Ofloxacin from China under Anti-dumping Investigation on Aarti
Drugs Mumbai Complaint
[Anti-dumping
Initiation Notification No. 14/06/2016-DGAD dated 4th October 2016]
Subject:
Anti Dumping investigation concerning imports of Ofloxacin originating in or exported from China.
M/s
Aarti Drugs Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the
applicant) has filed an application before the Designated Authority
(hereinafter also referred to as the Authority) in accordance with the Customs
Tariff Act, 1975 as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as
the Act) and Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of
Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped articles and for Determination of injury) Rules,
1995 as amended from time to time (hereinafter also referred to as the Rules)
for initiation of anti-dumping investigation and imposition of anti-dumping duty
concerning imports of Ofloxacin (hereinafter also
referred to as the subject goods), originating in or exported from China
(hereinafter also referred to as the subject country).
2.
And whereas, the Authority prima facie finds that sufficient evidence of
dumping of the subject goods, originating in or exported from the subject
country, ‘injury’ to the domestic industry and causal link between the alleged
dumping and ‘injury’ exist to justify initiation of an anti-dumping
investigation; the Authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged
dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry in terms of Rule 5 of
the Rules, to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and
to recommend the amount of anti dumping duty, which
if levied, would be adequate to remove the ‘injury’ to the domestic industry.
Domestic
Industry & Standing
3.
The Application has been filed by M/s Aarti Drugs
Ltd., as domestic industry of the product under consideration. Apart from the
applicant, there are some other producers of subject goods in India. The total
production of Ofloxacin in India has been estimated
on the basis of consumption of O-Acid in the Country.
4.
M/s Aarti Drugs Ltd. has furnished a declaration
stating that they have not imported the PUC from the subject country. They have
further declared that they are not related either to any exporter or producer
of the PUC in the subject country or any importer of the PUC in India.
5.
As per the evidence available on record, the production of the applicant
accounts for a major proportion in the gross domestic production of the like
article. The Authority, therefore, determines that the applicant constitutes
eligible domestic industry within the meaning of Rule 2 (b) of the Anti-Dumping
Rules and the application satisfies the criteria of standing in terms of Rule 5
(3) of the Rules supra.
Product
under consideration
6.
The product under consideration for the purpose of present investigation is “Ofloxacin”.
7.
Ofloxacin is a synthetic chemotherapeutic antibiotic
of the fluoroquinolone drug class considered to be a
second-generation fluoroquinolone. Ofloxacin is a racemic mixture, which consists of 50%
levofloxacin (the biologically active component) and 50% of its “mirror image”
or enantiomer dextrofloxacin. Ofloxacin
is used to treat certain infections including bronchitis, pneumonia, and
infections of the skin, bladder, urinary tract, reproductive organs, and
prostate gland. It works by killing bacteria that cause infections.
8.
The product under consideration is classified under Chapter 30 of the Customs
Tariff Act. The PUC has a specific HS code 3004 20 34 under Chapter 30 of
Customs Tariff Act, 1975. However, subject goods being bulk drugs are also
imported under HS codes 2915, 2916, 2918, 2941 etc. The customs classification
is indicative only and in no way it is binding upon the product scope.
Like
Article
9.
The applicant has claimed that there is no known difference between the subject
goods exported from subject country and that produced by the applicant. As
submitted by the applicant, Ofloxacin produced by the
domestic industry and imported from subject country are comparable in terms of
essential product characteristics such as physical & chemical
characteristics, manufacturing process & technology, functions & uses,
product specifications, pricing, distribution & marketing and tariff
classification of the goods. Consumers can use and are using the two interchangeably.
The applicant has further claimed that two are technically and commercially
substitutable and, hence, should be treated as ‘like article’ under the Rules.
Therefore, for the purpose of the present investigation, the Authority treats
the subject goods produced by the applicant in India as ‘Like Article’ to the
subject goods being imported from the subject country.
Countries
involved
10.
The present investigation is in respect of alleged dumping of the product under
consideration from China (referred to as the “subject country”).
Normal
Value
11.
Applicant has claimed that China should be treated as a non-market economy and
normal value in case of China should be determined in accordance with para-7
and 8 of Annexure I of the Rules. The applicant has claimed normal value for
China PR on the basis of cost of production in India, duly adjusted. In terms
of Para 8 in Annexure 1 to the Rules it is presumed that the producers of the
subject goods in China PR are operating under non market economy conditions.
12.
In view of the above non-market economy presumption and subject to rebuttal of
the same by the responding exporters from China PR, normal value of the subject
goods in China PR has been estimated in terms of Para 7 of Annexure 1 to the
Rules.
Export
Price
13.
