[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46277-46278]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19529]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-504]


Petroleum Wax Candles From the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results of Request for Comments on the Scope of the Antidumping Duty 
Order

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: On August 13, 2010, the Department of Commerce 
(``Department'') published in the Federal Register the Preliminary 
Results \1\ regarding its request for comments on the scope of 
antidumping duty order on petroleum wax candles from the People's 
Republic of China (``PRC''),\2\ in which we preliminarily determined a 
new interpretation for analyzing candle scope ruling requests and 
applied this interpretation to pending scope requests. We gave 
interested parties an opportunity to present comments and rebuttals on 
the Preliminary Results. Based upon our analysis of the comments and 
information received, we have changed our interpretation of the scope 
of the Order from the Preliminary Results. As discussed in more detail 
below, the Department intends to apply the interpretation articulated 
in these final results to all pending and future scope determinations 
involving the Order.
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    \1\ See Petroleum Wax Candles from the People's Republic of 
China: Preliminary Results of Request for Comments on the Scope of 
the Petroleum Wax Candles from the People's Republic of China 
Antidumping Duty Order, 75 FR 49475 (August 13, 2010) (``Preliminary 
Results'').
    \2\ See Antidumping Duty Order: Petroleum Wax Candles from the 
People's Republic of China, 51 FR 30686 (August 28, 1986) 
(``Order'').

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Lord, AD/CVD Operations, Office 9, 
Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, telephone: (202) 482-
7425.

Case History

    The petitioner in the original less-than-fair-value (``LTFV'') 
investigation, the National Candle Association (``NCA'') requested that 
the investigation of petroleum wax candles from the PRC cover:

candles made from petroleum wax {that{time}  contain fiber or paper-
cored wicks. They are sold in the following shapes: tapers, spirals, 
and straight-sided dinner candles; rounds, columns, pillars; 
votives; and various wax-filled containers. These candles may be 
scented or unscented {* * *{time}  and are generally used by retail 
consumers in the home or yard for decorative or lighting 
purposes.\3\
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    \3\ See Antidumping Petition Submitted on Behalf of the National 
Candle Association in the Matter of: Petroleum Wax Candles from the 
People's Republic of China (September 3, 1985) (``Petition''), at 7.

    The Department adopted this same language as the scope in its 
notice of initiation, with the modification that the Department placed 
``certain'' before ``petroleum wax candles.'' This scope language 
carried forward without change through the eventual antidumping duty 
order and subsequent segments of this proceeding. Due to the fact that 
the plain language of the scope contains no specific words of 
exclusion, throughout the history of the Order there has been 
particular confusion regarding the coverage of certain candle types--
particularly ``novelty candles.'' This uncertainty has led to an 
overabundance of scope ruling requests that has hindered the effective 
administration of the Order.
    On August 21, 2009, given the extremely large number of scope 
determinations requested by outside parties, the Department solicited 
comments from interested parties on the best method to consider whether 
novelty candles should or should not be included within the scope of 
the Order. See Petroleum Wax Candles from the People's Republic of 
China: Request for Comments on the Scope of the Antidumping Duty Order 
and the Impact on Scope Determinations, 74 FR 42230 (August 21, 2009). 
In that notice, interested parties were presented two options (as well 
as the opportunity to submit additional options and ideas):

    Option A: The Department would consider all candle shapes 
identified in the scope of

[[Page 46278]]

the Order (i.e., tapers, spirals, and straight-sided dinner candles; 
rounds, columns, pillars, votives; and various wax-filled 
containers) to be within the scope of the Order, regardless of 
etchings, prints moldings or other artistic or decorative 
enhancements, including any holiday-related art. All other candle 
shapes would be considered outside of the scope of the Order.
    Option B: The Department would consider all candle shapes, 
including novelty candles, to be within the scope of the Order, 
including those not in the shapes listed in the scope of the Order, 
as that is not an exhaustive list of shapes, but simply an 
illustrative list of common candle shapes.

