[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3510-3512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1355]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-351-840]


Notice of Request for Information and Extension of Time: Certain 
Orange Juice From Brazil

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

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 25, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Eastwood or Jill Pollack, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office 2, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-
3874 or (202) 482-4593.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Petition

    On December 27, 2004, the Department of Commerce (the Department) 
received an antidumping duty petition (petition) filed by Florida 
Citrus Mutual, A. Duda & Sons, Inc. (doing business as Citrus Belle), 
Citrus World, Inc., Peace River Citrus Products, Inc., and Southern 
Garden Citrus Processing Corporation (doing business as Southern 
Gardens) (collectively ``the petitioners'').

Scope of the Petition

    The following language describes the imported merchandise from 
Brazil that the petitioners intend to be included in the scope of the 
investigation.
    The product under investigation is certain orange juice for 
transport and/or further manufacturing, produced in two different 
forms: (1) Frozen orange juice in a highly concentrated form, sometimes 
referred to as frozen concentrated orange juice for further 
manufacturing (FCOJM); and (2) pasteurized single-strength orange juice 
which has not been concentrated, referred to as Not-From-Concentrate 
(NFC).
    There is an existing antidumping duty order on frozen concentrated 
orange juice (FCOJ) from Brazil. See Antidumping Duty Order; Frozen 
Concentrated Orange Juice from Brazil, 52 FR 16426 (May 5, 1987). 
Therefore,

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the scope with regard to FCOJM covers only FCOJM produced and/or 
exported by those companies who were excluded or revoked from the 
existing antidumping order on FCOJ from Brazil as of December 27, 2004. 
Those companies are Cargill Citrus Limitada, Citrosuco Paulista S.A., 
Coopercitrus Industrial Frutesp, Frutropic, Montecitrus Industria e 
Comercio Limitada, and Sucocitrico Cutrale SA. Reconstituted orange 
juice and frozen orange juice for retail (FCOJR) are also excluded from 
the scope of the investigation. Reconstituted orange juice is produced 
through further manufacture of FCOJM, by adding water, oils and 
essences to the orange juice concentrate. FCOJR is concentrated orange 
juice, typically at 42[ctrcir] Brix, in a frozen state, packed in 
retail sized containers ready for sale to consumers. FCOJR, a finished 
consumer product, is produced through further manufacture of FCOJM, a 
bulk manufacturer's product.
    The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under item 
2009.11.00, 2009.12.25 and 2009.12.45, and 2009.19.00 of the Harmonized 
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). These HTSUS subheadings 
are provided for convenience and for customs purposes only and are not 
dispositive, but rather the written description of the scope of this 
investigation is dispositive.

Domestic Like Product

    Section 771(10) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
defines the domestic like product as ``a product which is like, or in 
the absence of like, most similar in characteristics and uses with the 
article subject to investigation.'' Thus, the reference point from 
which the domestic like product analysis begins is ``the article 
subject to investigation,'' i.e., the class or kind of merchandise to 
be investigated, which normally will be the scope as defined in the 
petition.

Determination of Industry Support for the Petition

    Section 732(b)(1) of the Act requires that a petition be filed on 
behalf of the domestic industry. Section 732(c)(4)(A) of the Act 
provides that the Department's industry support determination be based 
on whether a minimum percentage of the relevant industry supports the 
petition. A petition meets this requirement if the domestic producers 
or workers who support the petition account for: (1) At least 25 
percent of the total production of the domestic like product; and (2) 
more than 50 percent of the production of the domestic like product 
produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or 
opposition to, the petition. Moreover, section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act 
provides that, if the petition does not establish support of domestic 
producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product, the Department shall: (1) Poll 
the industry or rely on other information in order to determine if 
there is support for the petition, as required by subparagraph (A); or 
(2) determine industry support using a statistically valid sampling 
method to poll the industry.

