What action may be taken?

Australian Industry

Before any action may be taken against dumped or subsidised goods, the Australian industry concerned must demonstrate not only that there is dumping (or a subsidy) occurring but also that it has suffered material injury as a result. This is done through an application to the Australian Customs Service for an investigation into the facts of the case.

Where the industry's claims warrant an investigation, Customs will publicly notify the investigation. In addition, Customs will write to all known importers and exporters of the goods inviting their participation in the investigation.

Importers/exporters

In advising importers and exporters of the initiation of an investigation, Customs will also seek information on relevant import and export transactions. This information is required within 40 days of the commencement of the investigation.

Customs may visit the premises of the importers and exporters to undertake further investigations and verify the information provided.

Investigations with the exporter are concerned with assessing a normal value and establishing whether dumping or a subsidy exists. In the case of a subsidy, Customs also consults with the foreign government concerned.

Investigations with the importer are aimed at determining whether all costs are recovered in the sale of the imported goods in the Australian market.

How do I lodge an application?

You may wish to provide Customs with a draft application for a pre-lodgement documentation check. This is a service provided by Customs to advise applicants about the documentary completeness of an application before it is formally lodged. For further information on this service, please go to Pre lodgement documentation check guidelines (July 2009).

How will the investigation proceed?

Where dumped or subsidised imports cause (or threaten) material injury to an Australian industry producing like goods, an application can be made to have anti-dumping and or countervailing measured imposed.Once an application is lodged, Customs has up to 20 days to determine whether there is an Australian industry producing like goods to the allegedly dumped (or subsidised) goods and there are reasonable grounds for the publication of a dumping or countervailing duty notice. To assist you in understanding this process, please go to Guidelines for the examination of a formally lodged application (July 2009).

If there are reasonable grounds, Customs commences an investigation. Customs issues a public notice advising of the claims made by the applicants and the details of the investigation process.

Generally, Customs has up to 155 days to complete its investigation and report to the Minister. Generally, submissions from importers, exporters and any other interested parties are due within 40 days from the commencement of the investigation.

From day 60 of the investigation period, Customs may impose provisional measures (in the form of securities) on imports of the goods. This will only occur when there is sufficient verified information available. A statement of reasons - a Preliminary Affirmative Determination - would accompany such action.

On or before 110 days after the initiation of the investigation, Customs must issue a Statement of Essential Facts on which it proposes to base its report to the Minister. Interested parties will then have 20 days to respond and lodge submissions on matters of concern.

After consideration of the submissions received, Customs will report its conclusions and recommendations to the Minister before day 155 of the investigation. A non-confidential version of Customs report will be sent to all interested parties after the Minister's decision is announced.

How do I get help with an application?

The Branch can provide assistance to applicants for new measures; reviews or revocation of measures; continuation of measures; and, duty assessments. A link is provided below to the Liaison Function Statement that sets out our undertaking to provide this assistance. We also provide a range of fact sheets and guidelines for applicants.

Click on the links below for further information and for contact details.

Is there an appeal process?

Any appeal by an interested party against the Minister's decision must be lodged with the Trade Measures Review Officer within 30 days of the announcement. Other parties have a further 30 days in which to lodge submissions in response to the grounds of appeal. The Review Officer must make recommendations to the Minister within 60 days of the public notification of the review.

How do I lodge a Customs declaration on goods subject to measures?

When a declaration is submitted, ICS checks to see if the commodities are subject to any form of dumping or countervailing measures. It does this by checking a combination of tariff classification, statistical code and country code. If the goods are subject to measures ICS will require that either a DSN and a dumping export price (DXP) be entered or that an exemption type be selected.

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5717.asp modified: 12:01 PM 22 Sep 2009