L 22/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 29.1.1999 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 194/1999 of 25 January 1999 imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of hardboard originating in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia and definitively collecting the provisional duties imposed 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. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Provisional measures (1)  Provisional anti-dumping measures were imposed in the present proceeding on 6 August 1998 by Regulation (EC) No 1742/98 (%) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Provisional Regulation’). Undertakings were offered and accepted from the cooperating exporting producers in all the countries concerned except Russia. 2. Subsequent procedure )] Following the imposition of the provisional meas- ures, certain exporting producers, importers and Community wusers of the product concerned submitted comments in writing. Those parties who so requested were granted an opportunity to be heard. (3) Since the publication of the Provisional Regulation, investigations were carried out at the premises of the following companies which are users of the product concerned in the manufacture of doors: — Svedex BV, Netherlands, — Swedoor, a division of Nobia Nordisk Byggin- terior AB, Sweden (two production plants), — Righini SA, France, — Huet SA, France, — Theuma Deurenindustrie NV, Belgium. A non-complainant producer of eucalyptus hard- board was also visited, namely: (") OJ L 56, 6. 3. 1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 905/98 (O] L 128, 30. 4. 1998, p. 18). () OJ L 218, 6. 8. 1998, p. 16. — Industria de Fibras de Madeira, Portugal, as was the following unrelated importer of hard- board: — Firma Christian Kréger GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. B. PRODUCT UNDER CONSIDERATION AND LIKE PRODUCT 1. Product under consideration The product under consideration in this anti- dumping proceeding is hardboard. Hardboard is defined as fibreboard of wood or other ligneous materials, whether or not bonded with resins or other organic substances and with a density exceeding 0.8 g/cm?, currently classifiable under CN codes ex 4411 11 00 and ex 4411 19 00. Hardboard is exclusively obtained from a ‘wet production process’ (as opposed to dry-process tibreboards as described below) and normally has a density of 800 to 1050 kg/m?® and is made in thick- nesses between 1,8 to 6,0 mm. Hardboard is typically used in the manufacture of furniture, in the construction and automotive industries, for door skins and for packaging, espe- cially fruit and vegetable packaging. 2. ‘Thin’ dry-process fibreboards After the imposition of the provisional anti- dumping measures, a number of importers and users continued to argue for an extension to the product scope of the proceeding. In particular, they argued that the so-called thin forms (less than 6 mm thickness) of dry-process fibreboards such as medium- and high-density fibreboard (thin MDF and HDF) and hardboard have essentially the same end uses, and therefore together form a single product. It was therefore alleged that the scope of the analysis of dumping, injury and Community interest should also include all these products. On the basis of the information submitted up to the provisional stage, a preliminary assessment of the extent to which the end uses of hardboard and thin dry-process fibreboards overlap was made.