Notice of Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Turkey

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[A-489-805]

Notice of Amended Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than

Fair Value: Certain Pasta From Turkey

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 20, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brinkmann or Michelle Frederick,

Office of Antidumping Investigations, Import Administration,

International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone:

(202) 482-5288 or (202) 482-0186, respectively.

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 Rounds Agreements Act

(URAA).

Scope of Investigation

The scope of this investigation 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 investigation 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.

The merchandise under investigation is currently classifiable under

item 1902.19.20 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and

customs purposes, our written description of the scope of this

investigation is dispositive.

Case History

On December 14, 1995, the Department of Commerce (the Department)

made its affirmative preliminary determination of sales at less than

fair value (Preliminary Determination) in the above-referenced

investigation (61 FR 1351, January 19, 1996). On January 18 and 19,

1996, we disclosed our calculations for the preliminary determination

to the respondents, Filiz Gida Sanayii ve Ticaret (Filiz) and Maktas

Makarnacilik ve Ticaret T.A.S (Maktas), and to the petitioners,

respectively, pursuant to their requests. On January 25, 1996, we

received a submission from the petitioners alleging ministerial errors

in the Department's preliminary determination calculations. The

respondents, in their January 26, 1996, submission alleged that the

Department made a ministerial error by failing to include appropriate

language instructing Customs to limit the duration of provisional

measures to four months.

For both Filiz and Maktas, the petitioners alleged two ministerial

errors. First, the petitioners alleged that the Department understated

U.S. packing expenses by mistakenly converting the expenses from

Turkish lira to U.S. dollars twice. Second, the petitioners alleged

that the Department inadvertently omitted selling expenses from its

calculation of an amount for profit included in constructed value (CV).

With regard to U.S. packing expenses, we agree that the error as

alleged by the petitioners constitutes a ministerial error within the

meaning of 19 CFR 353.28(d). With regard to the petitioners' allegation

concerning the calculation of CV profit, we disagree that the error

alleged by the petitioners is a ministerial error. The Department in

its margin programs correctly calculated the amount for CV profit for

both respondents. (For specific details of these allegations and our

analysis of them, see Memorandum from the Team to Barbara R. Stafford

dated February 6, 1996.) With regard to the respondents' allegation

concerning provisional measures, we have determined that their

allegation does not constitute a ministerial error. For further

discussion on this issue, see Memorandum from Marguerite Trossevin to

Susan G. Esserman dated February 7, 1996.

Amendment of Preliminary Determination

The Department has stated that it will amend a preliminary

determination only to correct for significant ministerial errors (i.e.,

corrections that result in a difference of at least 5 absolute

percentage points and that are at least 25 percent greater or less than

the preliminary margin, and corrections resulting in a margin of zero

or de minimis). See Notice of Amendment to Preliminary Determination of

Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Postponement of Final Determination:

Bicycles From

[[Page 6349]]

the People's Republic of China, 60 FR 64016 (December 13, 1995).

Given the facts of this investigation, as noted above, we are

amending Filiz's and Maktas' preliminary dumping margins to correct for

the ministerial error regarding U.S. packing expenses, since the

correction of this ministerial error results in a difference of at

least five absolute percentage points and is at least 25 percent

greater than the preliminary margin. The corrected dumping margins for

Filiz and Maktas are 34.04 and 45.84 percent, respectively. As a result

the ``All Others'' rate is now 41.33 percent.

Suspension of Liquidation

In accordance with section 733(d)(2) of the Act, we are directing

the Customs Service to continue to suspend liquidation of all entries

of pasta from Turkey that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for

consumption on or after the date of publication of this amended

preliminary determination notice in the Federal Register. As discussed

in the Preliminary Determination, we are subtracting for deposit

purposes, the rate attributable to the export subsidies found in the

concurrent countervailing duty investigation (14.72 percent and 19.80

percent for Filiz and Maktas, respectively) from the antidumping margin

percentages for Filiz and Maktas. The ``All Others'' deposit rate is

based on subtracting the rate attributable to the export subsidies

included in the countervailing duty investigation for those companies

that are respondents in the antidumping investigation and that are

found to have dumping margins. In keeping with Article 17.4 of the WTO

Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the Department will

terminate the suspension of liquidation in the companion countervailing

duty investigation of Certain Pasta From Turkey, effective February 14,

1996, which is 120 days after the date of publication of the

preliminary determination. Accordingly, on February 14, 1996, the

antidumping deposit rate will revert to the full amount calculated in

this amended preliminary determination. These suspension of liquidation

instructions will remain in effect until further notice.

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Original

Manufacturer/producer/exporter margin Revised margin Deposit

percentages percentages percentages

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Filiz........................................................... 10.44 34.04 19.32

Maktas.......................................................... 18.80 45.84 26.04

All Others...................................................... 15.61 41.33 23.41

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ITC Notification

In accordance with section 733(f) of the Act, we have notified the

International Trade Commission of our amended preliminary

determination.

This amended preliminary determination is published in accordance

with section 733(f) of the Act.

Dated: February 12, 1996.

Susan G. Esserman,

Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 96-3618 Filed 2-16-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P