02-19825. Honey from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Reviews

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

August 6, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Angelica Mendoza or Donna Kinsella at [phone] or [phone], respectively; Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Enforcement Group III, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Applicable Statute

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act) by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are references to the provisions codified at 19 CFR Part 351 (2002).

Background

The Department has received timely requests from Chengdu-Dujiangyan Dubao Bee Industrial Co., Ltd (“Dubao”) and Wuhan Bee Healthy Co., Ltd. (“Wuhan Bee”), in accordance with 19 CFR 351.214(c), for new shipper reviews of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (“PRC”), which has a December annual anniversary month and a June semiannual anniversary month. See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order; Honey from the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 63670 (December 10, 2001). As required by 19 CFR 351.214(b)(2)(i) and (iii)(A), each of the companies identified above, which are also producers, has certified that it did not export honey to the United States during the period of investigation (“POI”), and that it has never been affiliated with any exporter or producer which did export honey during the POI. Each company has further certified that its export activities are not controlled by the central government of the PRC, satisfying the requirements of 19 CFR 351.214(b)(2)(iii)(B). Pursuant to the Department's regulations at 19 CFR 351.214(b)(2)(iv)(A), Dubao and Wuhan Bee each submitted documentation establishing the date on which it first shipped the subject merchandise to the United States, the volume of that first shipment, and the date of the first sale to an unaffiliated customer in the United States.

In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act, as amended, and 19 CFR 351.214(d)(i), and based on information on the record, we are initiating new shipper reviews for Dubao and Wuhan Bee. 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 provide de jure and de facto evidence of an absence of government control over the company's export activities. Accordingly we will issue a questionnaire to Dubao and Wuhan Bee, including a separate rates section. If the response from each respondent provides sufficient indication that it is not subject to either de jure or de facto government control with respect to its exports of honey, each review will proceed. If, on the other hand, a respondent does not demonstrate its eligibility for a separate rate, then it will be deemed to be affiliated with other companies that exported during the POI and that it did not establish entitlement to a separate rate, and the review of that respondent will be rescinded.

Initiation of Review

In accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.214(d)(1), we are initiating new shipper reviews of the antidumping duty order on honey from the PRC. Therefore, we intend to issue the preliminary results of these reviews not later than 180 days after the date on which the reviews are initiated. We intend to issue the final results of these reviews within 90 days after the date on which the preliminary results were issued.

Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.214(g)(1)(i)(B) of the Department's regulations, the period of review (“POR”) for a new shipper review initiated in the month immediately following the semiannual anniversary month will be the six-month period immediately preceding the semiannual anniversary month. Therefore, the POR for this new shipper review is:

Antidumping duty ­proceeding	Period to be ­reviewed
Chengdu-Dujiangyan Dubao Bee ­Industrial Co., ­Ltd.:	12/01/01 - 05/31/02
Wuhan Bee Healthy Co., Ltd.

We will instruct the Customs Service to allow, at the option of the importer, the posting, until the completion of the review, of a single entry bond or security in lieu of a cash deposit for each entry of the merchandise exported by the above-listed companies. This action is in accordance with 19 CFR 351.214(e). Interested parties that need access to proprietary information in these new shipper reviews should submit applications for disclosure under administrative protective orders in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305 and 351.306. This initiation and notice are in accordance with section 751(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1675(a)) and 19 CFR 351.214(d).

Dated: July 31, 2002.

Faryar Shirzad,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.