[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56180-56188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22484]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-552-801]


Certain Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Results of the Eighth Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Ninth New Shipper Reviews, Partial Rescission 
of Review, and Intent To Revoke Order in Part

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is conducting 
administrative and new shipper reviews (``NSRs'') of the antidumping 
duty order on certain frozen fish fillets (``fish fillets'') from the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'').\1\ The Department has 
preliminarily determined that Anvifish Joint Stock Corporation 
(``Anvifish''), Vinh Hoan Corporation (``Vinh Hoan'') \2\, An Phu 
Seafood Corporation (``An Phu''), Docifish Corporation (``Docifish'') 
and Godaco Seafood Joint Stock Company (``Godaco'') did not sell 
merchandise below NV during the period of review (``POR''), August 1, 
2010, through July 31, 2011. If these preliminary results are adopted 
in the final results, the Department will instruct U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection (``CBP'') to assess antidumping duties on all 
appropriate entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Interested 
parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.
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    \1\ See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Fish 
Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 68 FR 47909 (August 
12, 2003) (``Order'').
    \2\ Vinh Hoan includes Vinh Hoan Corporation and its affiliates 
Van Duc Food Export Joint Company (``Van Duc'') and Van Duc Tien 
Giang (``VDTG'').

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DATES: Effective Date: September 12, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scot Fullerton, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office 9, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone 202.482.1386.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Case History

    On October 3, 2011, the Department initiated the eighth 
administrative review of fish fillets from Vietnam with respect to 32 
companies.\3\ Also on October 3, 2011, the Department initiated the 
ninth NSRs of fish fillets from Vietnam with respect to An Phu, 
Docifish and Godaco (collectively, the ``New Shipper Respondents'').\4\ 
On March 15, 2012 the Department aligned the NSRs with the 
administrative review of fish fillets from Vietnam.\5\ On April 4, 
2012, the Department extended the time limits for these aligned reviews 
until August 30, 2012.\6\
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    \3\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews and Requests for Revocation, 77 FR 61076 
(October 3, 2011) (``Initiation'').
    \4\ See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam: Initiation of New Shipper Reviews, 77 FR 61076 (October 
3, 2011).
    \5\ See Memo to the File, from Paul Walker, Case Analyst, 
regarding the alignment of the annual new shipper reviews with the 
eighth administrative review.
    \6\ See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam: Extension of Preliminary Results of Eighth Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review and New Shipper Reviews, 77 FR 20356 
(April 4, 2012).
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    Because of the large number of exporters involved in the 
administrative review, the Department limited the number of respondents 
individually examined pursuant to section 777A(c)(2) of the Tariff Act 
of 1930, as amended (the ``Act''), and selected Vinh Hoan and Anvifish 
as mandatory respondents.\7\ The Department sent antidumping duty 
questionnaires to Vinh Hoan and Anvifish, as well as to the New Shipper 
Respondents, to which they responded in a timely manner. Between 
November 21, 2011 and August 13, 2012, the Department issued 
supplemental questionnaires to these respondents to which they 
responded in a timely manner. Between May 23, 2012, and August 17, 
2012, the Department received surrogate country/surrogate value 
comments, and rebuttal comments from interested parties.
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    \7\ See Memorandum to James Doyle from Javier Barrientos, 
``Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of Certain Frozen Fish 
Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Selection of 
Respondents for Individual Review,'' dated November 8, 2011.
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Scope of the Order

    The product covered by the order is frozen fish fillets, including 
regular, shank, and strip fillets and portions thereof, whether or not 
breaded or marinated, of the species Pangasius Bocourti, Pangasius 
Hypophthalmus (also known as Pangasius Pangasius), and Pangasius 
Micronemus. Frozen fish fillets are lengthwise cuts of whole fish. The 
fillet products covered by the scope include boneless fillets with the 
belly flap intact (``regular'' fillets), boneless fillets with the 
belly flap removed (``shank'' fillets), boneless shank fillets cut into 
strips (``fillet strips/finger''), which include fillets cut into 
strips, chunks, blocks, skewers, or any other shape. Specifically 
excluded from the scope are frozen whole fish (whether or not dressed), 
frozen steaks, and frozen belly-flap nuggets. Frozen whole dressed fish 
are deheaded, skinned, and eviscerated. Steaks are bone-in, cross-
section cuts of dressed fish. Nuggets are the belly-flaps. The subject 
merchandise will be hereinafter referred to as frozen ``basa'' and 
``tra'' fillets, which are the Vietnamese common names for these 
species of fish. These products are classifiable under tariff article 
codes 1604.19.4000, 1604.19.5000, 0305.59.4000, 0304.29.6033 (Frozen 
Fish Fillets of the species Pangasius including basa and tra) of the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'').\8\ The 
order covers all frozen fish fillets meeting the above specification, 
regardless of tariff classification. Although the HTSUS subheading is 
provided for convenience and Customs purposes, our written description 
of the scope of the order is dispositive.
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    \8\ Until July 1, 2004, these products were classifiable under 
tariff article codes 0304.20.60.30 (``Frozen Catfish Fillets''), 
0304.20.60.96 (``Frozen Fish Fillets, NESOI''), 0304.20.60.43 
(``Frozen Freshwater Fish Fillets'') and 0304.20.60.57 (``Frozen 
Sole Fillets'') of the HTSUS. Until February 1, 2007, these products 
were classifiable under tariff article code 0304.20.60.33 (``Frozen 
Fish Fillets of the species Pangasius including basa and tra'') of 
the HTSUS.
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Bona Fides Analysis

    Consistent with the Department's practice, we examined the bona 
fides of the sales under review in the NSRs by the New Shipper 
Respondents.\9\ In

[[Page 56181]]

