[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55349-55350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22865]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-357-812]


Honey From Argentina: Notice of Extension of Time Limit for 
Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is rescinding in 
part the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on honey 
from Argentina for the period of review (POR) of December 1, 2009, to 
November 30, 2010, with respect to ten companies. This rescission, in 
part, is based on the timely withdrawal of the request for review by 
the interested parties that requested the review. A complete list of 
the companies for which the administrative review is being rescinded is 
provided in the background section below. Additionally, the Department 
is extending the preliminary results of this administrative review to 
no later than December 1, 2011.

DATES: Effective Date: September 7, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Drury or Angelica Mendoza, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 7850, Washington, DC 20230; telephone 
(202) 482-0195, or (202) 482-3019, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On December 10, 2001, the Department published the antidumping duty 
order on honey from Argentina. See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: 
Honey From Argentina, 66 FR 63672 (December 10, 2001). On December 1, 
2010, the Department published in the Federal Register its notice of 
opportunity to request an administrative review of this order. See 
Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended 
Investigation; Opportunity To Request Administrative Review, 75 FR 
74682 (December 1, 2010). In response, on December 29, 2010, Algodonera 
Avellaneda, S.A. (Algodonera) requested an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on honey from Argentina for the POR.
    On December 30, 2010, Nexco S.A. (Nexco) also requested an 
administrative review of the same antidumping duty order for the POR.
    On January 3, 2011, A.G.L.H. S.A., (AGLH) Compa[ntilde][iacute]a 
Inversora Platense S.A. (CIPSA), Industrial Haedo S.A. (Haedo), Mielar 
S.A./Compa[ntilde][iacute]a Ap[iacute]cola Argentina S.A. (Mielar), 
Patagonik S.A. (Patagonik), and TransHoney S.A. (TransHoney) also 
requested administrative reviews.
    Also on January 3, 2011, the American Honey Producers Association 
and Sioux Honey Association (collectively, petitioners) requested an 
administrative review of the same antidumping duty order. Specifically, 
the petitioners requested that the Department conduct an administrative 
review of entries of subject merchandise made by 21 Argentine 
producers/exporters: AGLH, Algodonera, Nexco, Haedo, Mielar, CIPSA, 
Patagonik, and TransHoney were included in the petitioners' request for 
review, as well as HoneyMax S.A. (HoneyMax) and Alma Pura S.A. (Alma 
Pura).\1\
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    \1\ In addition to the companies listed above, petitioners also 
requested administrative reviews for Asociacion de Cooperativas 
Argentinas (ACA), Alimentos Naturales-Natural Foods Lavalle, 
Apidouro Comerical Exportadora E Importadora Ltda., Bomare S.A., 
Compania Apicola Argentina S.A., El Mana S.A., Interrupcion S.A., 
Miel Ceta SRL, Productos Afer S.A., Seabird Argentina S.A., and 
Villamora S.A.
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    On January 13, 2011, petitioners withdrew their request for an 
antidumping duty administrative review of honey from Argentina for the 
POR, for ACA. Petitioners noted that ACA is no longer subject to the 
antidumping duty order on honey from Argentina.
    On January 28, 2011, the Department initiated a review of the 20 
companies for which an administrative review was requested. See 
Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Reviews, 76 FR 5137 (January 28, 2011) (Initiation Notice).
    On February 2, 2011, Alma Pura submitted a letter certifying that, 
during the POR, it had no shipments, sales, or U.S. entries of subject 
merchandise. Alma Pura requested that the Department rescind the 
administrative review with respect to Alma Pura.
    On February 7, 2011, the Department issued a memorandum to the file 
indicating its intention to limit the number of respondents selected 
for review and to select mandatory respondents based on U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) data for U.S. imports of Argentine honey 
during the POR. The Department encouraged all interested parties to 
submit comments regarding the use of CBP entry data for respondent 
selection purposes. See Memorandum to the File through Richard Weible, 
Director, Office 7, AD/CVD Operations, regarding ``Honey from 
Argentina--United States Customs and Border Protection Entry Data for 
Selection of Respondents for Individual Review,'' dated February 7, 
2011.
    On February 24, 2011, the Department published a subsequent 
initiation notice which included corrections to the Initiation Notice 
with respect to honey from Argentina. See Initiation of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation 
in Part, 76 FR 10329 (February 24, 2011) (Second Initiation Notice).\2\
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    \2\ In Nexco's review request, Nexco also requested revocation 
from the antidumping duty order on honey from Argentina (in part). 
However, Nexco's request for revocation in part from the order was 
inadvertently omitted from the Initiation Notice. Furthermore, 
certain company names were misspelled in the same Initiation Notice. 
All errors were corrected in the Second Initiation Notice.
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    On March 18, 2011, the Department selected the two producers/
exporters with the largest export volume during the POR as mandatory 
respondents: HoneyMax and Nexco. See Memorandum to Richard O. Weible, 
``Administrative Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Honey from 
Argentina: Respondent Selection Memorandum,'' dated March 18, 2011. On 
March 18, 2011, the Department issued its antidumping questionnaire to 
the two mandatory respondents.
    On April 8, 2011, and pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the 
petitioners timely withdrew their request for review of the following 
companies: (1) Alimentos Naturales-Natural Foods Lavalle, (2) Alma 
Pura, (3) Apidouro Comercial Exportadora E Importadora Ltda., (4) 
Bomare S.A., (5) HoneyMax, (6) Interrupcion S.A., (7) Miel Ceta SRL, 
(8) Nexco, (9) Productos Afer S.A., and (10) Seabird Argentina S.A.
    On April 8, 2011, and pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), Nexco 
withdrew its request for review and asked that the Department rescind 
the review in part.
    Accordingly, the Department informed interested parties of its 
intent to rescind the review for the ten companies for which 
petitioners and Nexco withdrew requests for review, and to select CIPSA 
and TransHoney as mandatory respondents in place of Nexco and HoneyMax. 
See

