23.12.2005 Official Journal of the European Union L 340(7 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2116/2005 of 20 December 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1480/2003 imposing a definitive countervailing duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of certain electronic microcircuits known as DRAMs (dynamic random access memories) originating in the Republic of Korea THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2026/97 of 6 October 1997 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (!) (the basic Regulation), and in particular Article 24(3) thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROCEDURE 1. Existing measures By Regulation (EC) No 1480/2003 (3 (the original Regu- lation), the Council imposed a definitive countervailing duty of 34,8 % (the countervailing duty) on imports of certain electronic microcircuits known as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) originating in the Republic of Korea and manufactured by all companies other than Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (Samsung), for which a 0 % duty rate was established. Two exporting producers located in the Republic of Korea cooperated in the investigation which lead to the imposition of the existing measures (the original investi- gation), Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., which also owns a production facility in the United States. The Community industry in the original investigation consisted of two producers which accounted for the major proportion of the total Community production of DRAMs, Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, and Micron Europe Ltd, Crowthorne, United Kingdom. (") OJ L 288, 21.10.1997, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 461/2004 (O] L 77, 13.3.2004, p. 12). () O] L 212, 22.8.2003, p. 1. 2. Grounds for the current investigation In the context of the monitoring of trade defence measures, the Commission was informed that the count- ervailing duty in force on imports of DRAMs originating in the Republic of Korea was possibly not being levied on certain imports of said DRAMs. 3. Opening of an investigation On 22 March 2005, by a notice (the notice) published in the Official Journal of the European Union (), the Commission announced the opening of an investigation with a view to determining to what extent special provisions may need to be adopted in accordance with Article 24(3) of the basic Regulation in order to ensure that the countervailing duty is correctly levied on imports of DRAMs originating in the Republic of Korea. 4. Submissions The Commission officially advised the authorities of the exporting country and all the parties known to be concerned of the opening of this investigation. Copies of the notice and of the non-confidential documents on the basis of which the notice was published were sent to the two exporting producers in the Republic of Korea, as well as to importers, users and to the two producers in the Community, named in the original investigation or otherwise known to the Commission. 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. Submissions were received from the two exporting producers in the Republic of Korea and from the two producers and one user in the Community. Given the availability of all necessary information and data needed, it was not considered necessary to carry out verification visits at the premises of the companies that made the above submissions. () O] C 70, 22.3.2005, p. 2.