evaluating whether a sale in a NSR is commercially reasonable or 
typical of normal business practices, and therefore bona fide, the 
Department considers, inter alia, such factors as (a) the timing of the 
sale, (b) the price and quantity, (c) the expenses arising from the 
transaction, (d) whether the goods were resold at a profit, and (e) 
whether the transaction was made at an arm's length basis.\10\ 
Accordingly, the Department considers a number of factors in its bona 
fides analysis, ``all of which may speak to the commercial realities 
surrounding an alleged sale of subject merchandise.'' \11\ In TTPC, the 
court also affirmed the Department's decision that any factor which 
indicates that the sale under consideration is not likely to be typical 
of those which the producer will make in the future is relevant,\12\ 
and found that the weight given to each factor investigated will depend 
on the circumstances surrounding the sale.\13\ Finally, in New Donghua, 
the CIT affirmed the Department's practice of evaluating the 
circumstances surrounding an NSR sale, so that a respondent does not 
unfairly benefit from an atypical sale and obtain a lower dumping 
margin than the producer's usual commercial practice would dictate.\14\ 
Where the Department finds that a sale is not bona fide, the Department 
will exclude the sale from its export price calculations.\15\
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    \9\ See, e.g., Honey from the People's Republic of China: 
Rescission and Final Results of Antidumping Duty New Shipper 
Reviews, 71 FR 58579 (October 4, 2006) and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 1b.
    \10\ See Tianjin Tiancheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. v. United 
States, 366 F. Supp. 2d 1246, 1249-1250 (CIT 2005) (``TTPC'').
    \11\ See Hebei New Donghua Amino Acid Co., Ltd. v. United 
States, 374 F. Supp. 2d 1333, 1342 (CIT 2005) (``New Donghua'') 
(citing Fresh Garlic from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results of Antidumping Administrative Review and Rescission of New 
Shipper Review, 67 FR 11283 (March 13, 2002), and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum: New Shipper Review of Clipper 
Manufacturing Ltd.).
    \12\ See TTPC, 366 F. Supp. 2d at 1250.
    \13\ Id. at 1263.
    \14\ New Donghua, 374 F. Supp. 2d at 1344.
    \15\ See TTPC, 366 F. Supp. 2d at 1249.
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    We found that the sales by the New Shipper Respondents were made on 
bona fide bases.\16\ Based on our investigation into the bona fide 
nature of the sales, the questionnaire responses submitted by New 
Shipper Respondents, and the companies' eligibility for a separate rate 
(see the ``Separate Rate'' section below), we preliminarily determine 
that New Shipper Respondents have met the requirements to qualify as 
new shippers during this POR. Because much of the factual information 
used in our analysis of the bona fides of the New Shipper Respondents' 
transactions involves business proprietary information, the full 
discussion of the basis for our preliminary finding that these sales 
are bona fide is set forth in the respective bona fides memos.\17\ 
Therefore, for the purposes of these preliminary results, we are 
treating the New Shipper Respondents' sales of subject merchandise to 
the United States as appropriate transactions for their NSRs.
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    \16\ See Memorandum to James C. Doyle, Director, Office 9, 
through Scot T. Fullerton, Program Manager, Office 9, from Alex 
Montoro, Case Analyst, Office 9, ``New Shipper Review of Certain 
Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Bona 
Fide Analysis of An Phu Seafood Corporation's New Shipper Sale,'' 
dated concurrently with the notice.
    \17\ See Memorandum to James C. Doyle, Director, Office 9, 
through Scot T. Fullerton, Program Manager, Office 9, from Seth 
Isenberg, Case Analyst, Office 9, ``New Shipper Review of Certain 
Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Bona 
Fide Analysis of Docifish Corporation's New Shipper Sale,'' dated 
concurrently with the notice; Memorandum to James C. Doyle, 
Director, Office 9, through Scot T. Fullerton, Program Manager, 
Office 9, from Alex Montoro, Case Analyst, Office 9, ``New Shipper 
Review of Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Bona Fide Analysis of Godaco Seafood Joint Stock Company's 
New Shipper Sale,'' dated concurrently with the notice; Memorandum 
to James C. Doyle, Director, Office 9, through Scot T. Fullerton, 
Program Manager, Office 9, from Alex Montoro, Case Analyst, Office 
9, ``New Shipper Review of Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Bona Fide Analysis of An Phu Seafood 
Corporation's New Shipper Sale,'' dated concurrently with the 
notice.
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Preliminary Partial Rescission of Administrative Review

    Pursuant to section 351.213(d)(3) of the Department's regulations, 
we have preliminarily determined that seven companies made no shipments 
of subject merchandise during the POR--Bien Dong Seafood Company Ltd., 
International Development & Investment Corporation, Cuu Long Fish Joint 
Stock Company, Thien Ma Seafood Co., Ltd., East Sea Seafoods Limited 
Liability Company \18\, Cantho Import-Export Seafood Joint Stock 
Company and Thuan An Production Trading & Services Co., Ltd. 
(collectively, the ``No Shipment Companies''). Between November 7, 2011 
and November 29, 2011, the Department received no-shipment 
certifications from the No Shipment Companies. In addition, according 
to entry statistics obtained from CBP, the No Shipment Companies made 
no entries of subject merchandise during the POR. Moreover, the 
Department issued no-shipment inquiries to CBP requesting any 
information for merchandise manufactured and shipped by the No Shipment 
Companies during the POR.
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    \18\ Includes the trade name East Sea Seafoods LLC.
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    Between November 7, 2011 and November 15, 2011, the New Shipper 
Respondents notified the Department that they made no entries during 
the POR other than the entries under review in the aligned new shipper 
reviews. Consequently, we are preliminarily rescinding the 
administrative review with respect to the No Shipment Companies and the 
New Shipper Respondents.

Non-Market Economy Country Status

    In every case conducted by the Department involving Vietnam, 
Vietnam has been treated as a non-market (``NME'') country.\19\ In 
accordance with section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Act, any determination 
that a foreign country is an NME country shall remain in effect until 
revoked by the administering authority.\20\ Accordingly, the Department 
continues to treat Vietnam as a NME in this proceeding.
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    \19\ See, e.g., Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of the Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and New Shipper Reviews, 74 FR 11349 (March 
17, 2009).
    \20\ See section 771(18)(C) of the Act.
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Separate Rates

    There is a rebuttable presumption that all companies within Vietnam 
are subject to government control, and thus, should be assessed a 
single antidumping duty rate. It is the Department's standard policy to 
assign all exporters of the merchandise subject to review in NME 
countries a single rate unless an exporter can affirmatively 
demonstrate an absence of government control, both in law (de jure) and 
in fact (de facto), with respect to exports. To establish whether a 
company is sufficiently independent to be entitled to a separate, 
company-specific rate, the Department analyzes each exporting entity in 
an NME country under the test established in Sparklers \21\ as 
amplified by Silicon Carbide.\22\
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    \21\ See Final Determination of Sales at Less than Fair Value: 
Sparklers from the People's Republic of China, 56 FR 20588 (May 6, 
1991) (``Sparklers'').
    \22\ See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Silicon Carbide from the People's Republic of China, 59 
FR 22585 (May 2, 1994) (``Silicon Carbide'').
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A. Absence of De Jure Control

    The Department considers the following de jure criteria in 
determining whether an individual company may be granted a separate 
rate (a) an absence of restrictive stipulations associated with an 
individual exporter's business and export licenses, and (b) any 
legislative enactments decentralizing control of companies.
    Although the Department has previously assigned a separate rate to 
all of the companies eligible for a separate rate in this review, it is 
the

[[Page 56182]]

Department's policy to evaluate separate rates questionnaire responses 
each time a respondent makes a separate rate claim, regardless of 
whether the respondent received a separate rate in the past.\23\
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    \23\ See, e.g., Manganese Metal from the People's Republic of 
China, Final Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 63 FR 12440 (March 13, 1998).
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    In this review, in addition to the two mandatory respondents and 
the New Shipper Respondents, An Giang Agriculture and Food Import-
Export Joint Stock Company (``AFIEX''), An Giang Fisheries Import & 
Export Joint Stock Company (``Agifish''), Asia Commerce Fisheries Joint 
Stock Company (``Acomfish''), Binh An Seafood Joint Stock Company 
(``Binh An''), Cadovimex II Seafood Import-Export and Processing Joint 
Stock Company (``Cadovimex II''), Hiep Thanh Seafood Joint Stock 
Company (``Hiep Thanh''), Hung Vuong Corporation (``Hung Vuong''), Nam 
Viet Corporation (``NAVICO''), NTSF Seafoods Joint Stock Company 
(``NTSF''), QVD Food Company Ltd. (``QVD''), Saigon Mekong Fishery Co., 
Ltd. (``SAMEFICO''), Southern Fisheries Industries Company Ltd. 
(``South Vina'') and Vinh Quang Fisheries Corporation (``Vinh Quang'') 
(collectively, the ``Separate Rate Respondents'') submitted complete 
separate rate certifications or applications. The evidence submitted by 
these companies includes government laws and regulations on corporate 
ownership, business licenses, and narrative information regarding the 
companies' operations and selection of management. The evidence 
provided by these companies supports a finding of a de jure absence of 
government control over their export activities, based on (a) an 
absence of restrictive stipulations associated with the exporter's 
business license, and (b) the legal authority on the record 
decentralizing control over the respondents.

