Proposed Amendments to the Dumping and Subsidy Manual
The Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) has sought comments on proposed changes to the Dumping and Subsidy Manual. The Manual explains the practices used by the ADC in administering the antidumping and countervailing system and aims to promote a consistent approach in work undertaken by the ADC.
A number of amendments have been proposed to the Manual which focus on explaining and clarifying a number of key areas of the ADC’s current policy and practice.
In response to the call for comments, the International Law Section’s International Trade and Business Law Committee (ITBLC) has provided a number of suggestions regarding the proposed amendments, including:
a) Clarification of the difference between the headings of “Context” and “Policy” throughout the document;
b) Inclusion of a statement which notes that the description of the goods in the application must be an accurate description of the goods actually being imported, not the range of goods that may be produced by the applicant;
c) Notice that tariff classification will not be determinative of whether any goods are “like goods” but may indicate that they are “like goods” (an alternative assessment is further proposed at page 12);
d) Removal of the addition of the word “appears” in Section 5.3; e. Removal of the term “immediate” in Section 24; and f. Inclusion of reference to section 269TG and section 269TJ of Customs Act 1901 (Cth) in the amendment to Section 29.1.
In addition, the ITBLC has also chosen to comment on some more general aspects of the Manual in the latter half of the submission in the hopes that this may be of assistance to the ADC.
You can read the full submission below.