the names and 
addresses of all persons, or their representatives, who are parties to 
the review.
    Former Commission employees who are seeking to appear in Commission 
five-year reviews are reminded that they are required, pursuant to 19 
CFR 201.15, to seek Commission approval if the matter in which they are 
seeking to appear was pending in any manner or form during their 
Commission employment. The Commission is seeking guidance as to whether 
a second transition five-year review is the ``same particular matter'' 
as the underlying original investigation for purposes of 19 CFR 201.15 
and 18 U.S.C. 207, the post employment statute for Federal employees. 
Former employees may seek informal advice from Commission ethics 
officials with respect to this and the related issue of whether the 
employee's participation was ``personal and substantial.'' However, any 
informal consultation will not relieve former employees of the 
obligation to seek approval to appear from the Commission under its 
rule 201.15. For ethics advice, contact Carol McCue Verratti, Deputy 
Agency Ethics Official, at 202-205-3088.
    Limited disclosure of business proprietary information (BPI) under 
an administrative protective order (APO) and APO service list. Pursuant 
to Sec. 207.7(a) of the Commission's rules, the Secretary will make BPI 
submitted in this review available to authorized

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applicants under the APO issued in the review, provided that the 
application is made no later than 21 days after publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Authorized applicants must represent 
interested parties, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9), who are parties to 
the review. A separate service list will be maintained by the Secretary 
for those parties authorized to receive BPI under the APO.
    Certification. Pursuant to Sec. 207.3 of the Commission's rules, 
any person submitting information to the Commission in connection with 
this review must certify that the information is accurate and complete 
to the best of the submitter's knowledge. In making the certification, 
the submitter will be deemed to consent, unless otherwise specified, 
for the Commission, its employees, and contract personnel to use the 
information provided in any other reviews or investigations of the same 
or comparable products which the Commission conducts under Title VII of 
the Act, or in internal audits and investigations relating to the 
programs and operations of the Commission pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Appendix 
3.
    Written submissions. Pursuant to Sec. 207.61 of the Commission's 
rules, each interested party response to this notice must provide the 
information specified below. The deadline for filing such responses is 
March 23, 2004. Pursuant to Sec. 207.62(b) of the Commission's rules, 
eligible parties (as specified in Commission rule 207.62(b)(1)) may 
also file comments concerning the adequacy of responses to the notice 
of institution and whether the Commission should conduct an expedited 
or full review. The deadline for filing such comments is April 16, 
2004. All written submissions must conform with the provisions of 
Sec.Sec. 201.8 and 207.3 of the Commission's rules and any submissions 
that contain BPI must also conform with the requirements of Sec.Sec. 
201.6 and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. The Commission's rules do 
not authorize filing of submissions with the Secretary by facsimile or 
electronic means, except to the extent permitted by Sec. 201.8 of the 
Commission's rules, as amended, 67 FR 68036 (November 8, 2002). Also, 
in accordance with Sec.Sec. 201.16(c) and 207.3 of the Commission's 
rules, each document filed by a party to the review must be served on 
all other parties to the review (as identified by either the public or 
APO service list as appropriate), and a certificate of service must 
accompany the document (if you are not a party to the review you do not 
need to serve your response).
    Inability to provide requested information. Pursuant to Sec. 
207.61(c) of the Commission's rules, any interested party that cannot 
furnish the information requested by this notice in the requested form 
and manner shall notify the Commission at the earliest possible time, 
provide a full explanation of why it cannot provide the requested 
information, and indicate alternative forms in which it can provide 
equivalent information. If an interested party does not provide this 
notification (or the Commission finds the explanation provided in the 
notification inadequate) and fails to provide a complete response to 
this notice, the Commission may take an adverse inference against the 
party pursuant to Sec. 776(b) of the Act in making its determination in 
the review.
    Information to be Provided in Response to This Notice of 
Institution: As used below, the term ``firm'' includes any related 
firms.
    (1) The name and address of your firm or entity (including World 
Wide Web address if available) and name, telephone number, fax number, 
and E-mail address of the certifying official.
    (2) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is a U.S. 
producer of the Domestic Like Product, a U.S. union or worker group, a 
U.S. importer of the Subject Merchandise, a foreign producer or 
exporter of the Subject Merchandise, a U.S. or foreign trade or 
business association, or another interested party (including an 
explanation). If you are a union/worker group or trade/business 
association, identify the firms in which your workers are employed or 
which are members of your association.
    (3) A statement indicating whether your firm/entity is willing to 
participate in this review by providing information requested by the 
Commission.
    (4) A statement of the likely effects of the revocation of the 
antidumping duty order on the Domestic Industry in general and/or your 
firm/entity specifically. In your response, please discuss the various 
factors specified in Sec. 752(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675a(a)) 
including the likely volume of subject imports, likely price effects of 
subject imports, and likely impact of imports of Subject Merchandise on 
the Domestic Industry.
    (5) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. producers of 
the Domestic Like Product. Identify any known related parties and the 
nature of the relationship as defined in section 771(4)(B) of the Act 
(19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(B)).
    (6) A list of all known and currently operating U.S. importers of 
the Subject Merchandise and producers of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country that currently export or have exported Subject 
Merchandise to the United States or other countries after 1997.
    (7) If you are a U.S. producer of the Domestic Like Product, 
provide the following information on your firm's operations on that 
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and 
value data in U.S. dollars, f.o.b. plant). If you are a union/worker 
group or trade/business association, provide the information, on an 
aggregate basis, for the firms in which your workers are employed/which 
are members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total U.S. production of the Domestic Like Product 
accounted for by your firm's(s') production;
    (b) the quantity and value of U.S. commercial shipments of the 
Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s); and
    (c) the quantity and value of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of the Domestic Like Product produced in your U.S. plant(s).
    (8) If you are a U.S. importer or a trade/business association of 
U.S. importers of the Subject Merchandise from the Subject Country, 
provide the following information on your firm's(s') operations on that 
product during calendar year 2003 (report quantity data in pounds and 
value data in U.S. dollars). If you are a trade/business association, 
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are 
members of your association.
    (a) The quantity and value (landed, duty-paid but not including 
antidumping or countervailing duties) of U.S. imports and, if known, an 
estimate of the percentage of total U.S. imports of Subject Merchandise 
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') imports;
    (b) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. commercial shipments of Subject 
Merchandise imported from the Subject Country; and
    (c) the quantity and value (f.o.b. U.S. port, including antidumping 
and/or countervailing duties) of U.S. internal consumption/company 
transfers of Subject Merchandise imported from the Subject Country.
    (9) If you are a producer, an exporter, or a trade/business 
association of producers or exporters of the Subject Merchandise in the 
Subject Country, provide the following information on your firm's(s') 
operations on that product during calendar year 2003