B. Absence of De Facto Control

    The absence of de facto government control over exports is based on 
whether the respondent (a) sets its own export prices independent of 
the government and other exporters, (b) retains the proceeds from its 
export sales and makes independent decisions regarding the disposition 
of profits or financing of losses, (c) has the authority to negotiate 
and sign contracts and other agreements, and (d) has autonomy from the 
government regarding the selection of management.\24\
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    \24\ See Silicon Carbide, 59 FR at 22587; Sparklers, 56 FR at 
20589; see also Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value: Furfuryl Alcohol from the People's Republic of China, 60 
FR 22544, 22545 (May 8, 1995).
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    In this review, in addition to the two mandatory respondents and 
the New Shipper Respondents, the Separate Rate Respondents submitted 
evidence indicating an absence of de facto government control over 
their export activities. Specifically, this evidence indicates that (a) 
each company sets its own export prices independent of the government 
and without the approval of a government authority, (b) each company 
retains the proceeds from its sales and makes independent decisions 
regarding the disposition of profits or financing of losses, (c) each 
company has a general manager, branch manager or division manager with 
the authority to negotiate and bind the company in an agreement, (d) 
the general managers are selected by the board of directors or company 
employees, and the general managers appoint the deputy managers and the 
manager of each department, and (e) there is no restriction on any of 
the companies' use of export revenues. Therefore, the Department 
preliminarily finds that in this review that the two mandatory 
respondents, the New Shipper Respondents and the Separate Rate 
Respondents have established that they qualify for separate rates under 
the criteria established by Silicon Carbide and Sparklers.

Rate for Non-Selected Companies

    As noted above, there are 13 Separate Rate Respondents not selected 
for individual examination. The statute and the Department's 
regulations do not address the establishment of a rate to be applied to 
individual companies not selected for examination when the Department 
has limited its examination in an administrative review pursuant to 
section 777A(c)(2) of the Act. Generally we have looked to section 
735(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation, for guidance when calculating the 
rate for respondents not selected for individual examination. Section 
735(c)(5)(A) of the Act instructs that we do not calculate an all-
others rate using any zero or de minimis weighted-average dumping 
margins or any weighted-average dumping margins based on total facts 
available. Accordingly, the Department's usual practice has been to 
average the rates for the selected companies excluding rates that are 
zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts available.\25\ Section 
735(c)(5)(B) of the Act also provides that, where all rates are zero, 
de minimis, or based on total facts available, we may use ``any 
reasonable method'' for assigning the rate to non-selected respondents. 
One method that section 735(c)(5)(B) of the Act contemplates as a 
possible method is ``averaging the estimated weighted average dumping 
margins determined for the exporters and producers individually 
investigated.''
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    \25\ See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, 
Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom: Final Results of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Reviews and Rescission of Review in Part, 73 FR 
52823, 52824 (September 11, 2008) and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 16.
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    In this review, we have calculated weighted-average dumping margins 
of zero or de minimis for both companies selected as mandatory 
respondents. In previous cases, the Department has determined that a 
``reasonable method'' to use when, as here, the rates of the 
respondents selected for individual examination are zero or de minimis 
is to apply to those companies not selected for individual examination 
the average of the most recently determined rates that are not zero, de 
minimis, or based entirely on facts available (which may be from a 
prior review or new shipper review).\26\ If any such non-selected 
company had its own calculated rate that is contemporaneous with or 
more recent than such prior determined rates, however, the Department 
has applied such individual rate to the non-selected company in the 
review in question, including when that rate is zero or de minimis.\27\ 
However, all prior rates for this proceeding were calculated using the 
Department's zeroing methodology. The Department has stated that it 
will not use its zeroing methodology in administrative reviews with 
preliminary determinations issued after April 16, 2012.\28\ Therefore, 
we will not apply any rates calculated in prior reviews to the non-
selected companies in these reviews. Based on this, and in accordance 
with the statute and the Department's recent practice in AFBs 2012,\29\ 
we determine that a reasonable method for determining the weighted-
average dumping margins for the non-selected respondents in this review 
is to average the weighted-average dumping margins calculated for the 
mandatory

[[Page 56183]]

respondents. Consequently, the rate established for the Separate Rate 
Respondents is a per-unit rate of $0.00 dollars per kilogram. The 
Separate Rate Respondents receiving this rate are identified by name in 
the ``Preliminary Results of Review'' section of this notice.
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    \26\ Id.
    \27\ Id.
    \28\ See Antidumping Proceedings: Calculation of the Weighted 
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Proceedings: Final Modification, 77 FR 8101 (February 14, 2012) 
(``Final Modification for Reviews'').
    \29\ See Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, 
and Italy: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Reviews and Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews in 
Part, 77 FR 33159 (June 5, 2012) (``AFBs 2012'').
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Vietnam-Wide Entity

