The Gazette 1987

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1987

causing injury i.e. causing or threatening to cause material injury to an established Community industry or material retarding the establishment of such an industry." In his opinion to the Court in the Ball Bearings case [1979] ECR 1212, Advocate General Wannt stated that " I n j u r y " is an "economic question not readily open to judicial review". The Commission "Guide to the European Communities Anti- dumping and Countervailing Legislation states at article 12: "Community interest may cover a wide range of factors but the most important are the interest of consumers and processors of the imported product and the need to have regard to the competitive situation within the Community market." Article 13 of the Regulation Article 13ssl states: "anti-dumping or counter- vailing duties whether provisional or definitive shall be imposed by regulation." Sub-section 4 (a) stipulates that "Anti-dumping and counter- vailing duties shall be neither imposed nor increased with retroactive effect (writer's emphasis). However, ss 4 (b) does empower (c) The Existence of e Community Interest

against "the illicit commercial practices" of third countries in the context of GATT.

the Council in certain circumstances e.g. where there is a history of dumping, sporadic dumping, where "injury which is difficult to repair is caused by massive imports in a relatively short time", or "in the case of violation of an undertaking". Regulation 1761 / 87 has extended the scope of Article 13 by introducing a new sub-section 10. Paragraph 10 (a) stipulates that " de f i n i t i ve anti-dumping duties may be imposed by way of derogation from the second sentence of paragraph 4 (a) on products that are introduced into the commerce of the Community after having been assembled or produced in the Community (writer's emphasis) provided that assembly or production is carried out by a party which is related or associated to any of the manufacturers whose exports of the like product are subject to a definitive anti- dumping duty (writer's emphasis), the assembly or production operation was started or substantially increased (writer's emphasis) after the opening of the anti- dumping investigation, the value of parts or materials used in the assembly or production operation and originating in the country of exportation of the product subject to the anti-dumping duty exceeds the value of all other parts or materials used by at least 50%."

Determining the incidence of Anti-Dumping The Regulation is the basic instrument on the protection against dumped or subsidised imports from countries outside the E.C. The preamble places the Regulation firmly in an international context, stating that the anti- dumping rules "are adopted in accordance wi th existing international obligations in particular those arising from Article VI of the General Agreement on Tarrifs and Trade." In order to proceed to anti- dumping the Community must satisfy itself of: (a) The existence of Dumping; (b) The existence of an Injury; (c) The existence of a Community Interest e.g. serious threat to a Community industry, requiring intervention. (a) The existence of Dumping The Regulation, article 2 states: " A product shall be considered to have been dumped if its export price to the Community is less than the normal value of the like product." A reading of the article indicates that four matters have to be established in order to determine that dumping has taken place: (1) The determination of normal value; (2) the determination of export price; (3) the comparison of normal value and export price; (4) the assessment of the dumping margin. These criteria can often be measured wi t hout too much difficulty when dealing wi th products from say Japan. However, problems can arise where products from a non-market economy, e.g. Poland or Czechoslovakia are concerned. (b) The Existence of Injury Article 4 ssl of the Regulation states: "determination of injury shall be made only if the dumped or subsidised imports are through the e f f ec ts of dumping or subsidisation

THE SIMON COMMUNITY helps the homeless in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk and Galway. Services provided include soup-run, shelter, visiting, and residential homes. You can help by giving a donation, supporting our shops (we take clothes, shoes, household items, books), or by becoming a volunteer. Further details are available, from:-

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