[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28186-28189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12990]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-469-818]


Ripe Olives From Spain: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty 
Determination

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that 
countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters 
of ripe olives from Spain. The period of investigation (POI) is January 
1, 2016, through December 31, 2016.

DATES: Applicable June 18, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Kolberg or Lana Nigro, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office I, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-1785, or (202) 482-1779, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On November 28, 2017, Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination of this countervailing duty investigation, as provided by 
section 705 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), in which 
Commerce found that countervailable subsidies are being provided to 
producers and exporters of ripe olives from Spain.\1\ A summary of the 
events that have occurred since Commerce published the Preliminary 
Determination, as well as a full discussion of the issues raised by 
parties for this final determination, may be found in the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum which is hereby adopted by this notice.\2\
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    \1\ See Ripe Olives from Spain: Preliminary Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of Final 
Determination with Final Antidumping Duty Determination, 82 FR 56218 
(November 28, 2017) and accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum) (collectively, Preliminary 
Determination).
    \2\ See Memorandum, ``Issues and Decision Memorandum for the 
Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination for Ripe Olives 
from Spain,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this 
notice (Issues and Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Investigation

    The product covered by this investigation is ripe olives from 
Spain. For a complete description of the scope of this investigation, 
see Appendix I.

Scope Comments

    In accordance with the preamble to Commerce's regulations,\3\ the 
Initiation Notice set aside a period of time for parties to raise 
issues regarding product coverage (i.e., scope). No interested party 
commented on the scope of the investigation as it appeared in the 
Initiation Notice during the scope comment period.\4\ For the 
Preliminary Determination, Commerce did not modify the scope language 
as it appeared in the Initiation Notice. However, the issue of cocktail 
mixes arose in the context of the companion antidumping duty (AD) 
investigation on ripe olives from Spain. In the April 3, 2018, post-
preliminary we issued with respect to the scope of the investigation, 
we found that: (i) Ripe olives contained in cocktail mixes are in the 
scope, but that the remaining ingredients are not in the scope, and 
(ii) we clarified the scope by adding language concerning ripe olives 
contained in cocktail mixes.\5\ As a result of our analysis of comments 
received in response to this post-preliminary analysis, we have 
modified the scope of this investigation for this final determination. 
For a summary of the product coverage comments and rebuttal responses 
submitted to the record for this final determination, and accompanying 
discussion and analysis

[[Page 28187]]

of all comments timely received, see the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum.\6\
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    \3\ See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing Duties, Final Rule, 
62 FR 27296, 27323 (May 19, 1997).
    \4\ See Ripe Olives from Spain: Initiation of Countervailing 
Duty Investigation, 82 FR 33050 (July 19, 2017) (Initiation Notice).
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Ripe Olives from Spain: Post-Preliminary 
Scope Clarification Decision Memorandum,'' dated April 3, 2018.
    \6\ See Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comment 30.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this CVD investigation in accordance with 
section 701 of the Act. For each of the subsidy programs found to be 
countervailable, we determine that there is a subsidy (i.e., a 
financial contribution by an ``authority'' that gives rise to a benefit 
to the recipient) and that the subsidy is specific. For a full 
description of the methodology underlying our final determination, see 
the Issues and Decisions Memorandum.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in February and March 
2018, we conducted verification of the information submitted by the 
European Commission, the Government of Spain, and the mandatory 
respondents Aceitunas Guadalquivir S.L. (AG), Agro Sevilla Aceitunas 
S.COOP.And. (Agro Sevilla) and Angel Camacho Alimentacion S.L. 
(Camacho) for use in Commerce's final determination. We used standard 
verification procedures, including an examination of relevant 
accounting records and original source documents provided by the 
respondents.

Analysis of Comments Received

    The subsidies programs under investigation and all issues raised in 
the case and rebuttal briefs that were submitted by parties in this 
investigation are addressed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum. A 
list of these issues is attached to this notice as Appendix II. The 
Issues and Decision Memorandum is a public document and is on file 
electronically via Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). 
ACCESS is available to registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and 
to all parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main 
Department of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/.