    Upon initiation of the administrative review, we provided the 
opportunity for all companies upon which the review was initiated to 
complete either the separate-rate application or certification. The 
separate-rate application and certification were available at: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/nme/nme-sep-rate.html.
    We have preliminarily determined that three \30\ companies did not 
demonstrate their eligibility for a separate rate and are properly 
considered part of the Vietnam-wide entity. In NME proceedings, 
```rates' may consist of a single dumping margin applicable to all 
exporters and producers.'' \31\ As explained above in the ``Separate 
Rates'' section, all companies within Vietnam are considered to be 
subject to government control unless they are able to demonstrate an 
absence of government control with respect to their export activities. 
Such companies are thus assigned a single antidumping duty rate 
distinct from the separate rate(s) determined for companies that are 
found to be independent of government control with respect to their 
export activities. We consider the influence that the government has 
been found to have over the economy to warrant determining a rate for 
the entity that is distinct from the rates found for companies that 
have provided sufficient evidence to establish that they operate freely 
with respect to their export activities.\32\ Therefore, we are 
assigning the entity a rate of 2.11 USD/kg, the only rate ever 
determined for the Vietnam-wide entity in this proceeding.
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    \30\ Includes Nam Viet Company Limited, East Sea Seafoods Joint 
Venture Co., Ltd. and Vinh Hoan Company, Ltd.
    \31\ See section 351.107(d) of the Department's regulations.
    \32\ See Notice of Final Antidumping Duty Determination of Sales 
at Less Than Fair Value and Affirmative Critical Circumstances: 
Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 
68 FR 37116 (June 23, 2003).
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Surrogate Country

A. Level of Economic Development

    When the Department is investigating imports from an NME country, 
section 773(c)(1) of the Act directs it to base NV, in most 
circumstances, on the NME producer's factors of production (``FOPs''), 
valued in a surrogate market economy (``ME'') country, or countries, 
considered to be appropriate by the Department. In accordance with 
section 773(c)(4) of the Act, in valuing FOPs, the Department shall 
utilize, to the extent possible, the prices or costs of FOPs in one or 
more ME countries that are (a) at a level of economic development 
comparable to that of the NME country and (b) are significant producers 
of comparable merchandise.
    The Department considers the countries on the Surrogate Country 
List--Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan and the 
Philippines--to be comparable to Vietnam in terms of economic 
development.\33\ Section 773(c)(4)(A) of the Act is silent with respect 
to how the Department may determine that a country is economically 
comparable to the NME country. As such, the Department's long standing 
practice has been to identify those countries which are at a level of 
economic development similar to Vietnam in terms of gross national 
income (``GNI'') data available in the World Development Report 
provided by the World Bank.\34\ In this case, the GNI available are 
based on data published in 2010. The GNI levels for the list of 
potential surrogate countries ranged from $640 to $2,580.\35\ The 
Department is satisfied that they are equally comparable in terms of 
economic development and serve as an adequate group to consider when 
gathering surrogate value data. Further, providing parties with a range 
of countries with varying GNIs is reasonable given that any alternative 
would require a complicated analysis of factors affecting the relative 
GNI differences between Vietnam and other countries, which is not 
required by the statute. In contrast, by identifying countries that are 
economically comparable to Vietnam based on GNI, the Department 
provides parties with a predictable practice which is reasonable and 
consistent with the statutory requirements. We note that identifying 
potential surrogate countries based on GNI data has been affirmed by 
the Court of International Trade (``CIT'').\36\
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    \33\ See Memorandum from Carole Showers, Director, Office of 
Policy, to Matthew Renkey, Acting Program Manager, Office 9, 
``Request for a List of Surrogate Countries for an Administrative 
Review and a New Shipper Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on 
Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam,'' dated November 5, 2011 (``Surrogate Country List'').
    \34\ See Pure Magnesium from the People's Republic of China: 
Final Results of the 2008-2009 Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review of the Antidumping Duty Order, 75 FR 80791 (December 23, 
2010) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 4.
    \35\ See Surrogate Country List.
    \36\ See Fujian Lianfu Forestry Co., Ltd. v. United States, 638 
F. Supp. 2d 1325 (CIT 2009).
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B. Significant Producers of Comparable Merchandise

    As we have stated in prior review determinations, there is no world 
production data of Pangasius frozen fish fillets available on the 
record with which the Department can identify producers of identical 
merchandise. Therefore, absent world production data, the Department's 
practice is to compare, wherever possible, data for comparable 
merchandise and establish whether any economically comparable country 
was a significant producer.\37\ In this case, we have determined to use 
the broader category of frozen fish fillets as the basis for 
identifying producers of comparable merchandise. Therefore, consistent 
with cases that have similar circumstances as are present here, we 
obtained export data for each country identified in the surrogate 
country list. Based on 2009 export data from the United Nations Food 
and Agriculture Organization,\38\ Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, 
Nicaragua, Pakistan and the Philippines are exporters of frozen fish 
fillets, and thus, significant producers.
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    \37\ See Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks from the People's 
Republic of China: Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than 
Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination, 75 FR 11847 
(March 12, 2010), unchanged for the final determination, 75 FR 45468 
(August 2, 2010).
    \38\ See Memorandum to the File, through Scot T. Fullerton, 
Program Manager, Office 9, from Paul Walker, Case Analyst, ``Eighth 
Administrative Review and Ninth New Shipper Reviews of Certain 
Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Surrogate Values for the Preliminary Results,'' dated concurrently 
with this notice (``Surrogate Value Memo'') at Attachment I.
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C. Data Considerations

    After applying the first two selection criteria, if more than one 
country remains, it is the Department's practice to select an 
appropriate surrogate country based on the availability and reliability 
of data from those countries.\39\ In this case, the whole fish input is 
the most significant input because it accounts for the largest 
percentage of NV as fish fillets are produced directly from the whole 
live fish. As such, we must consider the availability and reliability 
of the surrogate values for whole fish on the record. This record does 
not contain any data for whole live fish from Nicaragua or Pakistan. 
Therefore, these countries will not be considered for primary surrogate 
country purposes at this time. However, this record does contain whole 
fish surrogate value data from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia 
and India.
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    \39\ See Department Policy Bulletin No. 04.1: Non-Market Economy 
Surrogate Country Selection Process (March 1, 2004).

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[[Page 56184]]

    An Phu placed the Bangladeshi Department of Agriculture Marketing, 
Ministry of Agriculture, online pangas price data (``online DAM data'') 
on the record.\40\ The Department issued a letter to the Bangladeshi 
Department of Agriculture Marketing, requesting among other things, the 
collection methods of the online DAM data.\41\ We have yet to receive a 
response from the Bangladeshi Department of Agriculture Marketing. The 
Petitioners placed the Fisheries Statistics of the Philippines, 2008-
2010, published by the Philippines Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, 
Department of Agriculture (``Fisheries Statistics''), on the 
record.\42\ Moreover, the Petitioners placed Indonesian price and 
quantity data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture 
Organization's Fisheries Global Information System (``FIGIS data''), on 
the record.\43\ VASEP placed the Present Status of the Pangasius, 
Pangasianodon-Hypophthalmus Farming in Andhra Pradesh, India 
