6.2.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L35/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 215/2002 of 28 January 2002 imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of ferro molybdenum originating in the People's Republic of China THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 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 (') (the Basic Regulation), and in particular Article 9 thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROVISIONAL MEASURES (1) By Regulation (EC) No 1612/2001 (3 (the ‘Provisional Regulation’) the Commission imposed a provisional anti- dumping duty on imports of ferro molybdenum (FeMo)) falling within CN code 7202 70 00 originating in the People's Republic of China (the PRC). B. SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE (2)  Subsequent to the disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was decided to impose provisional anti-dumping measures on imports of FeMo originating in the PRC, several interested parties submitted comments in writing. The parties who so requested were granted an opportunity to be heard orally. (3)  The Commission continued to seek and verify all infor- mation it deemed necessary for reaching definitive find- ings. @  All parties were informed of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was intended to recommend the imposition of a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of FeMo originating in the PRC and the definitive collection of the amounts secured by way of the provisional duty. They were also granted a period within which to make representations subsequent to this disclosure. (") OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2238/2000 (O] L 257, 11.10.2000, p. 2). () O] L 214, 6.8.2001, p. 3. () The oral and written comments submitted by the inter- ested parties were considered and, where appropriate, the findings have been modified accordingly. C. PRODUCT CONCERNED AND LIKE PRODUCT In the absence of any new argument on the product concerned and the like product, the provisional findings as described in recitals 13 to 17 of the Provisional Regulation are hereby confirmed. D. DUMPING 1. General methodology A number of Chinese exporting producers argued that the timing of the sampling decision as stipulated by the notice of initiation created considerable legal uncertainty with regard to the applicable deadlines for the submis- sion of the relevant questionnaires and that the Commis- sion should have been more lenient in applying the statutory deadlines. In fact, the standard notice of initiation applied in this proceeding clearly set out the applicable deadlines and time limits for the submission of all the requisite infor- mation. Furthermore, the Commission provided the parties concerned with additional clarifications concerning the various stages of the proceeding and was available to address any further doubts or questions if necessary. Moreover, exceptional flexibility was accorded to some exporting producers who experienced difficul- ties in submitting the requisite information. Finally, the fact that the Commission services decided not to use sampling was a mere consequence of the limited number of cooperating exporting producers. Since this number was considered to be manageable, the Commission services based their findings on the information duly provided by all cooperating exporting producers. Any allegation of legal uncertainty in this case is therefore unfounded and in any event no exporting producer can be said to have been negatively affected by the decision not to sample or even by the timing of such a decision.