Adverse Facts Available

    If necessary information is not available on the record, or an 
interested party withholds information, fails to provide requested 
information in a timely manner, significantly impedes a proceeding by 
not providing information, or information provided cannot be verified, 
Commerce will apply facts available, pursuant to section 776(a)(1) and 
(2) of the Act. For purposes of this final determination, Commerce 
relied, in part, on facts available and, because certain respondents 
did not cooperate by not acting to the best of their ability to respond 
to the Commerce's requests for information, we drew an adverse 
inference, where appropriate, in selecting from among the facts 
otherwise available.\7\ A full discussion of our decision to rely on 
adverse facts available is presented in the ``Application of Facts 
Otherwise Available and Use of Adverse Inferences'' section of the 
Issues and Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ See sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.
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Changes Since the Preliminary Determination

    Based on Commerce's analysis of the comments received and its 
findings at verification, Commerce made certain changes to the subsidy 
rate calculations for AG, Agro Sevilla and Camacho.\8\ In addition, 
Commerce revised the subsidy rate calculations for the respondents to 
reflect the reliance on partial facts available with an adverse 
inference pursuant to section 776(b) of the Act. Because of these 
changes to the estimated subsidy rate for each mandatory respondent we 
have also revised the subsidy rate applicable to all other prroducers 
and exporters (the all-others rate).
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    \8\ See the ``Discussion of the Issues'' section of the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum and the company-specific analysis memoranda 
dated concurrently with, and hereby incorporated by, this notice.
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All-Others Rate

    Section 705(c)(5)(A) of the Act provides that in the final 
determination, Commerce shall determine an estimated subsidy rate for 
all exporters or producers not individually examined. This rate shall 
be an amount equal to the weighted average of the estimated subsidy 
rates established for those exporters and producers individually 
examined, excluding any zero and de minimis countervailable subsidy 
rates, and any rates based entirely under section 776 of the Act. In 
this investigation, we calculated individually estimated 
countervailable subsidy rates for AG, Agro Sevilla and Camacho, that 
are not zero, de minimis, or based entirely on facts otherwise 
available. Because there are three estimated subsidy rates available 
and doing so would not reveal business proprietary information, we 
calculated the all-others rate using a weighted-average of the 
individually estimated subsidy rates calculated for the examined 
respondents using each respondent's business proprietary data for the 
merchandise under consideration.\9\
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    \9\ For a complete analysis of the data, see Memorandum, 
``Countervailing Duty Investigation of Ripe Olives form Spain: 
Calculation of the All-Others Calculation Rate for the Final 
Determination,'' dated concurrently with this notice.
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Final Determination

    We determine that the following estimated countervailable subsidy 
rates exist:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Subsidy
                      Exporter/producer                          rate
                                                               (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aceitunas Guadalquivir S.L.\10\.............................       27.02
Agro Sevilla Aceitunas S.COOP.And.\11\......................        7.52
Angel Camacho Alimentacion S.L..............................       13.22
All-Others..................................................       14.75
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Disclosure
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    \10\ In the companion AD investigation, this company's name is 
spelled as Aceitunas Guadalquivir S.L.
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    We intend to disclose to interested parties the calculations and 
analysis performed in this final determination within five days of any 
public announcement or, if there is no public announcement, within five 
days of the date of publication of this notice in accordance with 19 
CFR 351.224(b).
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    \11\ In the companion AD investigation, this company's name is 
spelled as Agro Sevilla Aceitunas S.Coop Andalusia.
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Suspension of Liquidation

    As a result of our Preliminary Determination, and pursuant to 
sections 703(d)(1)(B) and (2) of the Act, we instructed U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation of all entries of 
merchandise under consideration from Spain that were entered or 
withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after November 28, 
2017, the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination in the 
Federal Register. In accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, 
effective March 28, 2018, we instructed CBP to discontinue the 
suspension of liquidation of all entries at that time, but to continue 
the suspension of liquidation of all entries between November 28, 2017, 
and March 27, 2018.
    If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes a final 
affirmative injury determination we will issue a CVD order, reinstate 
the

[[Page 28188]]

suspension of liquidation under section 706(a) of the Act, and require 
a cash deposit of estimated CVDs for such entries of subject 
merchandise in the amounts indicated above. If the ITC determines that 
material injury or threat of material injury does not exist, the 
proceeding will be terminated and all estimated duties deposited as a 
result of the suspension of liquidation will be refunded or cancelled.

