[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73726-73729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29984]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-549-822]


Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From 
Thailand

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: In response to a request by Thai Union Group Public Co., Ltd. 
(Thai Union Group), a producer/exporter of certain frozen warmwater 
shrimp (shrimp) from Thailand, and pursuant to section 751(b) of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 19 CFR 351.216, and 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(3)(ii), the Department of Commerce (the Department) is 
initiating a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the antidumping duty 
(AD) order on shrimp from Thailand with regard to Thai

[[Page 73727]]

Union Group. Based on the information received, we preliminarily 
determine that Thai Union Group is the successor-in-interest to Thai 
Union Frozen Products Public Co., Ltd. (Thai Union Frozen) for purposes 
of determining AD liability. Interested parties are invited to comment 
on these preliminary results.

DATES: Effective Date: November 25, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis McClure or Elizabeth Eastwood, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office II, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5973 or (202) 482-3874, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On February 1, 2005, the Department published in the Federal 
Register an AD order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from 
Thailand.\1\ On September 17, 2015, Thai Union Group, a producer/
exporter of Thai shrimp covered by this order, changed its name from 
Thai Union Frozen to Thai Union Group. On October 5, 2015, Thai Union 
Group requested that the Department conduct an expedited changed 
circumstances review under section 751(b) of the Act, 19 CFR 
351.216(c), and 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii).\2\ In this request, Thai 
Union Group asked the Department to determine that it is the successor-
in-interest to Thai Union Frozen and, accordingly, to assign it the 
cash deposit rate of the Thai Union group of companies, of which Thai 
Union Frozen is a part.3 4 On October 8, 2015, we issued a 
supplemental questionnaire to Thai Union Group, to which the company 
responded on October 21, 2015.\5\
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    \1\ See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from Thailand, 70 FR 5145 (February 1, 2005).
    \2\ See Letter from Thai Union Group, Re: ``Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from Thailand: Request for Expedited Changed Circumstances 
Review,'' dated October 5, 2015 (Thai Union CCR Request).
    \3\ Id.
    \4\ This group consists of Thai Union Frozen, Thai Union Seafood 
Co., Ltd., Pakfood Public Company Limited, Okeanos Co. Ltd., Okeanos 
Food Co., Ltd, Asia Pacific (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Chaophraya Cold 
Storage Co. Ltd., and Takzin Samut Co. Ltd. (collectively, ``Thai 
Union'').
    \5\ See Letter from Thai Union Group, Re: ``Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from Thailand: Changed Circumstances Review Supplemental 
Questionnaire Response,'' dated October 21, 2015 (CCR Supplemental 
Questionnaire Response).
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Scope of the Order

    The scope of this order includes 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.
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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 of this order, 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 of this order. In addition, food 
preparations, which are not ``prepared meals,'' that contain more than 
20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope 
of this order.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) Breaded shrimp and prawns (HTSUS 
subheading 1605.20.10.20); (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 (HTSUS subheadings 0306.23.00.20 and 0306.23.00.40); (4) 
shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.05.10); 
(5) dried shrimp and prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns 
(HTSUS subheading 1605.20.10.40); (7) certain battered shrimp. 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 ten percent of the product's 
total weight after being dusted, but prior to being frozen; and (5) 
that is subjected to 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 covered by this order 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 of this order is 
dispositive.\7\
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    \7\ On April 26, 2011, the Department amended the antidumping 
duty order to include dusted shrimp, pursuant to the U.S. Court of 
International Trade (CIT) decision in Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action 
Committee v. United States, 703 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (CIT 2010) and the 
U.S. International Trade Commission determination, which found the 
domestic like product to include dusted shrimp. See Certain Frozen 
Warmwater Shrimp from Brazil, India, the People's Republic of China, 
Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Amended Antidumping 
Duty Orders in Accordance with Final Court Decision, 76 FR 23277 
(April 26, 2011); see also Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee v. 
United States, 703 F. Supp. 2d 1330 (CIT 2010) and Frozen Warmwater 
Shrimp from Brazil, China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam 
(Investigation Nos. 731-TA-1063, 1064, 1066-1068 (Review), USITC 
Publication 4221, March 2011).
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Initiation and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b)(1)(A) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216(d), 
the Department will conduct a CCR upon receipt of a request from an 
interested party for a review of an AD order which shows changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant a review of the order. The 
information submitted by Thai Union Group supporting its claim that it 
is the successor-in-interest to Thai Union Frozen demonstrates changed 
circumstances sufficient to warrant such a review.\8\
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    \8\ See 19 CFR 351.216(d).
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    In accordance with the above-referenced regulation, the Department 
is

