Dumping and Countervailing Administration

This output covers the investigation of dumping and countervailing complaints, the determination, implementation and review of appropriate anti-dumping measures. It also covers the provision of advice to industry and foreign governments, and maintenance of Australia's policy and legislative framework for anti-dumping and countervailing.

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT:

The past year has seen a continuous focus on improving processes and procedures. Customs has reviewed many of its practices in light of the practices of other major users of the WTO anti-dumping system. Customs also sought independent legal and accounting advice and encouraged and supported staff in maintaining their professional accreditation qualifications.

Figure 28: Performance Against Targets set in the 1999-2000 PBS - Output 5

Quantity/Quality Performance Measures			Target*	Actual
Quality
Proportion of anti-dumping/countervailing cases & reviews		Cases#	100%	47%
completed within 155 days		reviews	100%	100%
Quantity
Number of anti-dumping/countervailing:
	New cases		**	14
	Reviews initiated		** ^	12
	Cases terminated		**	-
	Cases withdrawn		**	15
	Cases rejected		**	5
	Appeals to the Federal court		**	2
Price			$5.7m	$5.0m
* ** ^ #	Targets may be performance targets, service level targets or workload estimates. Performance targets cannot be estimated. Target in the PBS was misstated as 1 instead of 'Performance target cannot be estimated'. Refers to cases finalised within 1999-2000 but not necessarily initiated within that same financial year. Explanation of actual performance is detailed.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) conducted a review of the dumping system under the new legislation. The audit focused on three cases: carpet backing from five countries, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from four countries and A4 copy paper from one country. PWC found no instances of deficiencies in the professionalism, standard and consistency of reporting and that overall case management was functioning adequately. However, PWC recommended improvements in risk management, documentation management and resource management. These issues have been built into the work plan for 2000-2001.

PWC was engaged independently to comment on the accounting and finance aspects of the important working papers, such as normal value reports and issues papers, relating to A4 copy paper. PWC endorsed Customs approach.

Blake Dawson Waldron was also engaged to comment on the approach taken by Customs on a range of technical legal issues in relation to establishing normal values in countries where the economy was said to be in crisis.

Advice to Government on the Application and Administration of Trade Measures

Figure 29: Dumping Workload Information, 30 June 2000

		1997-1998	1998-1999	1999-2000
New cases initiated *		36	18	14
Reviews initiated #		8	8	12
Continuation inquiries initiated ^		-	8	-
Assessments lodged +		10	6	5
Cases withdrawn/rejected/terminated @		30	23	20
	withdrawn prior to initiation	25	13	15
	withdrawn after initiation	1	-	-
	terminated after initiation	4	2	-
	rejected prior to initiation	-	8	5
*	Where dumping and subsidisation are alleged for the same country and commodity, they are counted as separate cases.
#	Reviews of normal values and non-injurious prices for the same country and commodity are defined as two reviews.
^	This function formerly performed by the Anti Dumping Authority.
+	Means Interim Duty refund applications.
@	Cases withdrawn or rejected may have been initiated following re-lodgement.

In the cases where the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF) was not issued on day 110, an extension had been granted by the Minister (usually of one month, although in an exceptional case, a period of four months). An extension to the due date for SEF automatically extends, by the same period, the due date for reports to the Minister.

Extensions were sought for a variety of reasons including: implications of holiday periods in the country of export, the complexity of the case, the requirements of the Australian industry, verification problems as a result of incomplete cooperation from some exporters and the extension of a case to include an exporter who had previously been covered by a price undertaking.

However, Customs noted an improvement in case management in comparison with the 1998-1999. The improvement was attributed to the stabilisation of the new dumping system and increased administrative and technical support.

Review and Litigation

Two CEO decisions were appealed to the Trade Measures Review Officer (TMRO). The first decision not to initiate an investigation was confirmed by the TMRO. The second decision is still pending.

The Federal Court handed down two rulings in relation to anti-dumping matters. The Court upheld Customs treatment of due allowance adjustments in establishing normal value for a Saudi Arabian exporter of carpet backing.

In the other case, the Court ruled that a price undertaking given by an Indonesian exporter of A4 copy paper had expired and therefore Customs decision to review that undertaking was invalid.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Customs took positive steps to reduce the number of extensions sought. The exporter's questionnaire was considerably expanded and made more user-friendly, leading to a more efficient and effective use of the data supplied. During 2000-2001, the application form will be reviewed, which should improve the assessment of injury being suffered by Australian industry.

Economies in transition legislation came into effect on 1 July 1999. The new legislation provided additional options to determine normal value in economies that are considered to be in transition from centrally-planned to market. Two cases involving economies in transition were initiated during the year: cement from China (among other countries) and ammonium nitrate from Russia. Outcomes of these investigations will become apparent during 2000-2001.

During the year, discussions were held with the Australian industry task force on policy and procedural issues. The task force was consulted in the formulation of a proposed amendment to the regulations that will govern procedures to determine the production costs of related parties and vertically integrated producers. Additionally, Customs discussed a range of issues with a new group comprising the major importers and users of paper product.

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