30.4.98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 128/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 904/98 of 27 April 1998 imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports into the Community of personal fax machines originating in the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand 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 ('), and in particular Article 9(4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commis- sion after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROCEDURE (1)  Provisional anti-dumping duties were imposed on 1 November 1997 by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2140/97 () (hereinafter referred to as the ‘provi- sional duty Regulation’). Following the imposition of the provisional anti- dumping duties, the Community industry, two exporters’ associations, a number of producers/ exporters and importers submitted comments in writing. All parties who so requested were granted a hearing. (2) The Commission continued to seek and verify all information it deemed necessary for the definitive findings, and carried out investigations at the premises of a number of importers related to exporters from the countries concerned. The parties were informed of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was intended to recommend the imposition of a defin- itive anti-dumping duty and the collection of amounts secured by way of the provisional duty. The parties were also granted a reasonable period () OJ L 56, 6. 3. 1996, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 2331/96 (OJ L 317, 6. 12. 1996, p. 1). ®) OJ L 297, 31. 10. 1997, p. 61. within which to make representations subsequent to the disclosures. B. PRODUCT UNDER CONSIDERATION AND LIKE PRODUCT The proceeding covers personal or consumer fax machines (hereinafter referred to as ‘personal fax machines’ or ‘product concerned’). These machines are mainly intended for the transmission and reception of paper documents using a telephone signal, are often used at home or as a personal desktop set and usually offer additional facilities for communication. In addition to the fax function and telephone(s) and/or connection(s) for a tele- phone set or cordless hand-set, they may or may not include a paper feeder and offer one or more of the following functions: a cassette or digital answering function, a copy function or an intercom facility. The above list is not exhaustive. For the purpose of its preliminary findings, the Commission distinguished personal or consumer fax machines from professional fax machines by virtue of their weight and size. Only fax machines with a weight of five kilograms or less and with dimensions (width x depth x height) of the main body measuring 470 mm x 450 mm x 170 mm or less, were considered as personal or consumer fax machines for the purposes of the present invest- igation. For the purpose of assessing the weight and dimensions, the paper load and other consumables, as well as any cordless hand-sets, were excluded. It was furthermore considered that, at present, fax machines using inkjet or laser printing techno- logies are aimed only at professional use and con- sequently the machines using these technologies were excluded from the application of the provi- sional anti-dumping duty. Personal fax machines are currently classifiable under CN code 8517 21 00.