(``Pangasius Study''), on the record.\44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ See the Vietnamese Association of Seafood Exporters' 
(``VASEP''), and An Phu's, May 23, 2012 submissions at Exhibit 8.
    \41\ See Letter to Shafiqur Rahman Shaikh, Chief, Research, 
Planning & Development, Department of Agricultural Marketing from 
Scot T. Fullerton, Program Manager, Questions for the Bangladeshi 
Department of Agricultural Marketing Regarding National Wholesale 
Price Data, '' dated July 27, 2012.
    \42\ See the Petitioners' May 23, 2012 submission at Exhibit 11.
    \43\ Id.
    \44\ See VASEP's may 23, 2012 submission at Exhibit 36A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When evaluating surrogate value data, the Department considers 
several factors including whether the surrogate value is publicly 
available, contemporaneous with the POR, represents a broad market 
average from an approved surrogate country, is tax and duty-exclusive, 
and is specific to the input. There is no hierarchy; it is the 
Department's practice to carefully consider the available evidence in 
light of the particular facts of each industry when undertaking its 
analysis.
    We note that the values submitted in these reviews are identical to 
the values submitted in the last administrative review with the 
exception of the online DAM data, which has been updated to match the 
POR. An analysis of these values may be found in the 7th AR Final.\45\ 
As the Department already analyzed this data in the last administrative 
review, and no new information has been placed on the record of these 
reviews which would call into question the reliability of the data, 
consistent with the 7th AR Final, we continue to find that the online 
DAM data represents the best available information with which to value 
the whole live fish input.\46\ Based on the analysis above, we find 
that the online DAM data represents the most reliable broad market 
average for purposes of valuing whole live fish. Therefore, for the 
preliminary results, the Department will select Bangladesh as the 
surrogate country. Moreover, we note that the record contains three 
financial statements from Bangladeshi producers of comparable 
merchandise which are contemporaneous with the POR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam: Final Results and Partial Rescission of the Seventh 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 77 FR 15039 (March 14, 2012) 
(``7th AR Final'') and accompanying issues and Decision Memorandum 
at Comment 1, pages 7-13.
    \46\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fair Value Comparisons

    To determine whether sales of the subject merchandise made by Vinh 
Hoan, Anvifish and the New Shipper Respondents to the United States 
were at prices below NV, we compared each company's export price 
(``EP'') or constructed export price (``CEP''), where appropriate, to 
NV, as described below.

A. Export Price

    For Vinh Hoan and the New Shipper Respondents' EP sales, we used 
the EP methodology, pursuant to section 772(a) of the Act, because the 
first sale to an unaffiliated purchaser was made prior to importation. 
To calculate EP, we deducted foreign inland freight, foreign cold 
storage, foreign brokerage and handling, foreign containerization, and 
international ocean freight from the starting price (or gross unit 
price), in accordance with section 772(c) of the Act.

B. Constructed Export Price

    For Vinh Hoan's and Anvifish's CEP sales, we used the CEP 
methodology when the first sale to an unaffiliated purchaser occurred 
after importation of the merchandise into the United States. To 
calculate CEP, we made adjustments to the gross unit price, where 
applicable, for billing adjustments, rebates, foreign inland freight, 
international freight, foreign cold storage, foreign containerization, 
foreign brokerage and handling, U.S. marine insurance, U.S. inland 
freight, U.S. warehousing, U.S. inland insurance, other U.S. 
transportation expenses and U.S. customs duties. In accordance with 
section 772(d)(1) of the Act, we also deducted those selling expenses 
associated with economic activities occurring in the United States, 
including commissions, credit expenses, advertising expenses, indirect 
selling expenses, inventory carrying costs and U.S. re-packing costs. 
We also made an adjustment for profit in accordance with section 
772(d)(3) of the Act.

Normal Value

    Section 773(c)(1) of the Act provides that, in the case of an NME, 
the Department shall determine NV using an FOP methodology if the 
merchandise is exported from an NME and the information does not permit 
the calculation of NV using home-market prices, third-country prices or 
constructed value, under section 773(a) of the Act. Because information 
on the record does not permit the calculation of NV using home-market 
prices, third-country prices, or constructed value, and no party has 
argued otherwise, we calculated NV based on FOPs reported by the 
Respondents, pursuant to sections 773(c)(3) and (4) of the Act and 
section 351.408(c) of the Department's regulations.

A. Factor Valuation Methodology

    In accordance with section 351.408(c)(1) of the Department's 
regulations, the Department will normally use publicly available 
information to value the FOPs. However, when a producer sources an 
input from a ME country and pays for it in an ME currency, the 
Department may value the FOP using the actual price paid for the input. 
During the POR, Vinh Hoan and Anvifish reported that they purchased 
certain inputs, and international freight, from an ME suppliers and 
paid for the inputs in a ME currency.\47\ The Department has a 
rebuttable presumption that ME input prices are the best available 
information for valuing an input when the total volume of the input 
purchased from all ME sources during the period of investigation or 
review exceeds 33 percent of the total volume of the input purchased 
from all sources during the period.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ See, e.g., Vinh Hoan's Section D response.
    \48\ See Antidumping Methodologies: Market Economy Inputs, 
Expected Non-Market Economy Wages, Duty Drawback; and Request for 
Comments, 71 FR 61716, 61717-18 (October 19, 2006) (``Antidumping 
Methodologies'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In this case, unless case-specific facts provide adequate grounds 
to rebut the Department's presumption, the Department will use the 
weighted-average ME purchase price to value the input. Alternatively, 
when the volume of an NME firm's purchases of an input from ME 
suppliers during the period is below 33 percent of its total volume of 
purchases of the input during the

[[Page 56185]]

period, but where these purchases are otherwise valid and there is no 
reason to disregard the prices, the Department will weight-average the 
ME purchase price with an appropriate SV according to their respective 
shares of the total volume of purchases, unless case-specific facts 
provide adequate grounds to rebut the presumption.\49\ When a firm has 
made ME input purchases that may have been dumped or subsidized, are 
not bona fide, or are otherwise not acceptable for use in a dumping 
calculation, the Department will exclude them from the numerator of the 
ratio to ensure a fair determination of whether valid ME purchases meet 
the 33 percent threshold.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ See Antidumping Methodologies.
    \50\ See Antidumping Methodologies; see also Memo to the File, 
from Susan Pulongbarit, Case Analyst, ``Eighth Administrative Review 
of Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Results Analysis Memorandum for Vinh Hoan 
Corporation,'' dated concurrently with this notice; Memo to the 
File, from Paul Walker, Case Analyst, ``Eighth Administrative Review 
of Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam: Preliminary Results Analysis Memorandum for Anvifish Joint 
Stock Company,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As the basis for NV, Vinh Hoan, Anvifish and the New Shipper 
Respondents provided FOPs used in each of the stages for producing 
frozen fish fillets. The Department's general policy, consistent with 
section 773(c)(1) of the Act, is to value the FOPs that a respondent 
uses to produce the subject merchandise.
    To calculate NV, the Department valued the Respondents' reported 
per-unit factor quantities using publicly available Indonesian, 
Bangladeshi, Philippine and Indian surrogate values. As noted above, 
Bangladesh is the surrogate country source from which to obtain data to 
value inputs, and when data were not available from Bangladesh, we used 
Indonesian, Indian and Philippine sources. In selecting surrogate 
values, we considered the quality, specificity, and contemporaneity of 
the available values. As appropriate, we adjusted the value of material 
inputs to account for delivery costs. Specifically, we added surrogate 
freight costs to surrogate values using the reported distances from the 
Vietnam port to the Vietnam factory, or from the domestic supplier to 
the factory, where appropriate. This adjustment is in accordance with 
the decision of the CAFC in Sigma Corp. v. United States, 117 F.3d 
1401, 1407-1408 (Fed. Cir. 1997). For those values not contemporaneous 
