The European Commission has received a request for a partial interim review pursuant on protection against subsidised imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from countries not members of the European Community.
The request was lodged by Vacmet Packagings (India) Private Limited, an exporting producer from India. The review is limited in scope to the examination of subsidisation as far as the applicant is concerned.
The product under review is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating in India, currently falling within CN codes ex 3920 62 19 and ex 3920 62 90.
The measures currently in force are a definitive countervailing duty imposed by Council Regulation on imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating in India, as amended by a Council Regulation (EC) No 15/2009.
Regulation (EC) No 367/2006 extended the countervailing duty to imports of polyethylene terephthlate (PET) film consigned from Brazil and consigned from Israel whether declared as originating in Brazil or Israel or not, with the exception of certain companies specified in Article 1(3) of that Regulation.
The applicant has provided prima facie evidence that the circumstances with regard to subsidisation on the basis of which measures were established have changed significantly and that these changes are of lasting nature.
The applicant alleges that the continued imposition of the measure on imports of the product under review at its current level is no longer necessary to offset the countervailable subsidisation.
The applicant has provided sufficient evidence that its subsidy amount has decreased well below the duty rate currently applicable to it. This reduction in the overall subsidy level is mainly due to a significant drop in the benefits availed of under the Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme (DEPB).