[[Page 73728]]

initiating a CCR to determine whether Thai Union Group is the 
successor-in-interest to Thai Union Frozen. When it concludes that 
expedited action is warranted, the Department may publish the notice of 
initiation and preliminary results for a CCR concurrently.\9\ We 
determined that expediting this CCR is warranted because we have the 
information necessary to make a preliminary finding already on the 
record, in accordance with our practice.\10\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii); see also Certain Pasta From 
Italy: Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 80 FR 33480, 33480-41 (June 12, 2015) 
(Pasta From Italy Preliminary Results) (unchanged in Certain Pasta 
From Italy: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 80 FR 
48807) (August 14, 2015) (Pasta From Italy Final Results).
    \10\ See, e.g., Pasta From Italy Preliminary Results, 80 FR at 
33480-41 (unchanged in Pasta From Italy Final Results, 80 FR at 
48807).
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    In determining whether one company is the successor-in-interest to 
another, the Department examines a number of factors including, but not 
limited to, changes in management, production facilities, supplier 
relationships, and customer base.\11\ While no single factor or 
combination of these factors will necessarily provide a dispositive 
indication of a successor-in-interest relationship, the Department will 
generally consider the new company to be the successor to the previous 
company if the new company's resulting operation is not materially 
dissimilar to that of its predecessor.\12\ Thus, if the evidence 
demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of the 
subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same business 
entity as the prior company, the Department will assign the new company 
the cash deposit rate of its predecessor.\13\
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    \11\ See, e.g., Notice of Initiation and Preliminary Results of 
Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: Certain Frozen 
Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand, 75 FR 61702, 61703 (October 6, 2010) 
(Shrimp From Thailand Preliminary Results) (unchanged in Notice of 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review: 
Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand, 75 FR 74684 (December 
1, 2010) (Shrimp From Thailand Final Results)); and Industrial 
Phosphoric Acid From Israel: Final Results of Antidumping Duty 
Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944, 6946 (February 14, 1994).
    \12\ See Shrimp From Thailand Preliminary Results, 75 FR at 
61703 (unchanged in Shrimp From Thailand Final Results, 75 FR at 
74684).
    \13\ Id.; see also Notice of Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty Administrative Review: 
Polychloroprene Rubber From Japan, 67 FR 58, 59 (January 2, 2002); 
and Ball Bearings and Parts Thereof from France: Final Results of 
Changed-Circumstances Review, 75 FR 34688, 34689 (June 18, 2010).
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    In its October 5 and October 21, 2015, submissions, Thai Union 
Group provided information to demonstrate that it is the successor-in-
interest to Thai Union Frozen. Thai Union Group states that the 
company's management, production facilities and customer/supplier 
relationships have not changed as a result of the corporate name 
change. To support its claims, Thai Union Group submitted the following 
documents: (1) Resolutions passed at a board of directors' meeting for 
the company as well as shareholder meeting minutes, demonstrating 
approval of the name change; \14\ (2) a letter announcing the company's 
name change to its customers and suppliers; \15\ (3) two affidavits, 
both dated September 2015, from the Thai Ministry of Commerce's 
Department of Business Development, certifying that the directors and 
other business information appearing in the Thai company register for 
Thai Union Group and Thai Union Frozen are identical; \16\ (4) a list 
showing the management of Thai Union Frozen before, and Thai Union 
Group after, the name change; \17\ (5) a list showing the Board of 
Directors of Thai Union Frozen before, and Thai Union Group after, the 
name change; \18\ (6) Thai Union Frozen's 2014 audited financial 
statements; \19\ (7) a list of the suppliers of Thai Union Frozen 
before, and Thai Union Group after, the name change; \20\ and (8) a 
list of the customers of Thai Union Frozen before, and Thai Union Group 
after, the name change.\21\
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    \14\ See Thai Union CCR Request, at Exhibit 1.
    \15\ Id., at Exhibit 2.
    \16\ Id., at Exhibit 5; and CCR Supplemental Questionnaire 
Response, at Exhibit 2.
    \17\ See Thai Union CCR Request, at Exhibit 3.
    \18\ Id., at Exhibits 4 and 5.
    \19\ See CCR Supplemental Questionnaire Response, at Exhibit 3.
    \20\ See Thai Union CCR Request, at Exhibit 7.
    \21\ Id.
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    Based on the evidence on the record, we preliminarily find that 
Thai Union Group is the successor-in-interest to Thai Union Frozen. We 
find that Thai Union Group operates as the same business entity as Thai 
Union Frozen and that its Board of Directors, management, production 
facilities, supplier relationships, and customers have not changed as a 
result of its name change. Thus, we preliminarily find that Thai Union 
Group should receive the same antidumping duty cash-deposit rate with 
respect to the subject merchandise as Thai Union Frozen, its 
predecessor company.\22\
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    \22\ Thai Union Frozen received a 1.10 percent dumping margin as 
part of Thai Union in the 2012-2013 administrative review of the AD 
order on shrimp from Thailand. See Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp 
From Thailand: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review, Final Determination of No Shipments, and Partial Rescission 
of Review; 2012-2013, 79 FR 51306 (August 28, 2014) (corrected by 
Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From Thailand: Notice of Correction 
to the Final Results of the 2012-2013 Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review, 79 FR 62099 (October 16, 2014)). We note that 
Thai Union Frozen is also a respondent in the current 2014-2015 
administrative review of this antidumping duty order. See Certain 
Frozen Warmwater Shrimp From India and Thailand: Notice of 
Initiation of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 80 FR 16634 
(March 30, 2015). At the conclusion of this CCR, if we determine 
that Thai Union Group is the successor-in-interest to Thai Union 
Frozen, we will assign Thai Union Group an updated cash deposit rate 
based on the final results of that review.
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    Should our final results remain the same as these preliminary 
results, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to suspend 
entries of subject merchandise produced or exported by Thai Union Group 
at Thai Union Frozen's cash deposit rate, effective on the publication 
date of our final results.