with the POR, we adjusted for inflation using data published in the 
International Monetary Fund's International Financial Statistics.
    In accordance with the OTCA 1988 legislative history, the 
Department continues to apply its long-standing practice of 
disregarding surrogate values if it has a reason to believe or suspect 
the source data may be subsidized.\51\ In this regard, the Department 
has previously found that it is appropriate to disregard such prices 
from India, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand because we have 
determined that these countries maintain broadly available, non-
industry specific export subsidies.\52\ Based on the existence of these 
subsidy programs that were generally available to all exporters and 
producers in these countries at the time of the POR, the Department 
finds that it is reasonable to infer that all exporters from India, 
Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand may have benefitted from these 
subsidies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \51\ See Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, Conf. 
Report to Accompany H.R. 3, H.R. Rep. No. 576, 100th Cong., 2nd 
Sess. (1988) (``OTCA 1988'') at 590.
    \52\ See, e.g., Carbazole Violet Pigment 23 from India: Final 
Results of the Expedited Five-year (Sunset) Review of the 
Countervailing Duty Order, 75 FR 13257 (March 19, 2010) and 
accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at 4-5; Certain Cut-to-
Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from India, Indonesia, and the 
Republic of Korea: Continuation of Antidumping and Countervailing 
Duty Orders, 77 FR 264 (January 4, 2012); Corrosion-Resistant Carbon 
Steel Flat Products from the Republic of Korea: Final Results of 
Countervailing Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 2512 (January 15, 
2009) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at 17, 19-20.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additionally, we disregarded prices from NME countries. Finally, 
imports that were labeled as originating from an ``unspecified'' 
country were excluded from the average value, because the Department 
could not be certain that they were not from either an NME country or a 
country with general export subsidies. For further detail, see 
Surrogate Values Memo.

B. Labor

    Section 773(c) of the Act, provides that the Department will value 
the FOPs in NME cases using the best available information regarding 
the value of such factors in a ME country or countries considered to be 
appropriate by the administering authority. The Act requires that when 
valuing FOPs, the Department utilize, to the extent possible, the 
prices or costs of FOPs in one or more ME countries that are (a) at a 
comparable level of economic development and (b) significant producers 
of comparable merchandise.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \53\ See section 773(c)(4) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On June 21, 2011, the Department revised its methodology for 
valuing the labor input in NME antidumping proceedings.\54\ In Labor 
Methodologies, the Department determined that the best methodology to 
value the labor input is to use industry-specific labor rates from the 
primary surrogate country. Additionally, the Department determined that 
the best data source for industry-specific labor rates is Chapter 6A: 
Labor Cost in Manufacturing, from the International Labor 
Organization's (``ILO'') Yearbook of Labor Statistics.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ See Antidumping Methodologies in Proceedings Involving Non-
Market Economies: Valuing the Factor of Production: Labor, 76 FR 
36092 (June 21, 2011) (``Labor Methodologies''). This notice 
followed the Federal Circuit decision in Dorbest Ltd. v. United 
States, 604 F.3d 1363, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2010), which found that the 
regression-based method for calculating wage rates as stipulated by 
section 351.408(c)(3) of the Department's regulations uses data not 
permitted by the statutory requirements laid out in section 773 of 
the Act (i.e., 19 U.S.C. 1677b(c)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted above, the Department has selected Bangladesh as the 
surrogate country for the preliminary results. Because Bangladesh does 
not report labor data to the ILO, we are unable to use ILO's Chapter 6A 
data to value the Respondents' labor wage. However, the record does 
contain a labor wage rate for fishery workers in Bangladesh, published 
by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The Department finds this labor 
wage rate to be the best available information on the record. This data 
is publicly available, represents a broad market average, specific to 
the fishery industry, and was collected from an official Bangladeshi 
government source in the surrogate country that the Department has 
selected. Moreover, we note this source has been used in other cases 
where Bangladesh has been selected as the surrogate country.\55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \55\ See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam: Final Results and Final Partial Rescission of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 76 FR 56158 (September 12, 
2011) and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2I.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Financial Ratios

    The Department's criteria for choosing surrogate companies are the 
availability of contemporaneous financial statements, comparability to 
the respondent's experience, and publicly available information.\56\ 
Moreover, for valuing factory overhead (``OH''), selling, general & 
administrative expenses (``SG&A'') and profit, the Secretary normally 
will use non-proprietary information gathered from producers of 
identical or comparable

[[Page 56186]]

merchandise in the surrogate country.\57\ In addition, the CIT has held 
that in the selection of surrogate producers, the Department may 
consider how closely the surrogate producers approximate the non-market 
producer's experience.\58\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \56\ See, e.g., Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value: Chlorinated Isocyanurates from the People's 
Republic of China, 70 FR 24502 (May 10, 2005) and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 3.
    \57\ See, e.g., Diamond Sawblades and Parts Thereof from the 
People's Republic of China, Final Determination in the Antidumping 
Duty Investigation, 71 FR 29303 (May 22, 2006) and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2; see also section 
351.408(c)(4) of the Department's regulations and section 773(c)(4) 
of the Act.
    \58\ See Rhodia, Inc. v. United States, 240 F. Supp. 2d 1247, 
1253-1254 (CIT 2002); see also Persulfates from the People's 
Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 70 FR 6836 (February 9, 2005) and accompanying Issues and 
Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As a result, to value the surrogate financial ratios for OH, SG&A 
and profit, for integrated respondents, the Department averaged the 
2010-2011 financial statements of Apex Foods Limited (``Apex'') and 
Fine Foods Co., Ltd. (``Fine Foods''). Apex and Fine Foods are 
integrated producers of comparable merchandise, frozen seafood, in 
Bangladesh. To value the surrogate financial ratios for OH, SG&A and 
profit, for non-integrated respondents, the Department used the 2010-
2011 financial statement of Gemini Seafood Limited (``Gemini''). Gemini 
is a non-integrated producer of comparable merchandise, frozen seafood, 
in Bangladesh.
    Although the Petitioners have argued that the Department should not 
calculate financial ratios using the Gemini financial statement because 
the record contains evidence that Gemini received export subsidies, we 
note that in past cases the Department, consistent with long-standing 
practice, has stated that we will not reject the use of a factor value 
that is allegedly subsidized unless the Department has previously found 
the program to be a countervailable subsidy in a countervailing duty 
proceeding.\59\ A determination of whether a subsidy is countervailable 
requires the Department to make several complicated legal and factual 
determinations. Specifically, under U.S. law, the Department must 
determine that there is a financial contribution from the government 
that provides a benefit to the recipient which is specific.\60\ Without 
these findings, the alleged program is not countervailable. Absent such 
a finding, the Department does not believe that the language of the Act 
or the legislative history requires that the Department exclude the 
value at issue from its consideration.\61\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \59\ See, e.g., 7th AR Final at Comment II.A.
    \60\ See 19 U.S.C. section 1671 and 1677(5).
    \61\ See the SV Memo for further discussion of this issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Currency Conversion

    Where necessary, the Department made currency conversions into U.S. 
dollars, in accordance with section 773A(a) of the Act, based on the 
exchange rates in effect on the dates of the U.S. sales, as certified 
by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Notice of Intent To Revoke the Order, in Part

