[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95961-95962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31564]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-570-831]


Fresh Garlic From the People's Republic of China: Initiation of 
Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review; 2015-2016

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (the Department) is initiating a 
new shipper review (NSR) with respect to Qingdao Joinseafoods Co. Ltd. 
and Join

[[Page 95962]]

Food Ingredient Inc. (``Join'') in the context of the antidumping duty 
order on Fresh Garlic from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The 
period of review (POR) is November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2016.

DATES: Effective December 29, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chien-Min Yang, AD/CVD Operations, 
Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5484.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Department published the antidumping duty order on fresh garlic 
from the PRC in the Federal Register on November 16, 1994.\1\ On 
November 30, 2016, the Department received a timely request for a NSR 
from Join.\2\ Join certified that it is the exporter and producer of 
the fresh garlic upon which the request for a NSR is based.\3\ Pursuant 
to section 751(a)(2)(B)(i)(I) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.214(b)(2)(i), 
Join certified that it did not export fresh garlic for sale to the 
United States during the period of investigation (POI).\4\ Moreover, 
pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(B)(i)(II) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.214(b)(2)(iii)(A), Join certified that, since the investigation was 
initiated, it has never been affiliated with any exporter or producer 
which exported the subject merchandise to the United States during the 
POI, including those not individually examined during the 
investigation.\5\ Further, as required by 19 CFR 351.214(b)(2)(iii)(B), 
it certified that its export activities are not controlled by the 
central government of the PRC.\6\ Join also certified it had no 
shipments of subject merchandise subsequent to the POR.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See Antidumping Duty Order: Fresh Garlic from the People's 
Republic of China, 59 FR 59209 (November 16, 1994).
    \2\ See Join's request for a NSR dated November 30, 2016.
    \3\ Id. at Exhibit 1.
    \4\ Id.
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ Id.
    \7\ Id. at page 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the certifications described above, pursuant to 19 
CFR 351.214(b)(2)(iv), Join submitted documentation establishing the 
following: (1) The date of its first sale to an unaffiliated customer 
in the United States; (2) the date on which the fresh garlic was first 
entered; and (3) the volume of that shipment.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ Id. at Exhibit 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department queried the database of U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) in an attempt to confirm that the shipment reported by 
Join had entered the United States for consumption and that liquidation 
had been properly suspended for antidumping duties. The information 
which the Department examined was consistent with that provided by Join 
in its request.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Memorandum to the File from Chien-Min Yang, ``New 
Shipper Review of the Antidumping Duty Order on Fresh Garlic from 
the People's Republic of China: Customs Entries from November 1, 
2015, to October 31, 2016,'' dated December 13, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Period of Review

    Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.214(c), an exporter or producer may request 
a NSR within one year of the date on which its subject merchandise was 
first entered. Moreover, 19 CFR 351.214(d)(1) states that if the 
request for the review is made during the twelve-month period ending 
with the end of the anniversary month, the Secretary will initiate a 
NSR in the calendar month immediately following the anniversary month. 
Further, 19 CFR 315.214(g)(1)(i)(A) states that if the NSR was 
initiated in the month immediately following the anniversary month, the 
POR will be 12-month period immediately preceding the anniversary 
month. Join made the request for a NSR, that included all documents and 
information required by the statute and regulations, within one year of 
the date on which its fresh garlic first entered. Its request was filed 
in November, which is the anniversary month of the order. Therefore, 
the POR is November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2016. Id.

Initiation of New Shipper Review

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.214(b), 
and the information on the record, the Department finds that Join's 
request meets the threshold requirements for initiation of a NSR for 
shipments of fresh garlic from the PRC produced and exported by Join, 
and, therefore, is initiating a NSR of Join. Absent a determination 
that the new shipper review is extraordinarily complicated, the 
Department intends to issue the preliminary results within 180 days 
after the date on which this review is initiated and the final results 
within 90 days after the date on which we issue the preliminary 
results.\10\ If the information supplied by Join is found to be 
incorrect or insufficient during the course of this proceeding, the 
Department may rescind the review for Join or apply facts available 
pursuant to section 776 of the Act, depending on the facts on the 
record.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See section 751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It is the Department's usual practice in cases involving non-market 
economies to require that a company seeking to establish eligibility 
for an antidumping duty rate separate from the country-wide rate (i.e., 
a separate rate) provide evidence of de jure and de facto absence of 
government control over the company's export activities.\11\ 
Accordingly, the Department will issue questionnaires to Join, which 
will include a section requesting information with regard to its export 
activities for the purpose of establishing its eligibility for a 
separate rate. The review will proceed if the responses provide 
sufficient indication that Join is not subject to either de jure or de 
facto government control with respect to its exports of fresh garlic 
from the PRC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See Import Administration Policy Bulletin, Number: 05.1. 
(http://ia.ita.doc.gov/policy/bull05-1.pdf).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On February 24, 2016, the President signed into law the ``Trade 
Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015,'' H.R. 644, which made 
several amendments to section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act. We will conduct 
this new shipper review in accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B) of the 
Act, as amended by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 
2015.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 
removed from section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act the provision directing 
the Department to instruct Customs and Border Protection to allow an 
importer the option of posting a bond or security in lieu of a cash 
deposit during the pendency of a new shipper review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interested parties requiring access to proprietary information in 
this proceeding should submit applications for disclosure under 
administrative protective order in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305 and 
351.306.
    This initiation and notice are in accordance with section 
751(a)(2)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.214 and 351.221(c)(1)(i).

    Dated: December 22, 2016.
Christian Marsh,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2016-31564 Filed 12-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P