95-19015. Certain Fresh Cut Flowers From Ecuador; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review  

  • [Federal Register Volume 60, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 39358-39359]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 95-19015]
    
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
    [A-331-602]
    
    
    Certain Fresh Cut Flowers From Ecuador; Preliminary Results of 
    Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
    
    AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Import Administration, 
    Department of Commerce.
    
    ACTION: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review.
    
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    SUMMARY: In response to a request from the Floral Trade Council, 
    petitioner in this proceeding, to conduct an administrative review, the 
    Department of Commerce (the Department) has conducted an administrative 
    review of the antidumping duty order on certain fresh cut flowers from 
    Ecuador. The review covers twelve producers and/or exporters of this 
    merchandise and the period March 1, 1993 through February 28, 1994.
        We have preliminary determined that sales have been made below the 
    foreign market value (FMV). If these preliminary results are adopted in 
    our final results of administrative review, we will instruct U.S. 
    Customs to assess antidumping duties equal to the difference between 
    the United States price (USP) and the FMV.
        Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary 
    results.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: August 2, 1995.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas E. Schauer, Joseph A. Fargo, or 
    Richard Rimlinger, Office of Antidumping Compliance, International 
    Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 
    20230; telephone: (202) 482-4733/4477.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    Background
    
        On March 18, 1987, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') 
    published in the Federal Register (52 FR 8494) the antidumping duty 
    order on certain fresh cut flowers from Ecuador. On March 4, 1994, the 
    Department published a notice of ``Opportunity to Request 
    Administrative Review'' with respect to the period March 1, 1993 
    through February 28, 1994 (59 FR 14608). The Department received a 
    timely request for review from the petitioner, the Floral Trade 
    Council, on March 31, 1994, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.22(a). The 
    Department is now conducting this administrative review in accordance 
    with section 751 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Tariff 
    Act''). Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute and to 
    the Department's regulations are references to the provisions as they 
    existed on December 31, 1994.
    
    Scope of the Review
    
        Imports covered by the review are shipments of certain fresh cut 
    flowers from Ecuador (standard carnations, standard chrysanthemums, and 
    pompom chrysanthemums). This merchandise is classifiable under 
    Harmonized Tariff Schedule (``HTS'') items 0603.10.30.00, 
    0603.10.70.10, 0603.10.70.20, and 0603.10.70.30. The HTS item numbers 
    are provided for convenience and Customs purposes. The written 
    description remains dispositive.
        The review covers Flores La Antonia, Flores del Quinche S.A., 
    Florisol Cia Ltda., Flores de Ibarra, Flores de Puewmbo, Flores del 
    Ecuador, Flores Pichincha, Florestrade, Guaisa S.A., Inlandes S.A., 
    Mundiflor, and Velvet Flores Cia S.A., which are producers and/or 
    exporters of certain fresh cut flowers from Ecuador to the United 
    States and the period March 1, 1993 through February 28, 1994.
    
    Best Information Available
    
        Because certain companies did not provide a response to the 
    Department's request for information, in accordance with section 776(c) 
    of the Tariff Act, we have preliminarily determined that the use of 
    best information otherwise available (BIA) is appropriate for these 
    firms. The Department's regulations provide that we may take into 
    account whether a party refuses to provide information in determining 
    what rate to use as BIA (19 CFR 353.37(b)). Generally, whenever a 
    company refuses to cooperate with the Department or otherwise 
    significantly impedes the proceeding, we use as adverse BIA the highest 
    rate for any company for the same class or kind of merchandise from 
    this or any other segment of the proceeding. When a company 
    substantially cooperates with our requests for information, but fails 
    to provide all the information requested in a timely manner or in the 
    form requested, we use as cooperative BIA the higher of (1) the highest 
    rate (including the ``all others'' rate) ever applicable to the firm 
    for the same class or kind of merchandise from the same country from 
    either the LTFV investigation or a prior administrative review; or (2) 
    the highest calculated rate in this review for any firm for the same 
    class or kind of merchandise from the same country. See Antifriction 
    Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From 
    the Federal Republic of Germany, et al.; Final Results of Antidumping 
    Duty Administrative Review, 57 FR 28360, 28379-80 (July 24, 1992); see 
    also Allied-Signal Aerospace Co. v. United States 996 F.2d 1185 (Fed. 
    Cir. 1993).
        For these preliminary results we have applied a cooperative BIA 
    rate to sales made by Flores de Ibarra, Flores de Puewmbo, Flores del 
    Ecuador, Flores Pichincha, Florestrade, and Mundiflor. These firms are 
    no longer in business, and we have preliminarily determined, in 
    accordance with the standards enumerated in Certain Fresh Cut Flowers 
    From Colombia; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 
    and Notice of Revocation of Order (in Part), 59 FR 15159 (March 31, 
    1994) (``Colombian Flowers''), that they are incapable of responding to 
    the Department's questionnaire. In Colombian Flowers, the Department 
    treated bankrupt, or otherwise out of business, firms as cooperative 
    provided that they explained their situation to the Department. In this 
    case, the firms mentioned above submitted certifications that they are 
    no longer in business and thus could not respond. Therefore, in 
    accordance with Colombian Flowers, we preliminarily find these firms to 
    be cooperative.
        In this proceeding, none of the firms named above had ever received 
    a higher margin than that calculated for Flores La Antonia in the 
    instant review. Therefore, we have applied the rate calculated for 
    Flores La Antonia, which is 28.44 percent, to Flores de Ibarra, Flores 
    de Puewmbo, Flores del Ecuador, Flores Pichincha, Florestrade, and 
    Mundiflor.
    