The applicant has determined export price on the basis of data procured from
transaction wise IBIS import data. Price adjustments have been claimed on
account of ocean freight, marine insurance, commission, port expenses, inland
freight, bank charges, and adjustment for VAT to arrive at the net export
price.
Dumping
Margin
14.
The normal value has been compared with the export price at ex-factory level.
There is sufficient prima facie evidence that the normal value of the subject
goods in the subject country are higher than the ex-factory export price,
indicating, that the subject goods are being dumped into the Indian market by
the exporters from the subject country. The dumping margin is estimated to be
above de minimis.
Injury
and Causal Link
15.
Information furnished by the applicant has been considered for assessment of
injury to the domestic industry. The applicant has furnished evidence regarding
the injury having taken place as a result of the alleged dumping in the form of
increased volume of dumped imports in absolute terms and in relation to
production and consumption in India, price suppression, price underselling and
consequent significant adverse impact in terms of profits, return on capital
employed, and cash flow to the domestic industry. There is sufficient prima
facie evidence of the ‘injury’ being suffered by the domestic industry caused
by dumped imports from subject country to justify initiation of an antidumping
investigation.
Period
of Investigation (POI)
16.
The proposed period of investigation (POI) is 1st July2015 to 30th June 2016.
However, the injury investigation period has been considered and proposed to
cover the periods April 13-March14, April 14-March15, April 15-March 16 and the
proposed period of investigation.
Submission
of information
17.
The known exporters in the subject country, the Government of the subject
country through their embassy in India, the importers and users in India known
to be concerned with the product are being addressed separately to submit
relevant information in the form and manner prescribed and to make their views
known to the Authority at the following address:
The Designated
Authority,
Directorate General
of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties,
Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, Department of Commerce
4th Floor, Jeevan Tara Building, 5 Parliament Street,
New
Delhi -110001.
18.
Any other interested party may also make its submissions relevant to the
investigation in the prescribed form and manner within the time limit set out
below.
Time
limit
19.
Any information relating to the present investigation and any request for
hearing should be sent in writing so as to reach the Authority at the address
mentioned above not later than forty days (40 Days) from the date of
publication of this Notification. If no information is received within the
prescribed time limit or the information received is incomplete, the Authority
may record its findings on the basis of the facts available on record in
accordance with the Anti-dumping Rules.
20.
All the interested parties are hereby advised to intimate their interest
(including the nature of interest) in the instant matter and file their
questionnaire responses and offer their comments to the domestic industry’s application
regarding the need to continue or otherwise the Antidumping measures within 40
days from the date of initiation of this investigation.
Submission
of Information on Non-Confidential basis
21.
In case confidentiality is claimed on any part of the questionnaire’s
response/submissions, the same must be submitted in two separate sets (a)
marked as Confidential (with title, index, number of pages, etc.) and (b) other
set marked as Non Confidential (with title, index, number of pages, etc.). All the
information supplied must be clearly marked as either “confidential” or
“non-confidential” at the top of each page.
22.
Information supplied without any confidential marking shall be treated as
non-confidential and the Authority shall be at liberty to allow the other
interested parties to inspect any such non-confidential information. Two (2)
copies of the confidential version and five (05) copies of the non confidential version must be submitted by all the
interested parties.
23.
For information claimed as confidential; the supplier of the information is
required to provide a good cause statement along with the supplied information
as to why such information cannot be disclosed and/or why summarization of such
information is not possible.
24.
The non-confidential version is required to be a replica of the confidential
version with the confidential information preferably indexed or blanked out
/summarized depending upon the information on which confidentiality is claimed.
The non-confidential summary must be in sufficient detail to permit a
reasonable understanding of the substance of the information furnished on
confidential basis. However, in exceptional circumstances, parties submitting
the confidential information may indicate that such information is not
susceptible to summarization; a statement of reasons why summarization is not
possible must be provided to the satisfaction of the Authority.
25.
The Authority may accept or reject the request for confidentiality on
examination of the nature of the information submitted. If the Authority is
satisfied that the request for confidentiality is not warranted or the supplier
of the information is either unwilling to make the information public or to
authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, it may disregard such
information.
26.
Any submission made without a meaningful non-confidential version thereof or
without a good cause statement on the confidentiality claim may not be taken on
record by the Authority. The Authority on being satisfied and accepting the
need for confidentiality of the information provided; shall not disclose it to
any party without specific authorization of the party providing such
information.
Inspection
of Public File
27.
In terms of rule 6(7) any interested party may inspect the public file
containing non-confidential versions of the evidence submitted by other
interested parties.
Non-cooperation
28.
In case any interested party refuses access to and otherwise does not provide necessary
information within a reasonable period, or significantly impedes the
investigation, the Authority may declare such interested party as
non-cooperative and record its findings on the basis of the facts available to
it and make such recommendations to the Central Government as deemed fit.