International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 705(d) of the Act, Commerce will notify 
the ITC of its final determination. Because the final determination in 
this proceeding is affirmative, in accordance with section 705(b)(2)(B) 
of the Act, the ITC will make its final determination as to whether the 
domestic industry in the United States is materially injured, or 
threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of ripe olives 
from Spain no later than 45 days after Commerce's final determination.

Notification to Interested Parties

    This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to an 
administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility 
concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under 
APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3). Timely notification of the 
return or destruction of APO materials, or conversion to judicial 
protective order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the 
regulations and the terms of an APO is a violation subject to sanction.
    This determination and this notice are issued and published 
pursuant to sections 705(d) and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: June 11, 2018.
Gary Taverman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I--Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are certain processed 
olives, usually referred to as ``ripe olives.'' The subject 
merchandise includes all colors of olives; all shapes and sizes of 
olives, whether pitted or not pitted, and whether whole, sliced, 
chopped, minced, wedged, broken, or otherwise reduced in size; all 
types of packaging, whether for consumer (retail) or institutional 
(food service) sale, and whether canned or packaged in glass, metal, 
plastic, multilayered airtight containers (including pouches), or 
otherwise; and all manners of preparation and preservation, whether 
low acid or acidified, stuffed or not stuffed, with or without 
flavoring and/or saline solution, and including in ambient, 
refrigerated, or frozen conditions.
    Included are all ripe olives grown, processed in whole or in 
part, or packaged in Spain. Subject merchandise includes ripe olives 
that have been further processed in Spain or a third country, 
including but not limited to curing, fermenting, rinsing, oxidizing, 
pitting, slicing, chopping, segmenting, wedging, stuffing, 
packaging, or heat treating, or any other processing that would not 
otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation 
if performed in Spain.
    Subject merchandise includes ripe olives that otherwise meet the 
definition above that are packaged together with non-subject 
products, where the smallest individual packaging unit (e.g., can, 
pouch, jar, etc.) of any such product--regardless of whether the 
smallest unit of packaging is included in a larger packaging unit 
(e.g., display case, etc.)--contains a majority (i.e., more than 50 
percent) of ripe olives by net drained weight. The scope does not 
include the non-subject components of such product.
    Excluded from the scope are: (1) Specialty olives \12\ 
(including ``Spanish-style,'' ``Sicilian-style,'' and other similar 
olives) that have been processed by fermentation only, or by being 
cured in an alkaline solution for not longer than 12 hours and 
subsequently fermented; and (2) provisionally prepared olives 
unsuitable for immediate consumption (currently classifiable in 
subheading 0711.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (HTSUS)).
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    \12\ Some of the major types of specialty olives and their 
curing methods are:
     ``Spanish-style'' green olives: Spanish-style green 
olives have a mildly salty, slightly bitter taste, and are usually 
pitted and stuffed. This style of olive is primarily produced in 
Spain and can be made from various olive varieties. Most are stuffed 
with pimento; other popular stuffings are jalapeno, garlic, and 
cheese. The raw olives that are used to produce Spanish-style green 
olives are picked while they are unripe, after which they are 
submerged in an alkaline solution for typically less than a day to 
partially remove their bitterness, rinsed, and fermented in a strong 
salt brine, giving them their characteristic flavor.
     ``Sicilian-style'' green olives: Sicilian-style olives 
are large, firm green olives with a natural bitter and savory 
flavor. This style of olive is produced in small quantities in the 
United States using a Sevillano variety of olive and harvested green 
with a firm texture. Sicilian-style olives are processed using a 
brine-cured method, and undergo a full fermentation in a salt and 
lactic acid brine for 4 to 9 months. These olives may be sold whole 
unpitted, pitted, or stuffed.
     ``Kalamata'' olives: Kalamata olives are slightly 
curved in shape, tender in texture, and purple in color, and have a 
rich natural tangy and savory flavor. This style of olive is 
produced in Greece using a Kalamata variety olive. The olives are 
harvested after they are fully ripened on the tree, and typically 
use a brine-cured fermentation method over 4 to 9 months in a salt 
brine.
     Other specialty olives in a full range of colors, 
sizes, and origins, typically fermented in a salt brine for 3 months 
or more.
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    The merchandise subject to this investigation is currently 
classifiable under subheadings 2005.70.0230, 2005.70.0260, 
2005.70.0430, 2005.70.0460, 2005.70.5030, 2005.70.5060, 
2005.70.6020, 2005.70.6030, 2005.70.6050, 2005.70.6060, 
2005.70.6070, 2005.70.7000, 2005.70.7510, 2005.70.7515, 
2005.70.7520, and 2005.70.7525 HTSUS. Subject merchandise may also 
be imported under subheadings 2005.70.0600, 2005.70.0800, 
2005.70.1200, 2005.70.1600, 2005.70.1800, 2005.70.2300, 
2005.70.2510, 2005.70.2520, 2005.70.2530, 2005.70.2540, 
2005.70.2550, 2005.70.2560, 2005.70.9100, 2005.70.9300, and 
2005.70.9700. Although HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and US Customs purposes, they do not define the scope of 
the investigation; rather, the written description of the subject 
merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II--List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Scope of the Investigation
IV. Scope Comments
V. Subsidies Valuation
VI. Loan Interest Rate Benchmarks and Discount Rates
VII. Application of Facts Otherwise Available and Use of Adverse 
Inference
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Discussion of the Issues
    Comment 1: Whether Section 771B of the Act is Applicable in This 
Investigation
    Comment 2: Whether a Pass-Through Analysis is Required
    Comment 3: Whether the EU CAP Pillar I -BPS, SPS, and Greening 
Programs are Countervailable
    Comment 4: Whether EU CAP Pillar II Agricultural Fund for Rural 
Development is Specific
    Comment 5: Whether Commerce Should AFA to the Non-Cooperating 
Growers
    Comment 6: Whether Commerce used the Correct Calculation 
Methodology to Measure Subsides Received by the Respondents
    Comment 7: Whether Commerce Should Remove Non-Growers and Adjust 
the Calculation of Benefits to Exclude the Olive Volume of Non-
Producing Suppliers
    Comment 8: Whether Commerce Should Apply AFA to Agro Sevilla 
Regarding Cross-Ownership with its First-Tier Suppliers
    Comment 9: Whether Grant Funding Sourced From the ERDF is 
Regionally Specific
    Comment 10: Whether the EU Sustainable Energy Development of 
Andalusia Scheme Program is Specific
    Comment 11: Whether the PROSOL Program is Specific
    Comment 12: Whether the EU Regional Development Fund and IDEA 
Program is Specific
    Comment 13: Whether the EU Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) 
Program is Specific
    Comment 14: Whether the SAIS Program is Specific
    Comment 15: Whether Financing Sourced from the Spanish Official 
Credit Institute (ICO) is Countervailable
    Comment 16: Whether Commerce Should Adjust the Interest Rate 
Used in Certain