Request for Information

    In the instant case, we have received challenges to industry 
support from U.S. producers and need to determine the production 
quantities and levels of imports of U.S. producers, as well as the 
relationships between U.S. and foreign producers, in order to evaluate 
the calculation of industry support in the petition. Because the 
petition has not established that domestic producers or workers 
accounting for more than 50 percent of the total production of the 
domestic like product support the petition, we must ``poll or otherwise 
determine industry support for the petition by the industry.''
    In accordance with section 732(c)(4)(D) of the Act and in order to 
determine whether the petition establishes support of domestic 
producers or workers accounting for more than 50 percent of the total 
production of the domestic like product, we are hereby requesting that 
all domestic producer/manufacturers of certain orange juice submit to 
the Department a response to the questions posted on Import 
Administration's Web site: http://ia.ita.doc.gov.

Filing Requirements

    Given the very short period in which we must determine industry 
support, the number of potential responses, and the fact that industry 
support may not be re-examined after initiation, we are waiving the 
filing requirements set forth in 19 C.F.R Sec.  351.303 for certain 
parties submitting information on industry support. This waiver of the 
filing requirements will not apply to: 1) the submission of documents 
that are not in response to the information requested in this notice; 
or 2) parties that are familiar with the conduct of antidumping and 
countervailing proceedings through prior involvement in such 
proceedings (e.g., parties represented by law firms that are involved 
in other AD/CVD cases).
    This limited waiver is applicable only until January 26, 2005, the 
deadline for submitting the information requested in this notice. This 
waiver is intended to expedite the receipt of information that is 
essential to our analysis of industry support by providing information 
on the production of the domestic like product by petitioning and non-
petitioning companies. By avoiding delays in the receipt of such 
information, we will have more time to analyze whether the statutory 
requirements concerning industry support for the above-referenced 
petitions have been met.
    All parties submitting any information must include the following 
statement in their response: ``I, (name and title), currently employed 
by (person), certify that (1) I have read the attached submission, and 
(2) based on the information made available to me by (person), I have 
no reason to believe that this submission contains any material 
misrepresentation or omission of fact.'' All information received by 
the Department will be treated as business proprietary information as 
outlined in our regulations (19 CFR 351.304-306), unless otherwise 
noted. Please note that all company names will be treated as public 
information. In addition, note that all business proprietary documents 
received by the Department in response to this notice will be served to 
those individuals with access to business proprietary information under 
the Administrative Protective Order (APO). All public documents may be 
made available to those parties on the public service list. The APO 
service lists and the public service lists are available on Import 
Administration's Web site: http://ia.ita.doc.gov.
    Information submitted to the Department in response to this notice 
should be faxed to the following number: 202-482-4776. Furthermore, all 
such information will be placed on the official record of the 
proceeding. Responses to this notice are due no later than January 26, 
2005. Responses after this date may not be reviewed by the Department 
and therefore, not included in the analysis.

Extension of Time

    Section 732(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act provides that within 20 days of 
the filing of an antidumping duty petition, the Department will 
determine, inter alia, whether the petition has been filed by or on 
behalf of the U.S. industry producing the domestic like product. 
Section 732(c)(1)(B) provides that the deadline for the initiation 
determination can be extended by 20 days in any case in which the 
Department must ``poll or

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otherwise determine support for the petition by the industry . . . .''
    We will require additional information from the petitioners and the 
domestic producers of certain orange juice in order to make our 
determination regarding industry support and/or time to analyze the 
petitioners' responses to our requests for information. See the 
``Determination of Industry Support for the Petition'' section of this 
notice, above. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the deadline for 
decision on initiation for a period not to exceed 40 days from the 
filing of the petition. As a result, the initiation determination is 
due no later than February 7, 2005.

International Trade Commission (ITC) Notification

    Because the Department has extended the deadline of the initiation 
determination, the Department will contact the ITC and will make this 
extension notice available to the ITC.

    Dated: January 18, 2005.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-1355 Filed 1-24-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-DS-P