European Business Law, the fourth volume in our series, shows how the European authorities simultaneously abolish all restrictions on access to and exercise of economic activities and support the growth of domestic markets, through the harmonization the internal legislation or the enactment of genuinely unified regulations.

European Business Law

The interested parties have an obligation to provide information from the initiation of the proceedings. The obligation is set out in the notice of initiation of the proceedings, which provides that all relevant information is to be communicated to the Commission by the interested undertakings and states the periods within which they may make themselves known, present their views in writing and su …

Obligation to provide useful information and to cooperate

The interested parties have an obligation to provide information from the initiation of the proceedings. The obligation is set out in the notice of initiation of the proceedings, which provides that all relevant information is to be communicated to the Commission by the interested undertakings and states the periods within which they may make themselves known, present their views in writing and submit information if such views and information are to be taken into account during the investigation (Art. 5(10)). A questionnaire is sent to which undertakings must reply within 30 days. This time-limit may be extended due account being taken of the time-limit of the investigation and provided that the party shows due cause for such extension, in terms of particular circumstances (Art. 6(2)) . 

Undertakings which are parties to the dumping proceedings are subject to a duty of cooperation. They must either permit access to the necessary information  or provide them within the time-limits provided in the regulation (Art. 18(1)). A producer which states that it is not willing to participate in the sample and is therefore not prepared to complete an injury questionnaire or permit its answers to be verified cannot be regarded as cooperating in the investigation . Similarly, an undertaking which provides information, both before and after the  verification visit, which does not allow the Commission to be satisfied as to the accuracy and reliability of the information relating to sales  volumes and costs of the product concerned, has failed to cooperate .

Information must be accurate  and sufficient . Information is sufficient where it is submitted in good time, verifiable and any deficiencies do not cause undue difficulty in arriving at a reasonably accurate finding . The parties are bound by a best-effort undertaking and must act to the best of their ability (Art. 18 (3)). This is not the case where the disclosed information is inconsistent, regardless of the degree of effort displayed by the interested party in submitting certain information . 

In principle, an undertaking which does not comply with the time-period fixed for submitting information is deemed to have refused to cooperate in the investigation . However, the Commission has a very wide discretion as to whether it is appropriate to take account of answers and information which have been sent to it out of time, provided that it does not infringe the procedural rights of the other parties and does not unduly prolong the procedure . In effect, taking into consideration information submitted days, weeks, even months after the time-period expired may be discriminatory with respect to the other interested parties having cooperated in the investigation . However, an undertaking may be allowed to submit additional information after the time-period for response if it is in a special situation having caused it to believe - erroneously - that it would not be affected by the anti-dumping investigation . Likewise, where due to “force majeure” reasons, the undertaking initially selected in the sample of exporting producers could not be able to supply all the requested information in due time, it is considered as cooperating . On the other hand, information submitted for the first time following the disclosure of the provisional findings where it relates to facts that were well known to the companies before the on-the-spot verification or their reply to the questionnaire, cannot be taken into consideration . The small size of an undertaking, limited volume of its exports and limited resources for dealing with the investigation, do not either justify insufficient replies . Lastly, the Commission may refuse to take into account a list of information submitted after the time-limit where it cannot be verified without a second visit .

For exporters, the time-limit is counted from the date of receipt of the questionnaire, which is deemed to have been received one week from the day on which it was sent. 

Case T-752/16 Novolipetsk Steel PJSC (NLMK), Judgment of 22 September 2021, LawLex202100005391JBJ: the information relating to production volumes and manufacturing costs  of the product concerned is clearly necessary information within the  meaning of Article 18(1) of the basic regulation especially in the  context of a semi-finished product which can  either be sold to  independent buyers or processed in-house.

Council Regulation (EU) No 2320/97 of 17 November 1997, imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or non-alloy steel (Hungary, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Rumania and the Slovak Republic), LawLex200900002457JBJ.

Council Regulation (EU) No 603/1999 of 15 March 1999, imports of polypropylene binder or baler twine (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary), LawLex200900002501JBJ.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1251/2003 of 14 July 2003, imports of hollow sections (Turkey), LawLex200900002651JBJ. In this case, the undertaking had been excluded from the sample and had not been subject to a verification visit.

Council Regulation (EU) No 2604/2000 of 27 November 2000, imports of certain polyethylene terephthalate (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand), LawLex200900002590JBJ, which states that this information cannot be taken into consideration to favorably answer to a request for modification of the methodology for establishing the profitability of domestic sales, where at this late stage of the investigation, the Commission is not in a position to verify the substantial amount of information necessary to that review.

Council Regulation (EU) No 603/1999 of 15 March 1999, imports of polypropylene binder or baler twine (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary), LawLex200900002501JBJ. 

Case T-409/06 Sun Sang Kong Yuen Shoes Factory v Council [2010] unpublished, LawLex201100000238JBJ.

Case T-401/06 Brosmann Footwear (HK) and others v Council [2010] unpublished, LawLex201100000236JBJ.

Case T-752/16 Novolipetsk Steel PJSC (NLMK), Judgment of 22 September 2021, LawLex202100005391JBJ: lack of cooperation by the undertaking preventing the Commission from being able to reliably establish the export price and normal value.

See Case T-401/06 Brosmann Footwear (HK) and others v Council [2010] unpublished, LawLex201100000236JBJ, stating that the mere fact that undertakings have committed frauds at national level - degrading treatment of workers and the recruitment of children - does not lead to the conclusion that the data which they provided are not reliable where the data are unrelated to the frauds.

Council Regulation (EU) No 2320/97 of 17 November 1997, imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or non-alloy steel (Hungary, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Rumania and the Slovak Republic), LawLex200900002457JBJ, which assimilates the provision of insufficient answers to a lack of cooperation; Commission Regulation (EC) No 358/2002 of 26 February 2002, imports of certain tube and pipe fittings, of iron or steel (the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Russia, Korea, the Slovak Republic), LawLex200900002811JBJ, for information regarded as insufficient because transaction-by-transaction listings of the producer's domestic and export sales and copies of its invoices are missing.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2000 of 16 March 2000, imports of solutions of urea and ammonium nitrate (Algeria, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine), LawLex200900002883JBJ.

See Council Regulation (EU) No 2398/97 of 28 November 1997, imports of cotton-type bed linen (Egypt, India, Pakistan), LawLex200900002459JBJ; No 1522/2000 of 10 July 2000, imports of synthetic staple fibres of polyester (Australia, Indonesia, Thailand), LawLex200900002567JBJ, as regards an exporting producer which answered too late and failed to provide a completed response to the questionnaire within the deadline, which was extended several times; No 163/2002 of 28 January 2002, imports of glyphosate (China, Malaysia, Taiwan), LawLex200900002600JBJ, as regards responses to the questionnaire sent three months after the fixed time-period expired; Commission Regulation (EC) No 358/2002 of 26 February 2002, imports of certain tube and pipe fittings, of iron or steel (the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Russia, Korea, the Slovak Republic), LawLex200900002811JBJ, for a producer's refusal to disclose the necessary information by stating, inter alia, that it was not able to provide transaction-by-transaction listings of its domestic and export sales and which refuses to provide copies of its invoices to the Commission.

Case T-413/03 Shandong Reipu Biochemicals v Council [2006] ECR II-2243, LawLex200900001355JBJ.

European Business Law

441. Obligation to provide useful information and to cooperate

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441. Obligation to provide useful information and to cooperate

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise