L 318/10 Official Journal of the European Union 15.11.2012 COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1071/2012 of 14 November 2012 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of threaded tube or pipe cast fittings, of malleable cast iron, originating in the People’s Republic of China and Thailand THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (') (the basic Regulation), and in particular Article 7 thereof, After consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: (") ¢ O] 0] A. PROCEDURE 1. Initiation On 16 February 2012, the European Commission (the Commission) announced, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (3) (Notice of Initi- ation), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding with regard to imports into the Union of threaded tube or pipe cast fittings, of malleable cast iron, originating in the People’s Republic of China (the PRC), Thailand and Indonesia (the countries concerned). The proceeding was initiated as a result of a complaint lodged on 3 January 2012 by the Defence Committee of Tube or Pipe Cast Fittings, of Malleable Cast Iron of the European Union (the complainant) on behalf of producers representing more than 50 %, of the total Union production of threaded tube or pipe cast fittings of malleable cast iron (‘threaded malleable fittings'). The complaint contained prima facie evidence of dumping of the said product and of material injury resulting therefrom, which was considered sufficient to justify the initiation of an investigation. 2. Parties concerned by the proceeding The Commission officially advised the complainant, the Union producers, the exporting producers, unrelated importers, users and the representatives of the exporting countries of the initiation of the investigation. The Commission also advised producers in Argentina as it was envisaged as a possible analogue country. Interested parties were given an opportunity to make L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51. C 44, 16.2.2012, p. 33. their views known in writing and to request a hearing within the time limit set in the Notice of Initiation. All interested parties, who so requested and showed that there were particular reasons why they should be heard, were granted a hearing. In view of the large number of exporting producers in the PRC, Union producers and unrelated importers, sampling was envisaged in the Notice of Initiation in accordance 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 exporting producers in the PRC, Union producers and unrelated importers were asked to make themselves known to the Commission and to provide, as specified in the Notice of Initiation, basic information on their activities related to threaded malleable fittings (as defined in Section B Below) for the period from 1.1.2011 to 31.12.2011. No sampling was envisaged for the exporting producers in the other two countries concerned, Thailand and Indonesia. 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 Commission sent claim forms to the exporting producers in the PRC known to be concerned and to the Chinese authorities. Two companies requested MET pursuant to Article 2(7) of the basic Regulation, and four companies requested IT pursuant to Article 9(5) of the basic Regulation. The Commission officially disclosed the MET findings to the exporting producers concerned in the PRC, the Chinese authorities and the complainant. They were also given an opportunity to make their views known in writing. As regards the Union producers and as duly explained in recital (29) below, six Union producers provided the requested information and agreed to be included in a sample. On the basis of the information received from the cooperating Union producers, the Commission selected a sample of three Union producers on the basis of their sales volume. As explained in recital (31) below, 33 unrelated importers provided the requested information and agreed to be included in the sample. On the basis of the information received from these parties, the Commission selected a sample of nine importers having the largest volume of imports to the Union and their geographic location in the Union. As one importer did not submit a questionnaire reply, the final sample consisted of the remaining eight importers.