L 334/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.12.2001 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2479/2001 of 17 December 2001 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of recordable compact disks originating in Taiwan THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community ('), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2238/2000 (3, and in partic- ular Article 7 thereof, After consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROCEDURE (1) On 31 March 2001, the Commission announced, by notice published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (*), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding with regard to imports into the Community of recordable compact disks (hereinafter ‘CD-Rs’) origin- ating in Taiwan and commenced an investigation. (2)  The proceeding was initiated as a result of a complaint lodged in February 2001 by the Committee of European CD-R Manufacturers (‘CECMA’) acting on behalf of producers representing a major proportion of the total Community production of CD-Rs. The complaint contained evidence of dumping of the product concerned and of material injury resulting therefrom, which was considered sufficient to justify the initiation of a proceeding. (3)  The Commission officially advised the complainant Community producers, as well as the other known Community producers, exporting producers, importers, users and suppliers of raw materials known to be concerned and the representatives of Taiwan of the initiation of the proceeding. Interested parties were given the opportunity to make their views known in writing and to request a hearing within the time limit set in the notice of initiation. (4) A number of exporting producers in Taiwan and their association, as well as complainant and other Community producers and importers, made their views known in writing. All parties who so requested within the above time limit and indicated that there were particular reasons why they should be heard were granted a hearing. (5)  Certain parties contended that the complaining Community producers did not fulfil the requirements of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 (hereinafter ‘the basic Regulation’). In this respect, the statutory pre- () O] L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. () O] L 257, 11.10.2000, p. 2. () O] C 102, 31.3.2001, p. 2. initiation verification by the Commission showed that both the 25 % and 50 % thresholds of Article 5(4) were met. In fact, the complaining Community producers accounted for over 26 % of total Community production and no eligible Community producers expressed opposi- tion to the initiation of the investigation. It should be noted that, on the basis of the available information regarding Community producers (including their relation to Taiwanese exporting producers and the proportion of their import activity of the product concerned origin- ating in Taiwan), the Commission decided, in accord- ance with Article 4(1) of the basic Regulation, to exclude six producers in the framework of the definition of total Community production, none of which were complai- nants. In view of the large number of exporting producers in Taiwan, the Commission examined the possibility of applying sampling techniques in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation. The Commission sent ques- tionnaires to, and received detailed information from, a representative sample of exporting producers in Taiwan (see recital 17). According to the same Article 17 of the basic Regulation and in view of the large number of importers, the poss- ibility of applying sampling techniques was examined. However, only five importers came forward and submitted information as specified in the notice of initia- tion. The Commission sent them questionnaires, to which only three importers replied. The Commission also sent questionnaires to all other parties known to be concerned and received replies from the four complaining Community producers, as well as from 10 other Community producers, which were considered to be meaningful and complete. The Commission sought and verified all the information it deemed necessary for the purpose of a preliminary determination of dumping, injury and Community interest, and carried out verification visits at the prem- ises of the following companies: (a) Exporting producers in Taiwan — Auvistar Industry Co., Chung-Li — Princo Corporation, Hsinchu — Prodisc Technology Inc., Taipei — Ritek Corporation, Hsinchu — Unidisc Technology Co., Taipei (b) Related importers in the Community — Multimedia Info-Tech Ltd, Belfast, Northern Ireland