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(report quantity data in pounds and value data in U.S. dollars, landed 
and duty-paid at the U.S. port but not including antidumping or 
countervailing duties). If you are a trade/business association, 
provide the information, on an aggregate basis, for the firms which are 
members of your association.
    (a) Production (quantity) and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total production of Subject Merchandise in the Subject 
Country accounted for by your firm's(s') production; and
    (b) the quantity and value of your firm's(s') exports to the United 
States of Subject Merchandise and, if known, an estimate of the 
percentage of total exports to the United States of Subject Merchandise 
from the Subject Country accounted for by your firm's(s') exports.
    (10) Identify significant changes, if any, in the supply and demand 
conditions or business cycle for the Domestic Like Product that have 
occurred in the United States or in the market for the Subject 
Merchandise in the Subject Country after 1997, and significant changes, 
if any, that are likely to occur within a reasonably foreseeable time. 
Supply conditions to consider include technology; production methods; 
development efforts; ability to increase production (including the 
shift of production facilities used for other products and the use, 
cost, or availability of major inputs into production); and factors 
related to the ability to shift supply among different national markets 
(including barriers to importation in foreign markets or changes in 
market demand abroad). Demand conditions to consider include end uses 
and applications; the existence and availability of substitute 
products; and the level of competition among the Domestic Like Product 
produced in the United States, Subject Merchandise produced in the 
Subject Country, and such merchandise from other countries.
    (11) (Optional) A statement of whether you agree with the above 
definitions of the Domestic Like Product and Domestic Industry; if you 
disagree with either or both of these definitions, please explain why 
and provide alternative definitions.

    Authority: This review is being conducted under authority of 
title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930; this notice is published 
pursuant to Sec. 207.61 of the Commission's rules.

    Issued: January 27, 2004.

    By order of the Commission.
Marilyn R. Abbott,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-2063 Filed 1-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020-02-P