The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministry of Commerce”) received, on February 25, 2015, a written petition for anti-dumping investigation formally submitted by Fujian Qingshan Paper Industry Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “the Petitioner”) on behalf of domestic industry of unbleached sack paper, in which the Petitioner requested an anti-dumping investigation to be conducted against imports of unbleached sack paper originated in the EU, the U.S. and Japan. In accordance with relevant provisions of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping, the Ministry of Commerce conducted an investigation into the qualification of the Petitioner, relevant situations of the products in question and the products of the same kind in China, impact of the imported products on domestic industry and the relevant situations of countries (regions) involved.

The evidence initially provided by the Petitioner and the initial review of the Ministry of Commerce suggest that, the total output of unbleached sack paper of the Petitioner and Zhaoqing Kelun Paper Co., Ltd and Yongzhou Xiangjiang Paper Co., Ltd, who are in support of the petition, complies with the provisions of Article 11, Article 13 and Article 17 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping on applying by domestic industry for anti-dumping investigation.

It is claimed in the petition that, imports of unbleached sack paper originated in the EU, the U.S. and Japan are exported to China at a price lower than the normal value. With the normal value determined based on the sales prices of the same products as those petitioned for investigation in the EU, the U.S. and Japanese markets, the export price based on the price subject to the customs statistics of the products petitioned for investigation to China and adjustment made to various factors affecting the price comparability, it is claimed in the petition that the dumping margin of the products involved in the petition is comparatively large. At the same time, it is claimed in the petition, that the absolute and relative number of products entered into Chinese market increase obviously, which will reduce and inhibit the price of the same products in the domestic industry, thus leading to the deterioration of production and operation indexes such as the domestic industry output, domestic sales, income from domestic sales, market share, profit, ROI, operating rates and number of employees, etc. The domestic industry has suffered from material injuries and there are causal links between the dumping of the products and the substantive injuries suffered by the domestic industry. Upon review, the Ministry of Commerce believes that the petition contains the contents and relevant evidence as required in Article 14 and Article 15 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping for case filing of anti-dumping investigation.

In accordance with the abovementioned review results and the provisions of Article 16 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping, the Ministry of Commerce decided to initiate an anti-dumping investigation into imports of unbleached sack paper originated in the EU, the U.S. and Japan as of April 10, 2015. Relevant matters are now hereby announced as follows:

I. Case-filing Investigation and Investigation Period

As of the date of the Announcement, the Ministry of Commerce conducts anti-dumping case-filing investigations against imports of unbleached sack paper originated in the EU, the U.S. and Japan within an investigation period from November 1, 2013 to October 31, 2014, and the investigation period of industry injury is from January 1, 2011 to October 31, 2014.

II. Products under Investigation and Scope of Investigation

Scope of investigation: imports of unbleached sack paper originated in the EU, the U.S. and Japan.
Name of products under investigation: Unbleached Sack Paper, or Unbleached Sack Kraft Paper, or Unbleached Bag Paper, Unbleached Extensible (Semi-Extensible) Sack (Kraft) Paper, etc.
Description: unbleached sack paper mainly uses unbleached or slightly bleached sulfate wood pulp (or may be mixed with other pulp such as waste paper pulp or bamboo pulp) as the main raw material, and is prepared through certain production technology (whether being processed through clupak equipment or not) and is a kind of high strength packing paper to be used for producing packing bags of cement, chemical products and food.
Physical indexes and features: unbleached sack paper features high tensile resistance, large tearing index, high tensile resistance energy absorption index, high air permeability and large elongation. Tensile resistance index (vertical and horizontal) ≥69 N.m/g; tearing index (vertical) ≥10 mN.m2/g; tensile resistance energy absorption index (horizontal) ≥ 1.0 J/g; tensile resistance energy absorption index (vertical) ≥ 0.8 J/g; air permeability≥3.4μm/(Pa.s) and prolongation (vertical) ≥2%
Main purposes: unbleached sack paper is a kind of special packing paper that is mainly used for producing packing bags of products such as cement, chemical products and food (e.g. rice, starch and flour).
The product is listed under tariff number of 48042100 in the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People’s Republic of China.