    On August 24, 2011, and August 26, 2011, Vinh Hoan and QVD, 
respectively, requested revocation of the antidumping duty order with 
respect to their sales of subject merchandise, pursuant to section 
351.222(e) of the Department's regulations. These requests were 
accompanied by certifications, pursuant to section 351.222(e)(1) of the 
Department's regulations that (a) Vinh Hoan and QVD have sold the 
subject merchandise at not less than NV for at least three consecutive 
years and that they will not sell the merchandise at less than NV in 
the future, and (b) Vinh Hoan and QVD sold subject merchandise to the 
United States in commercial quantities for a period of at least three 
consecutive years. Vinh Hoan and QVD also agreed to immediate 
reinstatement of the Order, as long as any exporter or producer is 
subject to the Order, if the Department concludes that, subsequent to 
its revocation, they sold the subject merchandise at less than NV.
    Pursuant to section 751(d) of the Act, the Department ``may revoke, 
in whole or in part'' an antidumping duty order upon completion of a 
review under section 751(a) of the Act. In determining whether to 
revoke an antidumping duty order in part, the Department considers (a) 
whether the company in question has sold subject merchandise at not 
less than NV for a period of at least three consecutive years, (b) 
whether during each of the three consecutive years for which the 
company sold the merchandise at not less than NV, it sold the 
merchandise to the United States in commercial quantities, and (c) the 
company has agreed in writing to its immediate reinstatement in the 
order, as long as any exporter or producer is subject to the order, if 
the Department concludes that the company, subsequent to revocation, 
sold the subject merchandise at less than NV.\62\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \62\ See section 351.222(e)(1) of the Department's regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Vinh Hoan

    We have preliminarily determined that the request from Vinh Hoan 
meets all of the criteria under section 351.222(e)(1) of the 
Department's regulations. As noted in the ``Preliminary Results of the 
Review'' section below, our preliminary margin calculation confirms 
that Vinh Hoan sold subject merchandise at not less than NV during the 
current review period. In addition, we have confirmed that Vinh Hoan 
sold subject merchandise at not less than NV in the two previous 
administrative reviews in which they were individually examined (i.e., 
their dumping margins were zero or de minimis).\63\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \63\ See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam: Final Results of the Sixth Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review and Sixth New Shipper Review, 76 FR 15941 
(March 22, 2011); see also 7th AR Final.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Based on our examination of the sales data submitted by Vinh Hoan, 
we preliminarily determine that it sold the subject merchandise in the 
United States in commercial quantities in during each of the 
consecutive years cited by Vinh Hoan to support its request for 
revocation.\64\ Thus, we preliminarily find that Vinh Hoan had zero or 
de minimis dumping margins for the last three years and sold subject 
merchandise in commercial quantities during each of these years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \64\ See Memorandum to the File, through, Scot T. Fullerton, 
Program Manager, Office 9, from Susan Pulongbarit, International 
Trade Analyst, Office 9, ``Antidumping Duty Administrative Review of 
Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 
Analysis of Commercial Quantities for Vinh Hoan Corporation's 
Request for Revocation,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Furthermore, we preliminarily determine, pursuant to section 751(d) 
of the Act and section 351.222(b)(2) of the Department's regulations, 
that the application of the antidumping duty order with respect to Vinh 
Hoan is no longer warranted because (a) Vinh Hoan had a zero or de 
minimis margin for a period of at least three consecutive years, (b) 
Vinh Hoan has agreed to immediate reinstatement of the order if the 
Department finds that it has resumed making sales at less than NV, and 
(c) the continued application of the order is not otherwise necessary 
to offset dumping. Therefore, we preliminarily determine that subject 
merchandise produced and exported by Vinh Hoan qualifies for revocation 
from the Order, and that the Order, with respect to such merchandise, 
should be revoked. If these preliminary findings are affirmed in our 
final results, we will revoke this order, in part, with respect to fish 
fillets produced and exported by Vinh Hoan and, in accordance with 
section 351.222(f)(3) of the Department's regulations, terminate the 
suspension of liquidation for any of the merchandise in question that 
is entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for

[[Page 56187]]

consumption on or after August 1, 2011, and instruct CBP to release any 
cash deposits for such entries.

B. QVD

    We have preliminarily determined that the request from QVD does not 
meet all of the criteria under section 351.222(e)(1) of the 
Department's regulations. As noted in the ``Preliminary Results of the 
Review'' section below, our preliminary margin calculation confirms 
that QVD sold subject merchandise at less than NV during the current 
review period. In addition, we note that QVD sold subject merchandise 
at less than NV in the prior administrative review.\65\ Therefore, we 
preliminarily determine that subject merchandise produced and exported 
by QVD does not qualify for revocation from the Order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ See 7th AR Final.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preliminary Results of the Review

    As a result of our review, we preliminarily find that the following 
margins exist for the period August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2011.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Weighted-
                                                         average margin
                 Manufacturer/exporter                    (dollars per
                                                         kilogram) \66\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vinh Hoan Corporation \67\............................              0.00
Anvifish Joint Stock Company \68\.....................              0.00
An Phu Seafood Corporation (``An Phu'')...............              0.00
Docifish Corporation (``Docifish'')...................              0.00
Godaco Seafood Joint Stock Company (``Godaco'').......              0.00
An Giang Agriculture and Food Import-Export Joint                   0.00
 Stock Company (``AFIEX'')............................
An Giang Fisheries Import & Export Joint Stock Company              0.00
 (``Agifish'')........................................
Asia Commerce Fisheries Joint Stock Company                         0.00
 (``Acomfish'').......................................
Binh An Seafood Joint Stock Company (``Binh An'').....              0.00
Cadovimex II Seafood Import-Export and Processing                   0.00
 Joint Stock Company (``Cadovimex II'')...............
Hiep Thanh Seafood Joint Stock Company (``Hiep                      0.00
 Thanh'').............................................
Hung Vuong Corporation (``Hung Vuong'')...............              0.00
Nam Viet Corporation (``NAVICO'').....................              0.00
NTSF Seafoods Joint Stock Company (``NTSF'')..........              0.00
QVD Food Company Ltd. (``QVD'') \69\..................              0.00
Saigon Mekong Fishery Co., Ltd. (``SAMEFICO'')........              0.00
Southern Fisheries Industries Company Ltd. (``South                 0.00
 Vina'')..............................................
Vinh Quang Fisheries Corporation (``Vinh Quang'').....              0.00
Vietnam-Wide Rate \70\................................              2.11
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure and Public Comment

    In accordance with section 351.224(b) of the Department's 
regulations, we will disclose to parties of this proceeding the 
calculations performed in reaching the preliminary results within five 
days of the date of announcement of the preliminary results.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \66\ In the third administrative review of this order, the 
Department determined that it would calculate per-unit assessment 
and cash deposit rates for all future reviews. See Certain Frozen 
Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results 
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission, 73 
FR 15479 (March 24, 2008).
    \67\ This rate is applicable to the Vinh Hoan Group which 
includes Vinh Hoan, Van Duc, and VDTG. In the sixth review of this 
order, the Department found Vinh Hoan, Van Duc, and VDTG to be a 
single entity and, because there have been no changes to this 
determination since that administrative review, we continue to find 
these companies to be part of a single entity. Therefore, we will 
assign this rate to the companies in the single entity. See Certain 
Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Notice 
of Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of the Sixth 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Sixth New Shipper Review, 
75 FR 56061 (September 15, 2010).
    \68\ Includes the trade name Anvifish Co., Ltd.
    \69\ This rate is also applicable to QVD Dong Thap Food Co., Ltd 
and Thuan Hung Co., Ltd. (``THUFICO''). In the second review of this 
order, the Department found QVD, QVD Dong Thap Food Co., Ltd. and 
THUFICO to be a single entity and, because there have been no 
changes to this determination since that administrative review, we 
continue to find these companies to be part of a single entity. 
Therefore, we will assign this rate to the companies in the single 
entity. See Certain Frozen Fish Fillets from the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, 71 FR 53387 (September 11, 2006).
    \70\ The Vietnam-wide rate includes the following companies 
which are under review, bit did not submit a separate rate 
application or certification- Nam Viet Company Limited, East Sea 
Seafoods Joint Venture Co., Ltd. and Vinh Hoan Company, Ltd.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In accordance with section 351.301(c)(3)(ii) of the Department's 
regulations, for the final results of these reviews interested parties 
may submit publicly available information to value FOPs within 20 days 
after the date of publication of these preliminary results. Interested 
parties must provide the Department with supporting documentation for 
the publicly available information to value each FOP. Additionally, in 
accordance with section 351.301(c)(1) of the Department's regulations, 
for the final results of these reviews, interested parties may submit 
factual information to rebut, clarify, or correct factual information 
submitted by an interested party less than ten days before, on, or 
after, the applicable deadline for submission of such factual 
information. However, the Department notes that section 351.301(c)(1) 
of the Department's regulations permits new information only insofar as 
it rebuts, clarifies, or corrects information recently placed on the 
record. The Department generally cannot accept ``the submission of 
additional, previously absent-from-the-record alternative surrogate 
value or financial ratio information'' pursuant to section 
351.301(c)(1) of the Department's regulations.\71\ Additionally, for 
each piece of factual information submitted with surrogate value 
rebuttal comments, the interested party must provide a written 
explanation of what information that is already on the record of the 
ongoing proceeding that the factual information is rebutting, 
clarifying, or correcting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \71\ See Glycine from the People's Republic of China: Final 
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review and Final 
Rescission, in Part, 72 FR 58809 (October 17, 2007) and accompanying 
Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interested parties may submit case briefs within 30 days of 
publication of the preliminary results and rebuttal briefs, which must 
be limited to issues raised in the case briefs, within five days after 
the time limit for filing case

[[Page 56188]]

briefs.\72\ Parties who submit arguments are requested to submit with 
the argument (a) a statement of the issue, (b) a brief summary of the 
argument, and (c) a table of authorities. Parties submitting briefs 
should do so pursuant to the Department's electronic filing system, IA 
ACCESS.\73\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \72\ See sections 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d) of the 
Department's regulations.
    \73\ See section 351.303 of the Department's regulations; see 
also https://iaaccess.trade.gov/help/IA%20ACCESS%20User%20Guide.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Unless the deadline is extended, pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) 
of the Act, the Department will issue the final results of these 
reviews, including the results of our analysis of the issues raised by 
the parties in their comments, within 120 days of publication of the 
preliminary results. The assessment of antidumping duties on entries of 
merchandise covered by this review and future deposits of estimated 
duties shall be based on the final results of these reviews.

Assessment Rates

    In accordance with section 351.212(b) of the Department's 
regulations, upon issuance of the final results, the Department will 
determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate 
entries covered by these reviews. The Department intends to issue 
assessment instructions to CBP 15 days after the publication date of 
the final result. For any individually examined respondent whose 
weighted-average dumping margin is above de minimis (i.e., 0.50 
percent) in the final results of these reviews, the Department will 
calculate importer-specific assessment rates on the basis of the ratio 
of the total amount of dumping calculated for the importer's examined 
sales and the total entered value of sales, in accordance with section 
351.212(b)(1) of the Department's regulations. As noted above, in this 
and future reviews, we will direct CBP to assess importer-specific 
assessment rates based on the resulting per-unit (i.e., per-kilogram) 
rates by the weight in kilograms of each entry of the subject 
merchandise during the POR. In these preliminary results, the 
Department applied the assessment rate calculation method adopted in 
Final Modifications for Reviews, i.e., on the basis of monthly average-
to-average comparisons using only the transactions associated with that 
importer with offsets being provided for non-dumped comparisons.\74\ 
Where an importer/customer-specific per-unit rate is greater than de 
minimis, we will apply the assessment rate to the entered value of the 
importer's/customer's entries during the POR, in accordance with 
section 351.212(b)(1) of the Department's regulations. Where an 
importer/customer-specific per-unit rate is zero or de minimis, we will 
instruct CBP to liquidate appropriate entries without regard to 
antidumping duties.\75\
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    \74\ See Antidumping Proceeding: Calculation of the Weighted-
Average Dumping Margin and Assessment Rate in Certain Antidumping 
Duty Proceedings; Final Modification, 77 FR 8103 (February 14, 2012) 
(``Final Modifications for Reviews'').
    \75\ See 351.106(c)(2) of the Department's regulations.
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    For the companies receiving a separate rate that were not selected 
for individual review, we will assign an assessment rate based on the 
average of the mandatory respondents, as discussed above. We intend to 
instruct CBP to liquidate entries containing subject merchandise 
exported by the Vietnam-wide entity at the Vietnam-wide rate. Finally, 
for those companies for which this review has been preliminarily 
rescinded, the Department intends to assess antidumping duties at rates 
equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties required at 
the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, in 
accordance with section 351.212(c)(2) of the Department's regulations, 
if the review is rescinded for these companies.

Cash Deposit Requirements

    The following cash deposit requirements will be effective upon 
publication of the final results of these reviews for all shipments of 
the subject merchandise from Vietnam entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date, as 
provided for by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (a) For the exporters 
listed above, the cash deposit rate will be established in the final 
results of these reviews (except, if the rate is zero or de minimis, no 
cash deposit will be required for that company); (b) for previously 
investigated or reviewed Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese exporters not 
listed above that have a separate rate, the cash deposit rate will 
continue to be the exporter-specific rate published for the most recent 
period; (c) for all Vietnamese exporters of subject merchandise which 
have not been found to be entitled to a separate rate, the cash deposit 
rate will be the Vietnam-wide rate of $2.11 per kilogram; and (d) for 
all non-Vietnamese exporters of subject merchandise which have not 
received their own rate, the cash deposit rate will be the rate 
applicable to the Vietnamese exporters that supplied that non-
Vietnamese exporter. These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their 
responsibility under section 351.402(f)(2) of the Department's 
regulations to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of 
antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during 
this POR. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the 
Secretary's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties 
occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.
    We are issuing and publishing this determination in accordance with 
sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: August 30, 2012.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-22484 Filed 9-11-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P