Red Raspberries From Canada; Preliminary Results of New Shipper Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[A-122-401]

Red Raspberries From Canada; Preliminary Results of New Shipper

Antidumping Duty Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,

Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of preliminary results of new shipper review antidumping

duty administrative review.

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SUMMARY: In response to a request from one exporter/processor,

Berryhill Foods, Inc. (Berryhill), the Department of Commerce (the

Department) is conducting a new shipper administrative review of the

antidumping duty order on red raspberries from Canada. The review

covers sales during the period June 1, 1995 through May 31, 1996. We

have preliminarily determined that Berryhill sold subject merchandise

at less than normal value (NV) during the period of review. Interested

parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. Parties

who submit argument in this proceeding are requested to submit with the

argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the

argument.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 17, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Doyle, Lisa Yarbrough or Abdelai

Elouaradia, AD/CVD Enforcement, Group III, Import Administration,

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

Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20230;

telephone: (202) 482-3793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 (URAA). In addition, unless otherwise

indicated, all citations to the Department's regulations are to the

current regulations, as amended by the interim regulations published in

the Federal Register on May 11, 1995 (60 FR 25130).

Background

By letter dated June 28, 1996, Berryhill requested a new shipper

review pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act and 19 CFR 353.22(h)

of the Department's interim regulations, which govern determinations of

antidumping duties for new shippers. These provisions state that, among

other requirements, a producer or exporter requesting a new shipper

review must include with its request the date on which the merchandise

was first entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, or, if

it cannot certify as to the date of first entry, the date on which it

first shipped the merchandise for export to the United States (interim

regulations, section 353.22(h)(2)(i)).

Berryhill provided a certification identifying the first date of

shipment of subject merchandise to the United States. In addition, in

accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B)(i), Berryhill certified that it is

not affiliated with any other firm nor did it export subject

merchandise to the United States during the period of investigation.

Based on this information, we determined that the requirements cited

above were adequately fulfilled.

On September 11, 1996, the Department published a notice of

initiation of a new shipper review of Berryhill (61 FR 47872). The

Department is now conducting this review in accordance with section 751

of the Act and section 353.22 of its interim regulations.

Scope of the Agreement

The products covered by this order are shipments of fresh and

frozen red raspberries packed in bulk containers and suitable for

further processing. These products are currently classifiable under the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) item numbers

0810.20.90, 0810.20.10, and 0811.20.20. The HTS item numbers are

provided for convenience and Customs purposes. The written description

remains dispositive.

Verification

As provided in section 776(b) of the Act, we conducted verification

of information provided by the respondent by using standard

verification procedures, including on-site inspection of the

respondent's facilities, the examination of relevant sales and

financial records, and selection of original documentation containing

relevant information. Our verification results are outlined in the

public version of the verification report.

Export Price

We calculated the export price (EP) based on the price from

Berryhill to unaffiliated parties where these sales were made prior to

importation into the United States, in accordance with section 772(a)

of the Act. We calculated EP based on packed, F.O.B. cold storage

prices to unaffiliated purchasers in the United States. We made

deductions, where appropriate, for inland freight, brokerage and

handling, U.S. Customs duties, and pre-sale warehouse expense, in

accordance with section 772(c)(2) of the Act. No other adjustments were

claimed or allowed.

We calculated the constructed export price (CEP) based on the price

from Berryhill to unaffiliated purchasers where these sales were made

after importation into the United States, in accordance with section

772(b) of the Act. We calculated CEP based on packed, F.O.B. U.S. cold

storage prices to unaffiliated purchasers in the United States. We made

deductions, where appropriate, for inland freight, brokeage and

handling, U.S. Customs duty, pre-sale warehouse expense, U.S.

commissions, U.S. credit, U.S. inventory carrying costs, and profit

allocable to the selling and distribution incurred in the United States

in accordance with sections 772(c)(2), 772(d)(1) and 772(d)(3) of the

Act.

Normal Value

Based on a comparison of the aggregate quantity of home market and

U.S. sales, and absent any information that a particular market

situation in the exporting country does not permit a proper comparison,

we determined pursuant to section 773(a)(1)(C) of the Act that the

quantity of foreign like product sold in the exporting country was

sufficient to permit a proper comparison with the sales of the subject

merchandise to the United States. Therefore, in accordance with section

773(a)(1)(B) of the Act, we based NV on sales in Canada, the home

market.

