Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Malaysia: Notice of Partial Rescission of the Administrative Review and Intent to Rescind the Administrative Review, 24941-24943 [E8-9992]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• International Trade Administration

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24941-24943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9992]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

A-557-813


Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Malaysia: Notice of Partial 
Rescission of the Administrative Review and Intent to Rescind the 
Administrative Review

AGENCY:  Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to requests by interested parties, the Department 
of Commerce (Department) initiated an administrative review of the 
antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail carrier bags (PRCBs) from 
Malaysia with respect to three producers/exporters of the subject 
merchandise. The period of review (POR) is August 1, 2006, through July 
31, 2007.
    The Department is rescinding this administrative review in part 
with respect to one company. In addition, the Department has 
preliminarily determined that there were no entries of subject 
merchandise from the two remaining companies during the POR to review 
and, therefore, intends to rescind the administrative review in its 
entirety. Interested parties are invited to comment on this intent to 
rescind the administrative review.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 6, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:  Lyn Johnson or Richard Rimlinger, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
5287 and (202) 482-4477, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 2, 2007, the Department published a notice of opportunity 
to request an administrative review of PRCBs from Malaysia for the 
period August 1, 2006, through July 31, 2007. See Antidumping or 
Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation; 
Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 72 FR 42383 (August 2, 
2007). On August 31, 2007, interested parties requested an 
administrative review in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(b)(1). The 
review requests were as follows: (1) The Polyethylene Retail Carrier 
Bag Committee and its individual members, Hilex Poly Co., LLC and 
Superbag Corporation (Petitioners) requested a review of Euro Plastics 
Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and its affiliate Eplastics Procurement Center Sdn. 
Bhd. (Euro Plastics); (2) Zhin Hin Plastic Manufacturer Sdn. Bhd. (also 
known as Chin Hin Plastic Manufacture) (Zhin Hin) requested a review of 
itself; (3) King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd. (King Pac) requested a review 
of itself. On September 25, 2007, the Department initiated 
administrative reviews of Euro Plastics, Zhin Hin, and King Pac. See 
Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative

[[Page 24942]]

Reviews and Requests for Revocation in Part, 72 FR 54428 (September 25, 
2007).

Scope of the Order

    The merchandise subject to this antidumping duty order is PRCBs 
which may be referred to as t-shirt sacks, merchandise bags, grocery 
bags, or checkout bags. The subject merchandise is defined as non-
sealable sacks and bags with handles (including drawstrings), without 
zippers or integral extruded closures, with or without gussets, with or 
without printing, of polyethylene film having a thickness no greater 
than 0.035 inch (0.889 mm) and no less than 0.00035 inch (0.00889 mm), 
and with no length or width shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm) or longer 
than 40 inches (101.6 cm). The depth of the bag may be shorter than 6 
inches (15.24 cm) but not longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm).
    PRCBs are typically provided without any consumer packaging and 
free of charge by retail establishments, e.g., grocery, drug, 
convenience, department, specialty retail, discount stores, and 
restaurants, to their customers to package and carry their purchased 
products. The scope of the order excludes (1) polyethylene bags that 
are not printed with logos or store names and that are closeable with 
drawstrings made of polyethylene film and (2) polyethylene bags that 
are packed in consumer packaging with printing that refers to specific 
end-uses other than packaging and carrying merchandise from retail 
establishments, e.g., garbage bags, lawn bags, trash-can liners.
    Imports of the subject merchandise are currently classifiable under 
statistical category 3923.21.0085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States (HTSUS). Furthermore, although the HTSUS subheading 
is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written 
description of the scope of this order is dispositive.

Rescission in Part

    On October 4, 2007, we received a timely withdrawal of the request 
for review of King Pac. King Pac informed us that its request was 
intended for the order on PRCBs from Thailand instead of Malaysia. In 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the Department will rescind an 
administrative review ``if a party that requested the review withdraws 
the request within 90 days of the date of publication of notice of 
initiation of the requested review.'' Therefore, because King Pac 
withdrew its request within the 90-day time limit and there were no 
other requests to review King Pac, we are rescinding the review in part 
with respect to King Pac.

