Notice of Antidumping Duty Order and Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Italy

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[A-475-818]

Notice of Antidumping Duty Order and Amended Final Determination

of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Italy

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brinkmann at (202) 482-5288,

Jennifer Katt at (202) 482-0498, or Greg Thompson (202) 482-3003,

Office of Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Enforcement, Import

Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20230.

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 by the Uruguay

Round Agreements Act (URAA).

Amended Final Determination

In accordance with section 735(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as

amended (the Act), on June 3, 1996, the Department made its final

determination that certain pasta (pasta) from Italy is being, or is

likely to be, sold in the United States at less than fair value (61 FR

30287 (June 14, 1996)). Subsequent to the final determination, we

received submissions, timely filed pursuant to 19 CFR 353.28(b), from

La Molisana Industrie Alimentari S.p.A. (La Molisana), Pastificio

Fratelli Pagani S.p.A. (Pagani), and De Matteis Agroalimentare S.p.A.

(De Matteis), alleging ministerial errors in the Department's final

determination for these respondents. We also received submissions from

Borden Inc., Hershey Foods Corp., and Gooch Foods, Inc. (collectively

the petitioners) alleging ministerial errors in the Department's final

determination for Arrighi S.p.A. Industrie Alimentari (Arrighi) and its

affiliate, Italpasta S.p.A. (Italpasta), Delverde, SrL (Delverde)

including its affiliate Tamma Industrie Alimentari di Capitanata, SrL

(Tamma), and Pagani. The parties filed comments to the

[[Page 38548]]

clerical error allegations on June 21, 27, and July 1, 1996.

We determine, in accordance with 19 CFR 353.28(d), that ministerial

errors were made in our margin calculations for Arrighi and Pagani.

Specifically, our calculation of Arrighi's cost of production failed to

fully capture the semolina cost of affiliated suppliers. In the case of

Pagani, our calculation incorrectly included the amount reported in the

field old discount (OLDDISU) when calculating U.S. credit and discount

expenses, and also understated certain general administrative expenses.

Additionally, in preparing the recalculation for the ministerial error

described above, we noted two minor inadvertent errors in the

programming for Pagani which were not noted by either the petitioners

or the respondents. For a detailed discussion of the above-cited

ministerial errors and the Department's analysis, see Memorandum from

Case Analysts to Barbara R. Stafford, dated July 8, 1996. In accordance

with 19 CFR 353.28(c), we are amending the final determination of the

antidumping duty investigation of pasta from Italy to correct these

ministerial errors. The revised final weighted-average dumping margins

are as follows:

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

Manufacturer/producer/

exporter Original margin percentage Revised margin percentage

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

Arrighi/Italpasta........... 20.24................................... 21.34

De Cecco.................... 46.67 (facts available)................. 46.67 (facts available)

De Matteis.................. 0.67 (de minimis)....................... 0.67 (de minimis)

Delverde/Tamma.............. 2.80.................................... 2.80

La Molisana................. 14.78................................... 14.78

Liguori..................... 12.41................................... 12.41

Pagani...................... 12.90................................... 18.30

All Others.................. 11.21................................... 12.09

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

Scope of Order

The scope of this order consists of 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 antidumping 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 the 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 under 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

investigation is dispositive.

Antidumping Duty Order

On July 17, 1996, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the

U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) notified the Department that

the U.S. pasta industry is materially injured by imports of pasta from

Italy. Therefore, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, the

Department will direct United States Customs officers to assess, upon

further advice by the administering authority pursuant to section

736(a)(1) of the Act, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which

the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price or

constructed export price for all entries of pasta from Italy. These

antidumping duties will be assessed on all unliquidated entries of

pasta from Italy entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption

on or after January 19, 1996, the date on which the Department

published its preliminary determination notice in the Federal Register

(61 FR 1347). 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, the following

cash deposits for the subject merchandise:

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

Revised

Manufacturer/producer/exporter margin

percentage

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

Arrighi/Italpasta........................................... 21.34

De Cecco.................................................... 46.67

De Matteis.................................................. 0.00

Delverde/Tamma.............................................. 2.80

La Molisana................................................. 14.78

Liguori..................................................... 12.41

Pagani...................................................... 18.30

All Others.................................................. 12.09

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

Article VI (5) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947)

prohibits assessing dumping duties on the portion of the margin

attributable to an export subsidy. In this case, the product under

investigation is subject to a countervailing duty investigation (see

Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination: Certain Pasta from

Italy (61 FR 30288 (June 14, 1996)). Therefore, for all entries of

pasta from Italy, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption

made on or after the date on which the order in the companion

countervailing duty investigation is published in the Federal Register,

we will request for duty deposit purposes, that United States Customs

deduct the portion of the margin attributable to the export subsidy

from the countervailing duty investigation. The cash deposit rates for

antidumping purposes will be as follows:

[[Page 38549]]

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

Cash

Manufacturer/producer/exporter deposit

rate

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

Arrighi/Italpasta.............................................. 19.09

De Cecco....................................................... 46.67

De Matteis..................................................... 0.00

Delverde/Tamma................................................. 1.68

La Molisana.................................................... 14.73

Liguori........................................................ 12.41

Pagani......................................................... 18.30

All Others..................................................... 11.26

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

This notice constitutes the antidumping duty order with respect to

pasta from Italy, pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested

parties may contact the Central Records Unit, Room B-099 of the Main

Commerce Building, for copies of an updated list of antidumping duty

orders currently in effect.

This order is published pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act (19

U.S.C. 1673e (a)) and 19 CFR 353.21.

Dated: July 17, 1996.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-18705 Filed 7-23-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P