[[Page 55350]]

Memorandum to the Richard O. Weible, ``Administrative Review of the 
Antidumping Duty Order on Honey from Argentina: Respondent Selection 
Memorandum,'' dated May 9, 2011. On May 11, 2011, the Department issued 
its antidumping questionnaire to CIPSA and TransHoney.

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order is honey from Argentina. The 
products covered are natural honey, artificial honey containing more 
than 50 percent natural honey by weight, preparations of natural honey 
containing more than 50 percent natural honey by weight, and flavored 
honey. The subject merchandise includes all grades and colors of honey 
whether in liquid, creamed, comb, cut comb, or chunk form, and whether 
packaged for retail or in bulk form.
    The merchandise covered by the order is currently classifiable 
under subheadings 0409.00.00, 1702.90.90, and 2106.90.99 of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, 
the Department's written description of the merchandise under the order 
is dispositive.

Rescission, in Part, of Administrative Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Secretary will rescind an 
administrative review under this section, in whole or in part, if a 
party that requested a review withdraws the request within 90 days of 
the date of publication of notice of initiation of the requested 
review. Based on petitioners' and respondents' withdrawal of their 
requests of administrative review within the 90-day deadline, the 
Department is rescinding, in part, the antidumping duty administrative 
review on honey from Argentina for the period December 1, 2009 to 
November 30, 2010, with respect to the following companies: (1) 
Alimentos Naturales-Natural Foods Lavalle, (2) Alma Pura, (3) Apidouro 
Comercial Exportadora E Importadora Ltda., (4) Bomare S.A., (5) 
HoneyMax, (6) Interrupcion S.A., (7) Miel Ceta SRL, (8) Nexco, (9) 
Productos Afer S.A., and (10) Seabird Argentina S.A.

Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results

    Section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the 
Act), requires the Department to complete the preliminary results of an 
administrative review within 245 days after the last day of the 
anniversary month of an order for which a review is requested. However, 
if it is not practicable to complete the review within this time 
period, section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act allows the Department to extend 
the time limit for the preliminary results to a maximum of 365 days 
after the last day of the anniversary month of an order for which a 
review is requested.
    The Department has determined it is not practicable to complete 
this review within the statutory time limit due to the selection of two 
new mandatory respondents for this review after the requests for review 
for the original respondents were withdrawn. The Department requires 
time to analyze information submitted by the current respondents in 
this administrative review, and may need to request additional 
information. Accordingly, the Department is extending the time limit 
for completion of the preliminary results of this administrative review 
by 90 days (i.e., to December 1, 2011).

Notification to Parties

    This notice serves as a reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under section 351.402(f) of the Department's regulations 
to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties 
prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this period of 
time. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the 
Secretary's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties 
occurred and subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders

    This notice also 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 section 351.305(a)(3) of the Department's 
regulations. Timely written notification of the return or 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 notice is issued and published in accordance with section 
351.213(d)(4) of the Department's regulations and sections 751(a)(3)(A) 
and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: August 30, 2011.
Susan H. Kuhbach,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Operations.
[FR Doc. 2011-22865 Filed 9-6-11; 8:45 am]
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