RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/ADP/AHG/W/114
11 April 2001
(01-1871)
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
Ad Hoc Group on ImplementationOriginal:  English
LIST OF QUESTIONS POSED BY MEMBERS ON THE APPLICATION OF THE
LESSER DUTY RULE AND CONSIDERATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST
Replies of the European Communities
The following communication, dated 9 April 2001, has been received from the Permanent
Delegation of the European Commission.
_______________
The following are the EC's answers to the questions posed by other Members on public
interest and compiled by the Secretariat in its paper G/ADP/AHG/W/107 of 7 March 2001.
The relevant provisions on the EC's public interest test are basically contained in Articles 7, 9
and 21of the EC Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation.  The assessment of public interest is based on an
appreciation of all the various interests in the Community taken as a whole by analysing the likely
economic impact of the imposition or non imposition of measures on economic operators in the
Community.
The assessment is therefore concentrated on those operators likely to be directly affected by
the measures, i.e. usually those located one step upwards and one step downwards in the
production/consumption chain compared to the product concerned by the investigation.  Over and
above the operators one step upwards and one step  downwards of the product concerned, the EC also
examines the situation of those operators in the EC which can prove that there is an objective link
between their activities and the product concerned.  All these operators are subsequently referred to as
'interested parties'.
Q1. Are the industrial users and consumer organisations given the right to review and copy
the non-confidential versions of all documents submitted by the parties to the investigation?
(This is relevant only to Members who do not maintain a full public file of all documents
relating to the investigation.)
Reply
If they qualify as an interested party, as all such parties, they can review and, to the extent
practically possible, copy non-confidential versions of documents at any stage of the investigationafter initiation.
Q2. At what stage of the investigation do the Members provide opportunities for the
industrial users and consumer organisations to provide information?  Do they have a right to be
heard as well as submit written information?G/ADP/AHG/W/114
Page 2
Reply
Under EC anti-dumping legislation, if they qualify as interested parties and if they have made
themselves known within the period specified in the notice of initiation of the AD proceeding, they
can provide information for the purposes of the EC's public interest test and also request a hearing as
any other interested party.  In addition, in order to  facilitate the collection of information, the EC, in
the framework of the Community interest part of the investigation, also follows a proactive approach
and contacts and/or sends questionnaires to all parties known to be concerned and the relevant
associations.  Information is requested from such in terested parties within the same time frame as for
the dumping and injury investigation, i.e. within 40 days from initiation.
Furthermore, as all other interested parties they may also provide comments on the
application of any provisional anti-dumping duties imposed within a month of the application of such
measures.
Such comments, or appropriate non confidential summaries thereof, shall also be made
available to all other interested parties who will be entitled to respond to such comments.
Q3. Are there Members who maintain a verifi cation procedure for verifying the factual
information submitted by these parties?
Reply
Depending on whether the information is substantiated by actual evidence and, in general
terms, on its relevance, the EC verifies the informa tion provided by interested parties as for the other
aspects of the investigation.
Q4. Do those Members which do not include a public interest clause in their anti-dumping
regimes also provide an opportunity to industrial users and consumer organisations to provide
information and to what extent, if any, do thei r views have on the determinations made by the
Authorities?
Reply
Not applicable.  The EC has a public interest clause in its anti-dumping legislation.
Q5. To what extent, do those Members who do include a public interest clause in their anti-
dumping regimes, consider, the information and comments received by the Industrial users and
consumer organisations in their final determinations.  It may be useful to provide specificexamples of cases where those comments actua lly had an impact on the final determination.
Reply
Information submitted by interested parties is taken into consideration both at the provisional
stage and at the definitive stage.  This information will only be taken into account where it is
supported by actual evidence which substantiates its validity.  On this basis, an overall assessment of
the likely impact of the imposition or non imposition of measures on the interested parties in the
Community will be carried out.  According to EC law and practice, the need to eliminate the trade
distorting effects of injurious dumping and to restore effective competition is given specialconsideration.  On this basis, measures may not be applied where it can be clearly concluded that it is
not in the Community interest to impose such measures.G/ADP/AHG/W/114
Page 3
The assessment of the public interest in the EC was either the main or one of the reasons for
the termination of proceedings without imposition of measures in the following cases:  laser optical
reading systems (LORS)1 , synthetic handbags2 , gum rosin3 , tungstic oxide and acid4 , and ferro-
silicon.5   An analysis of these cases shows, that the imposition of AD measures was not found to be in
the EC's interest, (a) if it was most unlikely that the Community industry could have benefited fromsuch measures or (b) if their negative economic effects on interested parties would have been
disproportionate when compared to their positive effects.
