Honey From the People's Republic of China: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review

AGENCY:

Import Administration, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of extension of time limit for preliminary results of antidumping duty new shipper review.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 14, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Angelica Mendoza or Dena Aliadinov or Brandon Farlander at (202) 482-3019 or (202) 482-3362 or (202) 482-0182, respectively; Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Enforcement Group III, Import Administration, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Department received timely requests from Cheng Du Wai Yuan Bee Products Co., Ltd. (Wai Yuan) and Jinfu Trading Co., Ltd. (Jinfu), in accordance with 19 CFR 351.214(c), for new shipper reviews of the antidumping duty order on honey from the People's Republic of China (PRC), which has a December annual anniversary month and a June semiannual anniversary month. See Notice of Amended Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Antidumping Duty Order; Honey from the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 63670 (December 10, 2001). On July 31, 2003, the Department found that the requests for review met all the regulatory requirements set forth in section 351.214(b) of the Department's regulations and initiated this new shipper antidumping review covering the period December 1, 2002 through May 31, 2003. See Honey from the People's Republic of China: Initiation of New Shipper Antidumping Reviews, 68 FR 47537 (August 11, 2003). The preliminary results are currently due no later than January 27, 2004.

Extension of Time Limits for Preliminary Results

Section 751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act and section 351.214(i)(1) of the regulations require the Department to issue the preliminary results of a new shipper review within 180 days after the date on which the new shipper review was initiated, and final results of review within 90 days after the date on which the preliminary results were issued. The Department may, however, extend the deadline for completion of the preliminary results of a new shipper review to 300 days if it determines that the case is extraordinarily complicated. The Department has determined that this case is extraordinarily complicated, and the preliminary results of this new shipper review cannot be completed within the statutory time limit of 180 days. Specifically, the Department needs additional time to research the appropriate surrogate values used to value raw honey. Moreover, the Department is also researching whether the sales that form the basis of the review request are bona fide sales. In this regard, the Department has issued supplemental questionnaires requesting additional information about the bona fides of the sales under review. Given the issues in this case, the Department finds that this case is extraordinarily complicated, and cannot be completed within the statutory time limit.

Accordingly, the Department is fully extending the time limit for the completion of the preliminary results by 120 days, to May 26, 2004, in accordance with section 751(a)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act and 351.214(i)(2) of the Department's regulations. The final results will in turn be due 90 days after the date of issuance of the preliminary results, unless extended.