Commission Regulation (EC) No 88/97 of 20 January 1997 on the authorization of the exemption of imports of certain bicycle parts originating in the People's Republic of China from the extension by Council Regulation (EC) No 71/97 of the anti-dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93

• CELEX: Regulation (EC) No 88/97
• Articles: 19

Article 1

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation:

- 'bicycle parts` means bicycle parts and accessories falling within CN codes 8714 91 10 to 8714 99 90,

- 'extended duty` means the anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EEC) No 2474/93, as extended by Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 71/97 (hereinafter 'the Reference Regulation`),

- 'essential bicycle parts` means the bicycle parts defined in Article 1 of the Reference Regulation,

- 'assembly operation` means an operation in which essential bicycle parts are brought in for the assembly or completion of bicycles,

- 'request` means any step taken by a party carrying out assembly operations with a view to obtaining authorization for exemption from the Commission pursuant to Article 3,

- 'party under examination` means a party carrying out assembly operations in respect of which an examination has been initiated pursuant to Article 4 (5) or Article 11 (1), and

- 'exempted party` means any party whose assembly operations have been found to fall outside the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 and which has been exempted pursuant to Article 7 or 12 of this Regulation.

Article 2

Exemption of imports from the extended duty

1. Imports of essential bicycle parts shall be exempt from the extended duty where:

- they are declared for free circulation by, or on behalf of, an exempted party, or

- they are declared for free circulation under the provisions on end-use control in Article 14.

2. Imports of essential bicycle parts shall be provisionally exempted from the payment of the extended duty where they are declared for free circulation by, or on behalf of, a party under examination.

Article 3

Request for exemption

1. Requests shall be made in writing in one of the official languages of the Community and must be signed by a person authorized to represent the applicant. The request must be sent to the following address:

European Commission,

Directorate-General for External Economic Relations,

Unit I/C-3,

CORT 100 4/59,

Rue de la Loi/Weststraat 200,

B-1049 Brussels;

Fax No: (32-2) 295 65 05.

2. Upon receipt of a request, the Commission shall immediately inform the applicant and the Member States.

Article 4

Admissibility of requests

1. A request shall be admissible where:

(a) it contains evidence that the applicant is using essential bicycle parts for the production or assembly of bicycles in quantities above the threshold set out in Article 14 (c) or that he has entered into a irrevocable contractual obligation to do so;

(b) it provides prima facie evidence that the applicant's assembly operations fall outside the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96; and

(c) the applicant has not, within the 12 months preceding the request, been refused authorization of exemption pursuant to Article 7 (3) or (4), or had an exemption revoked pursuant to Article 10.

2. A reasonable period may be prescribed for the submission of any additional information required for the determination of the admissibility of a request. Where such evidence is not forthcoming within the period specified, the request shall be considered inadmissible.

3. The admissibility of a request which is duly substantiated pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall normally be determined within 45 days of its receipt. The applicant shall first be given an opportunity to comment on the Commission's conclusions as to the admissibility of the request.

4. Where a request is held inadmissible, it shall, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be rejected by a Decision.

5. Where a request is held admissible, an examination shall be initiated immediately and the applicant and the Member States shall be notified.

Article 5

Suspension of payment of the duties

1. As from the date of receipt of a request complying with the conditions set out in Article 3 (1) and pending a decision on its merits pursuant to Articles 6 and 7, payment of the customs debt in respect of the extended duty pursuant to Article 2 (1) of the Reference Regulation shall be suspended in respect of any imports of essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by the party under examination.

2. The competent authorities of the Member States may make the suspension of payment of the extended duty subject to the provision of a security to guarantee payment of the extended duty in the event that the request is subsequently held inadmissible pursuant to Article 4 (4) or rejected pursuant to Article 7 (3) or (4).

Article 6

Examination of the request

1. In conducting its examination, the Commission may, where appropriate, request additional information from the applicant and/or carry out on-the-spot verifications. The examination will normally cover a period of not less than six months prior to the receipt of the request.

2. Any party under examination shall ensure that, at any time, essential bicycle parts which it declares for free circulation are either used in its assembly operations, destroyed, or re-exported. It shall keep records of the essential bicycle parts delivered to it - and of the use made of them. These records shall be retained for at least three years. The records and any necessary additional evidence and information shall be communicated to the Commission upon request.

3. The examination of the merits of a request shall normally be concluded within twelve months after notification pursuant to Article 4 (5).

4. Before a decision is adopted pursuant to Article 7, the applicant shall be informed of the Commission's conclusions on the merits of the request and shall be given an opportunity to comment thereon.

Article 7

Decision

1. Where the facts as finally ascertained show that the applicant's assembly operations do not fall within the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96, the applicant's exemption from the extended duty shall be authorized, after consultation of the Advisory Committee.

2. The decision shall have retroactive effect as from the date of receipt of the request. The applicant's customs debt pursuant to Article 2 (1) of the Reference Regulation shall be considered void from that date.

3. Where the criteria for exemption are not fulfilled, the request shall, after consultation of the Advisory Committee, be rejected and the suspension of the payment of the extended duty referred to in Article 5 shall be lifted.

4. Any breach of obligations under Article 6 (2) or any false declaration relating to a decision may constitute a reason for rejecting the request.

Article 8

Obligations of exempted parties

1. An exempted party shall ensure that, at all times:

(a) its assembly operations remain outside the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96;

(b) where it receives deliveries of essential bicycle parts which have been exempted from the extended duty pursuant to Article 2, those parts are either used in its assembly operations, destroyed, re-exported, or resold to another exempted party.

2. An exempted party shall keep records of the essential bicycle parts of which it receives deliveries and of the use made of them. It shall retain those records and appropriate supporting evidence for at least three years. Those records shall be made available to the Commission on request.

Article 9

Review

1. The Commission may on its own initiative review the situation of an exempted party to verify that its assembly operations remain outside the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 384/96.

2. A review shall consist of an examination covering a period which may be shorter than six months.

Article 10

Revocation of an exemption

An exemption shall be revoked, after the exempted party has been given an opportunity to comment, and after consultation of the Advisory Committee:

- where a review has shown that the exempted party's assembly operations fall within the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96,

- in the event of breach of the party's obligations pursuant to Article 8 (2), or

- in the event of lack of cooperation after the adoption of the exemption decision.

Article 11

Pending requests

1. The requests of the parties listed in Annex I are admissible and examinations pursuant to Article 6 are hereby initiated.

2. The date of receipt within the meaning of Article 5 (1) of the requests referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

3. Pending a decision on the merits of the requests of the parties listed in Annex I, the payment of the customs debt incurred for the extended duty pursuant to Article 2 of the Reference Regulation shall be suspended with effect from the date of the entry into force of that Regulation.

4. Decisions pursuant to Article 7 (2) in respect of the parties listed in Annex I shall have retroactive effect as from 20 April 1996. The applicant's customs debts in respect of the extended duty shall therefore be considered void from that date.

Article 12

Parties exempted by this Regulation

The parties listed in Annex II are hereby exempted from the extended duty with effect form 20 April 1996.

Article 13

Procedural provisions

The relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 concerning:

- the conduct of investigations (Article 6 (2), (3), (4) and (5)),

- verification visits (Article 16),

- non-cooperation (Article 18), and

- confidentiality (Article 19),

shall apply to examinations pursuant to this Regulation.

Article 14

Exemption subject to end-use control

Where imports of essential bicycle parts are declared for free circulation by a person other than an exempted party, as from the date of entry into force of the Reference Regulation, they shall be exempted from the application of the extended duty if declared in accordance with the Taric structure in Annex III and subject to the conditions laid down in Article 82 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 and Articles 291 to 304 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, which shall be applicable mutatis mutandis, where:

(a) the essential bicycle parts are delivered to a party exempted pursuant to Articles 7 or 12; or

(b) the essential bicycle parts are delivered to another holder of an authorization within the meaning of Article 291 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93; or

(c) on a monthly basis, less than 300 units per type of essential bicycle parts are either declared for free circulation by a party or are delivered to it. The number of parts declared by or delivered to any party shall be calculated by reference to the number of parts declared by or delivered to all parties which are associated with or have compensatory arrangements with that party.

Article 15

Special provision for parties receiving de minimis deliveries

1. The Commission or the competent authorities of the Member States may decide, on their own initiative, to examine parties which declare essential bicycle parts for free circulation or receive deliveries pursuant to Article 14 (c).

2. Where the parties referred to in paragraph 1 are found to have declared for free circulation or received deliveries of quantities of essential bicycle parts above the threshold set out in Article 14 (c), or where they fail to co-operate with the examination, they shall no longer be presumed to fall outside the scope of Article 13 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96. After the party concerned has been given an opportunity to comment, those findings shall be notified to the competent authorities of the Member States.

3. Where the parties referred to in paragraph 1 abused Article 14 (c) in order to circumvent the extended duty, the extended duty not levied on any essential bicycle parts declared for free circulation by those parties or delivered to them after the entry into force of this Regulation may be reclaimed.

Article 16

Exchange of information

1. The particulars of parties in respect of which an examination has been initiated pursuant to Article 4 or in respect of which a decision has been taken pursuant to Articles 7 or 10 shall be communicated to the competent authorities of the Member States.

2. A notice will be published, from time to time as appropriate, containing updated lists of parties under examination and exempted parties, which will also be communicated forthwith to any interested party upon demand.

3. The competent authorities of the Member States shall communicate to the Commission within one month after the end of each quarter summary information with regard to exempted parties in accordance with the format set out in Annex IV.

Article 17

Provisions on customs duties

Unless otherwise specified, the provisions concerning customs duties shall apply.

Article 18

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 January 1997.

For the Commission

Leon BRITTAN

Vice-President

(1) OJ No L 56, 6. 3. 1996, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 317, 6. 12. 1996, p. 1.

(3) OJ No L 16, 18. 1. 1997, p. 55.

(4) OJ No L 228, 9. 9. 1993, p. 1.

(5) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1.

(6) OJ No L 253, 11. 10. 1993, p. 1.

(7) OJ No L 9, 13. 1. 1997, p. 1.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX I

PARTIES UNDER EXAMINATION

(Taric additional code: 8962)

>TABLE>

ANNEX II

EXEMPTED PARTIES

(Taric additional code: 8963)

>TABLE>

ANNEX III

TARIC STRUCTURE

>TABLE>

ANNEX IV

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Information format

END-USE CONTROL CONCERNING BICYCLE PARTS FROM CHINA

IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULATION (EC) No 88/97 (1)

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