    United States Price
    
        Pursuant to section 777A of the Tariff Act, we preliminarily 
    determined that it was appropriate to average U.S. prices on a monthly 
    basis in order (1) to use actual price information that is often 
    available only on a monthly basis; (2) to account for large sales 
    volumes; and (3) to account for perishable product pricing practices. 
    See Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; Certain 
    Fresh Cut Flowers from 
    
    [[Page 39359]]
    Colombia, 56 FR 50554 (October 7, 1991).
        In calculating United States price (USP), we used purchase price 
    (PP) when sales were made to unrelated purchasers in the United States 
    prior to the date of importation, or exporter's sales price (ESP) when 
    sales were made to unrelated purchasers in the United States after the 
    date of importation, both pursuant to section 772 of the Tariff Act.
        We calculated purchase price to the first unrelated purchaser in 
    the United States. The terms of PP sales were either f.o.b. Quito or 
    c.i.f. Miami. We made deductions, where appropriate, for foreign inland 
    freight, air freight, brokerage and handling, U.S. Customs duties, and 
    return credits.
        ESP, for sales made on consignment or through a related affiliate, 
    was calculated based on the packed price to the first unrelated 
    customer in the United States. We made adjustments, where appropriate, 
    for foreign inland freight, brokerage and handling, air freight, box 
    charges, credit expenses, returned merchandise credits, royalties, U.S. 
    Customs duties, and either commissions paid to unrelated U.S. 
    consignees or indirect selling expenses of related consignees.
    
    Foreign Market Value
    
        In calculating foreign market value, the Department used home 
    market prices since there were sufficient sales of such or similar 
    merchandise in the home market. See section 773(a)(1) of the Tariff 
    Act.
        Home market prices were based on the packed, ex-factory or 
    delivered prices to unrelated purchasers in the home market pursuant to 
    section 773(a)(1) of the Tariff Act. Where applicable, we made 
    adjustments for post-sale movement expenses and differences in packing 
    in accordance with section 773(a)(1) of the Tariff Act. We also made 
    adjustments for differences in circumstances of sale in accordance with 
    19 CFR 353.56, as follows. For comparisons to PP sales, we deducted 
    home market direct selling expenses and added U.S. direct selling 
    expenses. For comparisons to ESP sales, we deducted home market direct 
    selling expenses. We also made adjustments, where applicable, for home 
    market indirect selling expenses to offset U.S. commissions in PP and 
    ESP calculations and to offset U.S. indirect selling expenses deducted 
    in ESP calculations, but not exceeding the amount of the indirect U.S. 
    expenses in accordance with 19 CFR 353.56(b).
    
    Preliminary Results of the Review
    
        As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that the 
    following margins exist for the period March 1, 1993 through February 
    28, 1994:
    
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Margin  
                       Manufacturer/exporter                      (percent) 
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Flores la Antonia..........................................        28.44
    Flores del Quinche S.A.....................................         1.25
    Florisol Cia Ltda..........................................         0.06
    Flores de Ibarra...........................................        28.44
    Flores de Puewmbo..........................................        28.44
    Flores del Ecuador.........................................        28.44
    Flores Pichincha...........................................        28.44
    Florestrade................................................        28.44
    Guaisa S.A.................................................        (\1\)
    Inlandes S.A...............................................        (\1\)
    Mundiflor..................................................        28.44
    Velvet Flores Cia S.A......................................       (\1\) 
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ No shipments during the period of review; since there was no prior  
      review of this company, the ``all other'' rate from the less-than-fair-
      value (LTFV) investigation is applicable.                             
    
        Interested parties may request disclosure within 5 days of the date 
    of publication of this notice and may request a hearing within 10 days 
    of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held 44 days after 
    the date of publication or the first workday thereafter. Case briefs 
    and/or written comments from interested parties may be submitted not 
    later than 30 days after the date of publication. Rebuttal briefs and 
    rebuttals to written comments, limited to issues in those comments, may 
    be filed not later than 37 days after the date of publication. The 
    Department will publish the final results of the administrative review 
    including the results of its analysis of any such comments or hearing.
        Furthermore, the following deposit requirements will be effective 
    for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from 
    warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the 
    final results of this administrative review, as provided for by section 
    751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act: (1) the cash deposit rates for the 
    reviewed companies will be those rates established in the final results 
    of this review; (2) for previously reviewed or investigated companies 
    not listed above, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the 
    company-specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the 
    exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the 
    original LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit 
    rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the 
    manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) for all other producers and/or 
    exporters of this merchandise, the cash deposit rate shall be 5.89 
    percent, the ``all others'' rate from the LTFV investigation. These 
    deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until 
    publication of the final results of the next administrative review.
        This notice also serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of 
    their responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate 
    regarding reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of 
    the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with 
    this requirement could result in the Department's presumption that 
    reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent 
    assessment of double antidumping duties.
        This administrative review and notice are in accordance with 
    section 751(a)(1) of the Tariff Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)(1)) and section 
    353.22 of the Department's regulations (19 CFR 353.22(c)(5)).
    
        Date: July 26, 1995.
    Susan Esserman,
    Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
    [FR Doc. 95-19015 Filed 8-1-95; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
8/2/1995
Published:
08/02/1995
Department:
Commerce Department
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review.
Document Number:
95-19015
Dates:
August 2, 1995.
Pages:
39358-39359 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
A-331-602
PDF File:
95-19015.pdf