[[Page 12600]]

We calculated NV based on packed F.O.B. Canadian cold storage

prices to unaffiliated customers, and made deductions, where

applicable, for home market inland freight, pre-sale warehouse expense,

home market packing costs, home market credit, and home market

commissions. When EP was used as the United States price, in accordance

with section 773(a)(6) of the Act, and sections 353.56 and 57 of the

Departments regulations, we made a circumstance of sale adjustment for

credit, and commissions. In addition, we added U.S. packing costs and

made an adjustment for differences in the physical characteristics of

the merchandise. When CEP was used as the United States price, we added

U.S. packing costs and made an adjustment for differences in the

physical characteristics of the merchandise.

Level of Trade

As set forth in section 773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act and in the

Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) accompanying the Uruguay Round

Agreements Act, H.R. Doc. 316, Vol. 1, 103d Cong., at 829-831 (1994),

to the extent practicable, the Department will calculate NV based on

sales at the same level of trade (LOT) as the U.S. sales. Berryhill did

not request an adjustment for LOT. To ensure that no such adjustment

was necessary, we requested and examined information on the selling

activities associated with each phase of marketing in each of

Berryhill's markets; since there were no differences in such selling

activities in either market, and since all sales in both markets were

at a single LOT, we compared sales at this sole LOT.

Preliminary Results of the Review

As a result of our comparison of EP and CEP to NV, we preliminarily

determine that the following weighted-average dumping margin exits:

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Exporter/processor Period Margin

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Berryhill................................ 06/01/95-05/31/96 1.56

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Interested parties may request disclosure within 5 days of the date

of publication of this notice and may request a hearing within 10 days

of publication. Any hearing, if requested, will be held as early as

convenient for the parties but not later than 34 days after the date of

publication or the first business day thereafter. Case briefs and/or

written comments from interested parties may be submitted not later

than 20 days after the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal

briefs and rebuttal comments, limited to issues raised in the case

briefs, may be filed no later than 27 days after the date of

publication of this notice. The Department will issue the final results

of this new shipper administrative review, including the results of its

analysis of issues raised in any such written comments, within 90 days

of issuance of these preliminary results.

Upon completion of this new shipper review, the Department will

issue appraisement instructions directly to the U.S. Customs Service.

The results of this review shall be the basis for the assessment of

antidumping duties on entries of merchandise covered by the

determination and for future deposits of estimated duties.

Furthermore, upon completion of this review, the posting of a bond

or security in lieu of a cash deposit, pursuant to section

751(a)(2)(B)(iii) of the Act and section 353.22(h)(4) of the

Department's interim regulations, will no longer be permitted and,

should the final results yield a margin of dumping, a cash deposit will

be required for each entry of the merchandise. The following deposit

requirements will be effective upon publication of the final results of

this new shipper antidumping duty administrative review for all

shipments of red raspberries from Canada exported/processed by

Berryhill, entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or

after the publication date, as provided by section 751(a)(1) of the

Act: (1) The cash deposit rate for the reviewed company will be that

established in the final results of this new shipper administrative

review; (2) for exporters not covered in these reviews, but covered in

previous reviews or the original less-than-fair-value (LTFV)

investigation, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-

specific rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter

is not a firm covered in this review, previous reviews, or the original

LTFV investigation, but the manufacturer is, the cash deposit rate will

be that established for the most recent period for the manufacturer of

the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other

manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 2.41 percent, the all

others rate established in the LTFV investigation (50 FR 19772, May 10,

1985). These requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until

publication of the final results of the next administrative review.

This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their

responsibility under 19 CFR 353.26 to file a certificate regarding the

reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the

relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply with this

requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that

reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent

assessment of double antidumping duties.

This new shipper administrative review and this notice are in

accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C.

1675(a)(2)(B)) and 19 CFR 353.22(h).

Dated: March 7, 1997.

Robert S. LaRussa,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.

[FR Doc. 97-6547 Filed 3-14-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M