Q6. Do Members affording opportunities for industrial users to comment also include the
suppliers of the raw material as parties who may also provide relevant information to the
Authorities?
Reply
As outlined above, if a supplier qualifies as an interested party they may provide relevant
information and also participate in the proceeding, i.e. they may request a hearing, consult and
respond to comments submitted by other interested parties and receive disclosure.
Q7. Is there any distinction drawn between the preliminary and final determination in
respect to the relevance of the information provided by the users or consumers?
Reply
As mentioned above in the EC's reply to questi on 5, there is no distinction drawn between the
preliminary and final determination in respect to  the relevance of the information provided by
interested parties.  In other words, under EC legislation, public interest is at issue both at the
provisional and at the definitive stage of anti-dumping investigations.
Q8. How do other members take into acco unt the “relevancy” of submissions from
consumers and downstream users?
Reply
Please refer to the EC's reply to question 5.
Q9. Are competition authorities, on behalf of consumers and downstream industries,
allowed/required to provide input?
Reply
Under EC anti-dumping legislation, there is no specific provision allowing/requiring
competition authorities to provide submissions during an investigation on behalf of consumers and
downstream industries.  However, EC competition authorities may provide input to an anti-dumping
investigation in cases.  Such input could for instance  be relevant where there is a link with on-going or
concluded investigations carried out by competition authorities or where the imposition of any anti-
dumping measures might have significant consequences on the conditions of competition within the
EC.
                                                     
1 OJ L 18, 23.1.99 p.62
2 OJ L 208 2.8.97 p.31
3 OJ L 41, 12..02.94 p.50
4 OJ L 87; 21.3.98 p. 24
5 OJ L 84, 23.3.01, p. 36G/ADP/AHG/W/114
Page 4
Q10. Can representations from these groups resul t in the reduction of anti-dumping duties?
Reply
According to EC 's legislation and practice, public interest considerations as such and in
particular considerations from these groups do not have an impact on the level of the anti-dumping
measures.  The possible results of the application of the public interest test would be that either anti-
dumping measures are imposed or they are not imposed at all.
In fact, the level of anti-dumping measures results from the application of the lesser duty rule.
Q11./13.   Is not public interest a sovereign judgement?  Can not a sovereign determine that its
economy is best served by enforcement of Anti-Dumping laws?
Reply
The EC considers that decisions on the public interest test as well as decisions on the other
tests involved in anti-dumping investigations (i.e. dumping, injury and causation) are the result of the
application of the law.
Q12. May not the public interest lie in enforcement of Anti-Dumping laws?
Reply
Please refer to the EC's reply in question 5 above. In EC's practice, the assessment can also
lead to the clear conclusion that the enforcement th rough the imposition of measures is in the interest
of the EC.
Q14. Does consideration of public interest testimony allow for testimony of producers and
employees of the industries subject to alleged dumping?
Reply
Under EC anti-dumping legislation, domestic producers are considered as interested parties
and have therefore the right to provide information etc. provided they comply with the various
procedural requirements.  As to employees of the domestic industry, up to now we have not come
across a case where they wanted to participate in an AD investigation probably because they
considered their situation as already being sufficiently addressed by the submissions of theiremployers.  In any event, submissions of employees as those of all other interested parties would have
to be supported by actual evidence substantiating the validity of their claims.
Q15. To what extent is a public evaluation affect ed by the fact that th e duty is less than the
margin of dumping?
Reply
As mentioned above, the EC applies a lesser duty rule.  The application of the lesser duty rule
is, nevertheless, independent from the assessment of public interest in the EC.
Q16. In the context of lesser duty calculations, to what extent, if any, are competition
authorities allowed in the process?G/ADP/AHG/W/114
Page 5
Reply
Under EC anti-dumping legislation, there is no specific provision governing the intervention
of competition authorities in the context of lesser duty calculations.  In any event, our practice shows
that competition authorities never considered it opportune  to intervene in anti-dumping investigationsin this context.
Q17. To what extent, if any, are importers in  the investigation allowed to represent the
downstream consumer?
Reply
Under EC anti-dumping legislation, importers and their representative associations are also
considered as interested parties.  They are subject to and benefit from the same procedural rules as
other parties.
Importers are not allowed to represent downstream consumers under EC anti-dumping
legislation.  However, if they submit substantiated information concerning the likely impact of
measures on the situation of consumers, this information will be taken into consideration for the
purposes of the assessment of public interest in the EC.
As mentioned above, consumer organisations are of course entitled to intervene directly as
interested parties in the public interest investigati on if they demonstrate that there is an objective link
between the product under consideration and their activities.
__________