    After receiving comments from interested parties, the Department 
issued its Preliminary Results on August 13, 2010, in which it 
preliminarily developed a new interpretation for candle scope ruling 
requests based on Option A, with the added modification that birthday 
and utility candles would be excluded from the scope of the Order. See 
Preliminary Results. That is, the Department stated that any candle 
shapes not specifically listed in the Order's scope would be excluded; 
birthday and utility candles would be excluded from the scope of the 
Order even if in one of the shapes (such as tapers or pillars) 
specifically mentioned in the scope's text. Id. 75 FR at 49480 
(emphasis added). The Department found in the Preliminary Results that, 
in accordance with Option A, there was no evidence on record from the 
LFTV investigation to indicate that prior to the issuance of the Order, 
religious, holiday, or special occasion-themed characteristics were 
considered to be criteria that excluded candles from the scope of the 
LFTV investigation. See Preliminary Results. No interested parties 
contested this assertion subsequent to the issuance of the Preliminary 
Results.
    The Department preliminarily applied this interpretation to 269 
unique candles \4\ contained in the five pending scope determinations 
under the Order.\5\ See Preliminary Results see also Memorandum to the 
File through Alex Villanueva, Program Manager, from Tim Lord, Case 
Analyst, Certain Petroleum Wax Candles from the People's Republic of 
China: Candle Scope Request Preliminary Determinations (August 9, 
2010). The Department subsequently discovered that it had not made 
preliminary determinations on all of the unique candles in the five 
pending scope determinations under the Order. As such, on October 13, 
2010, the Department issued preliminary determinations for the 349 
unique candles that it had inadvertently neglected to include with the 
Preliminary Results. See Memorandum to the File through Alex 
Villanueva, Program Manager, from Tim Lord, Case Analyst, Petroleum Wax 
Candles from the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Scope Rulings 
not Included in Preliminary Results (October 13, 2010).\6\
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    \4\ ``Unique candles'' are those candles from a particular 
requestor that are not identical to each other. For example, if a 
requestor submitted three beach ball candles, and two of those were 
exactly the same size, shape, and color, while the third candle was 
not, the set of three candles would consist of two unique candles.
    \5\ On June 5, 2009, July 7, 2009, August 20, 2009, and May 5, 
2010 the Department received requests from Trade Associates Group, 
Ltd., Candym Enterprises, Ltd. (``Candym''), Sourcing International, 
LLC, and Accent Imports, respectively, for scope rulings to 
determine whether each company's respective assortment of candles is 
outside the scope of the Order. The Department received another 
scope ruling request from Candym on November 5, 2009.
    \6\ In total there are currently 618 in the five pending scope 
determinations under the Order (i.e., the 269 for which the 
Department issued preliminary determinations at the time of the 
Preliminary Results combined with 349 for which the Department 
issued preliminary determinations on October 13, 2010).
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Changes Since the Preliminary Results

    The Department received comments and/or rebuttals from interested 
parties by the appropriate deadlines. In examining these comments and 
the administrative record beginning with the LFTV investigation, the 
Department has changed its interpretation from the one chosen in the 
Preliminary Results and is now adopting an approach based on Option B 
for the reasons fully described in the I&D Memo. In addition, the 
Department is applying the interpretation articulated in these final 
results to the 618 unique candles contained in the pending scope 
determinations under the Order in a final scope ruling memorandum, 
which will be issued subsequent to this notice. Further, this 
interpretation will be applied to all future scope proceedings 
involving the Order.
    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs by parties are 
addressed in ``Petroleum Wax Candles from the People's Republic of 
China: Issues and Decision Memorandum of Request for Comments on the 
Scope of the Antidumping Duty Order,'' dated concurrently with this 
notice (``I&D Memo''), which is hereby adopted by this notice. A list 
of the issues that parties raised, and to which we responded in the I&D 
Memo, is attached to this notice as an appendix. The I&D Memo is a 
public document and is on file in the Central Records Unit, Main 
Commerce Building, Room 7046, and is accessible on the Department's Web 
site at http://www.trade.gov/ia. The paper copy and electronic version 
of the memorandum are identical in content.

Final Results

    Evidence on the record indicates that contrary to the Department's 
position in the Preliminary Results, the Order is not limited only to 
the enumerated shapes/types \7\ listed in the scope of the Order. 
Rather, the most reasonable interpretation pursuant to the factors 
established in 19 CFR 351.225(k)(1) is that the enumerated shapes/types 
serve as an illustrative, not exhaustive, list of candles included 
within the scope of the Order. See I&D Memo, at Comment 1. In this 
regard, the Department has determined that there is no basis to exclude 
religious, holiday or special occasions-themed candles from the scope 
of the Order; no commenting party has objected to this determination. 
See I&D Memo, at Comment 3. Therefore, for the final results, the 
Department is adopting an inclusive scope interpretation based on 
Option B, whereby all petroleum wax candles (regardless of holiday or 
special-occasion theme), are within the scope of the Order.
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    \7\ The term ``enumerated shapes/types'' refers to the candle 
shapes and candle types specifically mentioned in the scope of the 
Order.
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    In addition, the evidence establishes that birthday, utility, and 
figurine candles are excluded from the scope of the Order; all the 
commenting parties in this case, including the NCA, have agreed with 
this determination. See I&D Memo, at Comment 3. The Department also 
finds the term ``figurine'' is narrowly defined as a candle in the 
shape of a human, animal, or deity. See I&D Memo, at Comment 3.
    Therefore, the Department hereby adopts an inclusive interpretation 
of the scope of the Order, whereby all candles are included within, 
with the exception of the three candle types that are excluded: 
Birthday, utility, and figurine (i.e., human, animal, or deity shaped) 
candles.
    We are issuing these final results in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.225.

     Dated: July 26, 2011.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-19529 Filed 8-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P