Public Comment

    Interested parties may submit case briefs and/or written comments 
not later than 14 days after the publication of this notice.\23\ 
Rebuttal briefs, which must be limited to issues raised in case briefs, 
may be filed not later than five days after the deadline for filing 
case briefs.\24\ Parties who submit case briefs or rebuttal briefs in 
this changed circumstance review are requested to submit with each 
argument: (1) A statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the 
argument; and (3) a table of authorities. Interested parties who wish 
to comment on the preliminary results must file briefs electronically 
using Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://access.trade.gov. An electronically-filed 
document must be received successfully in its entirety by the 
Department's electronic records system, ACCESS, by 5 p.m. Eastern Time 
on the date the document is due.
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    \23\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(ii).
    \24\ See 19 CFR 351.309(d).
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    Interested parties that wish to request a hearing, or to 
participate if one is requested, must submit a written request to the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, filed 
electronically via ACCESS, within 14 days of publication of this 
notice.\25\ Parties will be notified of the time and date of any 
hearing, if requested.\26\
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    \25\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c); see also 19 CFR 351.303 for general 
filing requirements.
    \26\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
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    Consistent with 19 CFR 351.216(e), we intend to issue the final 
results of this changed circumstance review no later than 270 days 
after the date on which this review was initiated, or

[[Page 73729]]

within 45 days of publication of these preliminary results if all 
parties agree to our preliminary finding.
    We are issuing and publishing this finding and notice in accordance 
with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.216 and 
351.221(c)(3)(ii).

    Dated: November 17, 2015.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-29984 Filed 11-24-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P