Notice of Countervailing Duty Order and Amended Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta (``Pasta'') From Italy

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]

[Notices]

[Pages 38544-38545]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 96-18702]

[[Page 38543]]

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Part VI

Department of Commerce

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International Trade Administration

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Countervailing Duties: Certain Pasta From Italy and Turkey; Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 143 / Wednesday, July 24, 1996 /

Notices

[[Page 38544]]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-475-819]

Notice of Countervailing Duty Order and Amended Final Affirmative

Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta (``Pasta'') From Italy

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Hansen, Jennifer Yeske, Vincent

Kane, or Cynthia Thirumalai, Import Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, Room 3099, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20230; telephone (202) 482-1276, 482-0189, 482-2815,

or 482-4087, respectively.

Case History

On June 14, 1996, the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'')

published its final determination in the countervailing duty

investigation of pasta from Italy (61 FR 30288). We disclosed our

calculations for the final determination to counsel for respondents and

petitioners pursuant to their requests on June 5 through 28, 1996. None

of the responding or petitioning parties alleged ministerial errors on

the part of the Department.

Upon further review of the calculations of countervailable subsidy

rates, we discovered that ministerial errors were made in calculating

the countervailable subsidy rate for Delverde, S.r.l. (``Delverde'')

and Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata (``Tamma''), and the

countervailable subsidy rate for Industria Alimentare Colavita, S.p.A.

(``Indalco''). The ministerial errors also affect the all-others rate.

On July 17, 1996, the U.S. International Trade Commission (``ITC'')

notified us of its final determination that an industry in the United

States suffered material injury as a result of subsidized imports of

pasta from Italy.

Applicable Statute and Regulations

Unless otherwise indicated, all citations to the statute are

references to the provisions effective January 1, 1995, the effective

date of the amendments made to the Tariff Act of 1930 (``the Act'') by

the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

Scope of Order

The merchandise covered by this order is certain non-egg dry pasta

in packages of five pounds (or 2.27 kilograms) or less, whether or not

enriched or fortified or containing milk or other optional ingredients

such as chopped vegetables, vegetable purees, milk, gluten, diastases,

vitamins, coloring and flavorings, and up to two percent egg white. The

pasta covered by this scope is typically sold in the retail market, in

fiberboard or cardboard cartons or polyethylene or polypropylene bags,

of varying dimensions.

Excluded from the scope of this order are refrigerated, frozen, or

canned pastas, as well as all forms of egg pasta, with the exception of

non-egg dry pasta containing up to two percent egg white. Also excluded

are imports of organic pasta from Italy that are accompanied by the

appropriate certificate issued by the Associazione Marchigiana

Agricultura Biologica (AMAB) or by Bioagricoop scrl.

On July 9, 1996, after the date of our final countervailing duty

determination, Euro-USA Trading Co., Inc., of Pawcatuck, CT, submitted

materials to the Department supporting its request for an exclusion for

pasta certified to be ``organic pasta.'' Among the documents submitted

are a decree from the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

authorizing Bioagricoop scrl to certify foodstuffs as organic for the

implementation of EEC Regulation 2029/91. Also submitted is a letter

(with an accompanying translation into English) from the Director of

Controls of Processing and Marketing Firms at Bioargricoop stating that

the organization will take responsibility for its organic pasta

certificates and will supply and necessary documentation to U.S.

authorities. On this basis, imports of organic pasta from Italy that

are accompanied by the appropriate certificate issued by Bioagricoop

scrl are excluded from the scope of this order.

The merchandise covered by this order is currently classifiable

under items 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

States (``HTSUS''). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for

convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the scope

of this order is dispositive.

Ministerial Errors in Final Results of Investigation

We discovered ministerial errors in our calculations after the

publication of our final determination for the countervailing duty

investigation. The ministerial errors resulted from an error in the

application of the 0.5 percent test in the case of Delverde and Tamma,

and the use of an inappropriate sales denominator in the case of

Indalco, for calculations concerning certain industrial development

grants and loans received pursuant to Law 64/86 and predecessor laws.

The corrected countervailable subsidy rate for industrial development

grants received is 2.21 percent ad valorem for Delverde and Tamma and

0.46 percent ad valorem for Indalco. The corrected countervailable

subsidy rate for industrial development loans for Indalco is 0.07

percent ad valorem. For a further discussion of these ministerial

errors, a public version of the memorandum to file dated July 5, 1996,

is on file in the Central Records Unit in room B-099 in the main

Commerce Building.

The ministerial errors resulted in an increase in the final

countervailable subsidy rate for Delverde and Tamma, a decrease in the

final subsidy rate for Indalco, and an increase in the final

countervailable subsidy rate for producers and exporters of pasta from

Italy which are subject to the all-others rate. The corrected

countervailable subsidy rates are published in the Countervailing Duty

Order section of this notice, below.