III. Registration for Responding

Any interested party may, within 20 days from the release of the Announcement, register with the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of MOFCOM for responding, and then shall, in accordance with the Reference Format for Responding to Anti-dumping Investigation, provide the basic identity information, the volume and value of the products under investigation exported to or imported to China during the investigation period and the volume and value of similar products produced and sold and other related information. The Reference Format for Responding to Anti-dumping Investigation is available for downloading from the relevant websites attached (the same below).

Interested party referred to herein shall be any individual or entity under Article 19 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping.

IV. Reference of Public Information

Any interested party may access to the relevant websites to download or go to the reading consultation room of trade relief public information of the Ministry of Commerce (Tel: 0086-10-65197878) to review, consult, copy and reproduce non-confidential text of the petition submitted by the Petitioner of the case. In the course of investigation, any interested party may view the public information of the case on the websites mentioned above or go to the consultation room of trade relief public information of the Ministry of Commerce to view, consult, copy and reproduce the public information of the case.

V. Comments on Case Filing

Any interested party may submit its written comments to Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of MOFCOM within 20 days as of the date on which the Announcement is issued if it has any comment on the coverage of the products under this round of investigation, qualification of the Petitioner, countries (regions) under investigation and other related issues.

VI. Methods of Investigation

The Ministry of Commerce may adopt the methods of questionnaire, sampling, hearing, on-site verification or other methods to obtain and investigate information from interested parties in accordance with Article 20 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping.

In order to obtain the information required for the investigation of the case, the Ministry of Commerce will usually distribute questionnaires to the foreign exporters or producers and domestic producers and importers that are involved in the case within 10 working days upon expiration of the registered response specified in the Announcement. Interested parties registered for the investigation may also download the questionnaire from the relevant websites.

Information inquired in the Questionnaire for Foreign Exporters or Producers of the Anti-dumping Case of Unbleached Sack Paper includes such matters as organization and operation of the company, products under investigation, export sales to China (Mainland), domestic (regional) sales, operation and financial information, production costs and relevant expenses, estimated dumping margin and verification sheets. The information inquired in the Questionnaire for Domestic Producers of the Anti-dumping Case of Unbleached Sack Paper includes the basic information of the company, details of the domestic products of the same kind, operation and relevant information, financial and relevant information as well as other issues required to be stated. The information inquired in the Questionnaire for Domestic Importers of the Anti-dumping Case of Unbleached Sack Paper includes the basic information of the company, the trading information of the products under investigation and relevant information.

Any other interested party that does not register for the investigation may directly download the questionnaire from the relevant websites or ask for the same from the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of MOFCOM and fill and submit the questionnaire as required.

All companies shall submit their answers to the Questionnaire in a complete and accurate manner within the specified period of time, which shall contain all the information required by the Questionnaire.

VII. Submission and Treatment of Confidential Information

If the information submitted by any interested party to the Ministry of Commerce is required to keep confidential, a request to keep such information confidential shall be made to the Ministry of Commerce and relevant reasons shall be stated. If the Ministry of Commerce approves such request, the interested party applying for confidentiality may also provide a non-confidential summary of such confidential information, which shall include sufficient and meaningful information so that other interested parties may have a reasonable understanding of such confidential information. If it fails to provide such non-confidential summary, reasons shall be stated. If the confidentiality is not stated in the information submitted by any interested party, the Ministry of Commerce will deem it as public information.

VIII. Consequences of Non-cooperation

In accordance with Article 21 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-dumping, when the Ministry of Commerce is making an investigation, any interested party shall truthfully reflect the situation and provide relevant information. If any interested party fails to do so or fails to provide necessary information within a reasonable time limit or severely impede such investigation, the Ministry of Commerce may make a ruling based on the facts acquired and the best information obtained.

IX. Investigation Period

The investigation shall commence on April 10, 2015 and usually end before April 10, 2016, and may be extended to October 10, 2016 under special circumstances

X. Contact Information of the Ministry of Commerce

Address: No. 2 Dong Chang’an Avenue, Beijing, China
Zip code: 100731
Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of MOFCOM
Tel: 0086-10-65198473, 85093406
Fax: 0086-10-65198415
Relevant websites: Sub-web of Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce (http://trb.mofcom.gov.cn)

Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

April 10, 2015

Translated by Hou Zuowei