[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 160 (Monday, August 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50379-50380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20166]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-549-828]


Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand: Final Negative 
Countervailing Duty Determination

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are not being provided to producers and 
exporters of certain frozen warmwater shrimp (frozen shrimp) from 
Thailand.

DATES: Effective Date: August 19, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myrna Lobo or Justin Neuman, AD/CVD 
Operations, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2371 and (202) 482-0486, 
respectively.

Background

    The petitioner in this investigation is the Coalition of Gulf 
Shrimp Industries (Petitioner).\1\ This investigation covers 14 
government programs. In addition to the Royal Thai Government (RTG), 
the respondents in this investigation are Thai Union Frozen Products 
Public Co., Ltd. (TUF) and Thai Union Seafood Co., Ltd. (TUS) 
(collectively, Thai Union), and Marine Gold Products Limited.
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    \1\ The members of the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries are: 
Bayou Shrimp Processors, Inc.; Bluewater Shrimp Company, Inc.; 
Carson & Co., Inc.; C.F. Gollott & Sons Seafood, Inc.; Dean 
Blanchard Seafood, Inc.; Dominick Seafood; Fisherman's Reef Packing 
Plant; Golden Gulf Coast Pkg. Co., Inc. (and Gollott's Oil Dock & 
Ice House); Graham Fisheries, Inc.; Graham Shrimp, Inc.; Gulf Crown 
Seafood Co., Inc.; Gulf Fish Inc.; Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood, 
LLC; Gulf Pride Enterprises, Inc.; Hi-Seas of Dulac, Inc.; Indian 
Ridge Shrimp Co.; JBS Packing Co., Inc.; Lafitte Frozen Foods Corp.; 
M&M Shrimp (Biloxi Freezing and Processing); Ocean Springs Seafood 
Market, Inc.; Paul Piazza & Sons, Inc.; R.A. Lesso Brokerage Co., 
Inc.; Sea Pearl Seafood Co., Inc.; Smith and Sons Seafood; Tidelands 
Seafood Co., Inc.; Tommy's Seafood; Vincent Piazza & Sons Seafood, 
Inc.; Wood's Fisheries; Mariah Jade Shrimp Company, LLC; David 
Chauvin's Seafood Company, LLC; and Rountree Enterprises, Inc. (dba 
Leonard & Sons Shrimp Co. and R&R Fisheries).
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Period of Investigation

    The period for which we are measuring subsidies, or period of 
investigation, is January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011.

Case History

    The events that have occurred since the Department published the 
Preliminary Determination on June 4, 2013,\2\ are discussed in the 
Memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Import 
Administration, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the Final 
Determination in the Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain 
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand'' (Decision Memorandum).\3\
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    \2\ See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand: 
Preliminary Countervailing Duty Determination, 78 FR 33350 (June 4, 
2013) (Preliminary Determination).
    \3\ Public versions of all business proprietary documents and 
all public documents are on file electronically via Import 
Administration's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized 
Electronic Service System (IA ACCESS). Access to IA ACCESS is 
available to registered users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov and in 
the Department's Central Records Unit (CRU), room 7046 of the main 
Department of Commerce building.
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Scope Comments

    On March 28, 2013, Petitioner asked the Department to clarify that 
the scope of this investigation does not include brine-frozen 
shrimp.\4\ We have addressed this request and comments thereon in the 
Memorandum to Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Import 
Administration, ``Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Ecuador, India, 
Indonesia, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Thailand, and 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam--Final Scope Memorandum Regarding Onboard 
Brine-Frozen Shrimp'' (Scope Memorandum), which is hereby adopted by 
this notice.
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    \4\ See Letter from Petitioner, ``Countervailing Duty 
Investigation on Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp from Thailand (C-
549-828)--Request for Scope Clarification,'' (March 28, 2013).
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Scope of the Investigation

    This investigation covers certain frozen warmwater shrimp and 
prawns, whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or farm-raised (produced 
by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on or peeled, tail-on or 
tail-off, deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or otherwise 
processed in frozen form, regardless of size. See Appendix I for a 
complete description of the scope of this investigation.

Analysis of Subsidy Programs and Comments Received

    The subsidy programs under investigation and the issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs by parties in this investigation are 
discussed in the Decision Memorandum, which is hereby adopted by this 
notice. A list of subsidy programs and the issues that parties have 
raised, and to which the Department has responded in the Decision 
Memorandum, is attached to this notice as Appendix II.
    The Decision and Scope Memoranda are public documents and are on 
file electronically via IA ACCESS. IA ACCESS is available to registered 
users at http://iaaccess.trade.gov and in the CRU, room 7046 of the 
main Department of Commerce building. In addition, complete versions of 
the Decision and Scope Memoranda can be accessed directly on the 
Internet at http://www.trade.gov/ia/. The signed and the electronic 
versions of these memoranda are identical in content.