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Long-Term ICO Financing to Angel Camacho
    Comment 17: Whether Commerce Should Adjust the Calculation of 
European Investment Bank (EIB) Financing Received by Agro Sevilla
    Comment 18: Whether To Apply AFA to the CDTI Program
    Comment 19: Whether the CDTI Program is Export Specific
    Comment 20: Whether Commerce Should Apply AFA to Angel Camacho's 
Unreported Grant Presented at Verification
    Comment 21: Whether Commerce Should Rely on ``Unverified'' 
Information
    Comment 22: Whether Commerce Should Adjust the Volume of Raw 
Olives Purchased to Account for Waste Loss
    Comment 23: Whether Commerce Should Accept Rejected Submission 
from the GOS and the Respondents
    Comment 24: Comments on the Verification Reports
    Comment 26: Whether Commerce's Conduct in This Investigation 
Meets the Requirements of the ASCM
    Comment 26: Whether Other Discovered Subsidies Should be 
Included in this Investigation and Whether Other Assistance Can Form 
the Basis for Applying AFA
    Comment 27: Whether Commerce Should Include the Corrections of 
the Alleged Ministerial Errors
    Comment 28: Commerce Must Use Corrected and Revised Data in the 
Calculations
    Comment 29: Whether To Clarify the Scope of the Investigation to 
Include Ripe Olives Contained in Cocktail Mixes
    Comment 30: The Product to Which the Countervailing Duty Applies
X. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2018-12990 Filed 6-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P