L 75/12 Official Journal of the European Union 21.3.2003 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 510/2003 of 20 March 2003 imposing provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of paracresol originating in the People's Republic of China 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 (‘) (basic Regulation), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1972/ 2002 (3, and in particular Article 7 thereof, After consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: () () ) A. PROCEDURE On 27 June 2002, the Commission announced by a notice (Notice of Initiation) published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding with regard to imports into the Community of paracresol originating in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The anti-dumping proceeding was initiated following a complaint lodged on 13 May 2002 by Degussa Knot- tingley Ltd, the sole producer in the Community repre- senting therefore 100 % of the Community production of paracresol. The complaint contained evidence of dumping of the said product and of material injury resulting therefrom, which was considered sufficient to justify the initiation of a proceeding. The Commission officially advised the exporting produ- cers and importers/traders known to be concerned as well as their associations, the representatives of the exporting countries concerned, users, and the complai- nant Community producers of the initiation of the proceeding. Interested parties were given the opportu- nity to make their views known in writing and to request a hearing within the time limit set in the Notice of Initiation. A number of parties made their views known in writing. All parties who so requested within the time limit and showed that there were particular reasons why they should be heard were granted the opportunity to be heard orally. In view of the large number of Chinese exporting produ- cers listed in the complaint, the Commission indicated that it might be necessary to apply sampling in accor- dance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation. In order to enable the Commission to decide whether sampling would be necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. L 305, 7.11.2002, p. 1. C 153, 27.6.2002, p. 7 exporting producers were requested to make themselves known to the Commission and to provide, as specified in the Notice of Initiation, basic information on their activities related to the product concerned during the investigation period (1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002). After examination of the information submitted by exporting producers and due to the low number of replies to the sampling questions, it was decided that sampling was not necessary. In order to allow exporting producers in the PRC to submit a claim for market economy treatment (MET) or individual treatment (IT), if they so wished, the Commis- sion sent claim forms to the Chinese exporting produ- cers known to be concerned. Claims for MET and IT were received from two exporting producers. The Commission sent questionnaires to parties known to be concerned and to all the other companies that made themselves known within the deadlines set out in the Notice of Initiation. Replies were received from the complaining Community producer, two exporting producers, one producer in the analogue country and seven users. The Commission sought and verified all the information it deemed necessary for the purpose of a preliminary determination of dumping, resulting injury and Commu- nity interest. Verification visits were carried out at the premises of the following companies: (a) Exporting producers — Nanjing Jingmei Chemical Co, Ltd, People's Republic of China, — Shandong Reipu Chemicals Co, Ltd, People's Republic of China; (b) Analogue country producer — Merisol USA LLC, United States of America; (c) Community producers — Degussa Knottingley Ltd, United Kingdom; (d) Users — BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany. The investigation of dumping and injury covered the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 (investiga- tion period or IP). The examination of trends in the context of the injury analysis covered the period from 1 January 1998 to the end of the IP (period under consid- eration).