Final Determination

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           Company                            Subsidy rate
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Thai Union Frozen Products     1.41 percent (de minimis).
 Public Co., Ltd./Thai Union
 Seafood Co., Ltd.
Marine Gold Products Limited.  1.52 percent (de minimis).
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[[Page 50380]]

    For this final determination, we have calculated de minimis total 
net countervailable subsidy rates from the individually investigated 
producers/exporters of the subject merchandise. The All-Others rate is 
also de minimis.\5\ Therefore, pursuant to section 705(a)(3) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), we have disregarded these 
de minimis subsidies and we determine that countervailable subsidies 
are not being provided to producers/exporters of frozen shrimp in 
Thailand. Because we have reached a final negative determination, we 
are terminating this investigation. See section 705(c)(2)(A).
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    \5\ The All-Others rate was calculated using an average of the 
investigated companies de minimis rates and it is also de minimis. 
See section 705(c)(5)(A)(ii) of the Act.
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    Moreover, in accordance with section 705(c)(2)(B) of the Act we 
will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to release any 
bond or other security and refund any cash deposits that were collected 
for shipments of subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
warehouse, on or after June 4, 2013, the date that we instructed CBP to 
suspend liquidation following the Preliminary Determination. The 
interest provisions of section 778 of the Act do not apply.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
International Trade Commission of our determination.

Return or Destruction of Proprietary Information

    This notice serves as the only reminder to parties subject to 
Administrative Protective Order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information 
disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely 
written notification of the return/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 violation that is 
subject to sanction.
    This determination is issued and published pursuant to sections 
705(d) and 777(i) of the Act.

    Dated: August 12, 2013.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain frozen 
warmwater shrimp and prawns, whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) 
or farm-raised (produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, 
shell-on or peeled, tail-on or tail-off,\6\ deveined or not 
deveined, cooked or raw, or otherwise processed in frozen form, 
regardless of size.
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    \6\ ``Tails'' in this context means the tail fan, which includes 
the telson and the uropods.
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    The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the 
scope, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
of the United States (``HTSUS''), are products which are processed 
from warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold 
in any count size.
    The products described above may be processed from any species 
of warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are 
generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae 
family. Some examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater 
species include, but are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus 
vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus 
chinensis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant 
tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), redspotted shrimp (Penaeus 
brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern 
pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus 
curvirostris), southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp 
(Penaeus stylirostris), western white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), 
and Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus).
    Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices 
or sauce are included in the scope. In addition, food preparations 
(including dusted shrimp), which are not ``prepared meals,'' that 
contain more than 20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also 
included in the scope.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) Breaded shrimp and prawns; (2) 
shrimp and prawns generally classified in the Pandalidae family and 
commonly referred to as coldwater shrimp, in any state of 
processing; (3) fresh shrimp and prawns whether shell-on or peeled; 
(4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals; (5) dried shrimp and 
prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns; and (7) certain 
``battered shrimp'' (see below).
    ``Battered shrimp'' is a shrimp-based product: (1) That is 
produced from fresh (or thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) 
to which a ``dusting'' ' layer of rice or wheat flour of at least 95 
percent purity has been applied; (3) with the entire surface of the 
shrimp flesh thoroughly and evenly coated with the flour; (4) with 
the non-shrimp content of the end product constituting between four 
and 10 percent of the product's total weight after being dusted, but 
prior to being frozen; and (5) that is subjected to individually 
quick frozen (``IQF'') freezing immediately after application of the 
dusting layer. When dusted in accordance with the definition of 
dusting above, the battered shrimp product is also coated with a wet 
viscous layer containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.
    The products included in the scope of this investigation are 
currently classified under the following HTSUS subheadings: 
0306.17.00.03, 0306.17.00.06, 0306.17.00.09, 0306.17.00.12, 
0306.17.00.15, 0306.17.00.18, 0306.17.00.21, 0306.17.00.24, 
0306.17.00.27, 0306.17.00.40, 1605.21.10.30 and 1605.29.10.10. These 
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs 
purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the written 
description of the scope is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Comments and Issues in the Decision Memorandum

Comment 1: Whether Benefits under Sections 28 and 31 of the IPA Are 
Export Contingent or Otherwise Specific
Comment 2: Whether Tax Exemptions under Section 31 of the IPA Apply 
to Thai Union's Sales of Shrimp
Comment 3: Whether Subsidies Received by Thai Union Feedmill Should 
Be Attributed to Thai Union
Comment 4: Whether the Calculation of Benefits for Thai Union's and 
Thai Union Feedmill's Use of Benefits under the IPA Are Correct
Comment 5: Whether the Tax Coupon Program is Countervailable
Comment 6: Whether Adverse Facts Available Should be Applied to the 
``Bank of Thailand Refinancing Program''
Comment 7: Whether Adverse Facts Available Should Be Applied to 
Srisubanfarm
Comment 8: Whether the Price Control on Shrimp Feed Program Is 
Countervailable
Comment 9: Whether the ``VAT Exemption on Shrimp Feed'' Program Is 
Countervailable
Comment 10: Whether the Department Should Attribute Subsidies 
Received by Fresh Shrimp Suppliers to Frozen Shrimp Producers under 
Section 771B of the Act
Comment 11: Whether the Department Should Have Examined Thai Royal 
as a Mandatory Respondent or Calculated an Individual CVD Rate for 
Thai Royal As a Voluntary Respondent
Comment 12: Whether the Department Should Investigate Petitioner's 
Timely Filed New Subsidy Allegations
Comment 13: Whether the Department Should Continue Not to 
Countervail Other Alleged Programs
Comment 14: Whether the Department Should Reduce the Antidumping 
Duty Cash Deposit Rate Applicable to Imports of the Subject 
Merchandise by the Amount of Any Calculated Export Subsidies

[FR Doc. 2013-20166 Filed 8-16-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P