Intent to Rescind

    On October 22, 2007, in response to the Department's quantity and 
value questionnaire, Euro Plastics reported that it did not ship to the 
United States during the POR. We examined U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) data and did not find entries of subject merchandise 
from Euro Plastics during the POR. See the April 25, 2008, memorandum 
to The File entitled ``Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Malaysia - 
Customs Data for Entries during the period August 1, 2006, through July 
31, 2007.''
    On October 22, 2007, in response to the Department's quantity and 
value questionnaire, Zhin Hin reported that it had shipments to the 
United States during the POR. Accordingly, we issued an antidumping 
duty questionnaire to Zhin Hin on November 26, 2007. On November 29, 
2007, Zhin Hin provided CBP documentation to support its claim that it 
had shipments to the United States during the POR. Upon reviewing the 
CBP documentation provided in Zhin Hin's November 29, 2007, letter and 
January 9, 2008, questionnaire response, we found that Zhin Hin relied 
on the ``import date,'' which fell within the POR, as the relevant date 
to support its request for review. It is the Department's practice, 
however, to consider the ``entry date'' as the determinative date for 
purposes of whether an entry falls within a POR. In this case, we found 
that the CBP documentation which Zhin Hin submitted also showed an 
``entry summary date'' which fell outside of the POR. We examined 
additional CBP data and tied the entry from the CBP documentation Zhin 
Hin submitted to the additional CBP data by the entry number. The 
additional CBP data showed that this entry had an ``entry date'' which 
occurred outside the POR. Based on this information, we concluded that 
there were no entries of subject merchandise from Zhin Hin during the 
POR. Id.
    Section 751(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), 
instructs the Department that, when conducting an administrative 
review, it is to determine the dumping margin for entries during the 
relevant period. Further, according to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3), the 
Department may rescind an administrative review in whole or only with 
respect to a particular exporter or producer if it concludes that, 
during the POR, there were no entries, exports, or sales of the subject 
merchandise, as the case may be. The Department has interpreted the 
statutory and regulatory language as requiring ``that there be entries 
during the period of review upon which to assess antidumping duties.'' 
See Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin from Japan: Notice of 
Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 44088 
(August 1, 2005). In Allegheny Ludlum Corp. v. United States, 346 F.3d 
1368, 1372 (CAFC 2003), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 
upheld the Department's practice of rescinding annual reviews when 
there are no entries of subject merchandise during the POR. See also 
Stainless Steel Plate in Coils from Taiwan: Final Rescission of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 68 FR 63067, 63068 (November 7, 
2003) (stating that ``the Department's interpretation of its statute 
and regulations, as affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal 
Circuit, supports not conducting an administrative review when the 
evidence on the record indicates that respondents had no entries of 
subject merchandise during the POR'').
    As explained above, we did not find entries of subject merchandise 
from Euro Plastics or Zhin Hin during the POR. Because we preliminarily 
find that Euro Plastics and Zin Hin had no entries of subject 
merchandise during the POR and these are the only remaining companies 
in this review, we intend to rescind the administrative review in its 
entirety. If we continue to find that there were no entries of subject 
merchandise from these companies after consideration of comments from 
interested parties, we will rescind the entire administrative review of 
PRCBs from Malaysia in accordance with 19 CFR 351.213(d)(3).

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 30 days of the 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register in accordance with 
19 CFR 351.310. If a hearing is requested, the Department will notify 
interested parties of the hearing schedule.
    Interested parties are invited to comment on the intent to rescind 
the administrative review. The Department will consider case briefs 
filed by interested parties within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Interested parties 
may file rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised in the case briefs. 
The Department will consider rebuttal briefs filed not later than five 
days after the time limit for filing case briefs. Parties who submit 
arguments are requested to submit with each argument a statement of the 
issue, a brief summary of the argument, and a table of authorities

[[Page 24943]]

cited. Further, we request that parties submitting written comments 
provide the Department with a diskette containing an electronic copy of 
the public version of such comments. See, generally, 19 CFR 351.309(c) 
and (d).
    This rescission in part and intent to rescind the administrative 
review are issued and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) 
and 777(i)(1) of the Act.

    Dated: April 30, 2008.
Stephen J. Claeys,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-9992 Filed 5-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S