Countervailing Duty Order

On July 17, 1996, pursuant to section 705(d) of the Act, the ITC

notified the Department that an industry in the United States is

materially injured by imports of the subject merchandise from Italy

within the meaning of section 705(b)(1)(A) of the Act. Therefore,

countervailing duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of

pasta from Italy entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on

or after October 17, 1995, the date on which the Department published

its preliminary countervailing duty determination in the Federal

Register, and before February 14, 1996, the date the Department

instructed the U.S. Customs Service to terminate the suspension of

liquidation in accordance with section 703(d) of the Act, and on all

entries and withdrawals made on or after the date of publication of

this countervailing duty order in the Federal Register. Section 703(d)

states that the suspension of liquidation pursuant to a preliminary

determination may not remain in effect for more than four months.

Entries of pasta made on or after February 14, 1996, and prior to the

date of publication of this order in the Federal Register are not

liable for the assessment of countervailing duties due to the

Department's termination, effective February 14, 1996, of the

suspension of liquidation.

In accordance with section 706 of the Act, the Department will

direct United

[[Page 38545]]

States Customs officers to reinstate suspension of liquidation an to

assess, upon further advice by the administering authority pursuant to

section 706(a)(1) of the Act, countervailing duties for each entry of

the subject merchandise in an amount based on the net countervailable

subsidy rate for the subject merchandise.

On or after the date of publication of this notice in the Federal

Register, U.S. Customs officers must require, at the same time as

importers would normally deposit estimated duties on this merchandise,

a cash deposit equal to the countervailable subsidy rates as noted

below. The ad valorem countervailable subsidy rates are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad

Company valorem

rate

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Agritalia, S.r.l............................................. 2.55

Arrighi S.p.A. Industrie Alimentari.......................... 2.44

Barilla G. e R. F.lli S.p.A.................................. 0.65

De Matteis Agroalimentare S.p.A.............................. 2.47

Delverde, S.r.l.............................................. 5.90

F.lli De Cecco di Filippo Fara S. Martino S.p.A.............. 3.37

Gruppo Agricoltura Sana S.r.L................................ 0.00

Industria Alimentare Colavita, S.p.A......................... 2.04

Isola del Grano S.r.L........................................ 11.23

Italpast S.p.A............................................... 11.23

Italpasta S.r.L.............................................. 2.44

La Molisana Alimentari S.p.A.,............................... 4.17

Labor S.r.L.................................................. 11.23

Molino e Pastificio De Cecco S.p.A. Pescara.................. 3.37

Pastificio Guido Ferrara..................................... 1.21

Pastificio Campano, S.p.A.................................... 2.59

Pastificio Riscossa F.lli Mastromauro S.r.L.................. 6.91

Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata..................... 5.90

All Others................................................... 3.85

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ``All Others'' rate applies to all exporters and producers of

pasta from Italy not specifically listed.

Since the estimated net countervailable subsidy rate for Barilla G.

e R. F.lli S.p.A. (``Barilla'') and Gruppo Agricoltura Sana S.r.L.

(``Gruppo'') is either zero or de minimis, these companies are excluded

from the application of the countervailing duty order on pasta from

Italy. Pursuant to section 705(c)(3) of the Act, we are instructing the

U.S. Customs Service to liquidate all pasta from Italy entered or

withdrawn from warehouse for consumption by Barilla between October 17,

1995 and February 14, 1996, and to proceed with liquidation of

merchandise from Barilla and Gruppo which enter the United States on or

after the date of publication of this countervailing duty order in the

Federal Register without regard to countervailing duties. Additionally,

we are instructing the U.S. Customs Service that any cash deposit or

bond collected with respect to countervailing duties on pasta from

Barilla should be released or refunded. Gruppo was assigned a zero

margin in our preliminary determination, and, accordingly, was excluded

from the suspension of liquidation which resulted from our preliminary

determination.

This notice serves as a reminder to parties subject to

administrative protective order (APO) of their responsibility

concerning the disposition of proprietary information disclosed under

APO in accordance with 19 CFR 355.34(d). Timely written notification of

return/destruction of APO materials or conversion to judicial

protective order is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the

regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

This notice constitutes the countervailing duty order with respect

to pasta from Italy. Interested parties may contact the Central Records

Unit, room B-099 of the main Commerce Building, for copies of an

updated list of countervailing duty orders currently in effect.

This notice of amendment of final determination and countervailing

duty order is published in accordance with sections 705 (d) and (e) and

706(a) of the Act.

Dated: July 17, 1996.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-18702 Filed 7-23-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P