L 168/38 Official Journal of the European Union 28.6.2012 COMMISSION DECISION of 27 June 2012 terminating the anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain concentrated soy protein products originating in the People’s Republic of China (2012/343[EV) 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 9 thereof, After consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROCEDURE 1. INITIATION (1) On 19 April 2011, the Commission announced, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (?) (‘notice of initiation’), the initiation of an anti- dumping proceeding with regard to imports of certain concentrated soy protein products originating in the People’s Republic of China (PRC' or ‘the country concerned’). (2)  The proceeding was initiated as a result of a complaint lodged on 7 March 2011 by Solae Europe S.A. (‘the complainant’) representing a major proportion, in this case more than 25 %, of the total Union production of certain concentrated soy protein products (). The complaint contained evidence of dumping of the said product and of material injury resulting there from, which was considered sufficient to justify the initiation of a proceeding. 2. PARTIES CONCERNED BY THE PROCEEDING (3)  The Commission officially advised the complainant, the other known Union producer, the exporting producers and the representatives of the PRC, importers, suppliers and users known to be concerned, as well as their associ- ations, of the initiation of the proceeding. Interested () O] L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51. () O] C 121, 19.4.2011, p. 71. (®) In spite of its relation with a Chinese group of exporting producers, the complainant is considered to constitute a Union producer, especially since available evidence indicates that exports by that related group to the EU are very limited. parties were given an opportunity to make 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. All oral and written comments submitted by the interested parties were considered and taken into account where appropriate. In view of the apparent high number of exporting producers and unrelated Union importers, sampling was envisaged in the notice of initiation, in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009. In order to enable the Commission to decide whether sampling would be necessary and, if so, to select a sample, all exporting producers and unrelated Union 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 the product concerned during the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010 (‘the investigation period’ or ‘the IP’). The authorities of the PRC were also consulted on the sampling of exporting producers. 2.1. SAMPLING OF EXPORTING PRODUCERS Twenty exporting producers provided the information requested in the sampling exercise and offered cooperation within the deadlines. The EU sales volumes reported by these (groups of) exporting producers repre- sented around 90 % of the imports concerned during the investigation period. Therefore, the cooperation was considered high. Given the high number of (groups of) exporting producers which indicated their willingness to cooperate, it was decided that sampling was necessary with regard to exporting producers. The Commission selected, in accordance with Article 17 of the basic Regulation, a sample based on the largest representative volume of exports which could reasonably be investigated within the time available. The sample thus selected initially consisted of two groups of related companies, representing, inter alia, five individual