European Commission decides to register imported products

On September 24, 2024, the European Commission (“ committee‘) decided to register all imported products subject to anti-dumping or countervailing investigations. Registration also applies to ongoing investigations where a provisional decision has not yet been taken.

According to Article 14(5) of the Basic Anti-dumping Regulations and Article 24(5) of the Basic Countervailing Regulations, imported products shall be registered according to the requirements of the Alliance Industry, and the Alliance Industry has sufficient evidence to prove the reasonableness of such actions. Imports may also require proactive registration by the Commission.

This possibility allows the Commission to order the customs authorities of a Member State to register imports of products subject to anti-dumping or countervailing investigations, with a view to taking measures against these imports from the date of the registration. Registration is expected to be carried out by Member State customs authorities through individual implementing regulations in accordance with instructions from the Commission.

So far, such automatic registration has only existed in the context of anti-circumvention investigations. For original surveys, import volumes are generally recorded Only upon reasonable request of Alliance Industries. In the future, registration will be greatly enhanced.

The purpose of registering the import of the product under investigation is to enable Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are retroactively levied if legal conditions are met.

While this European Commission decision aims to protect European industry from potentially serious harm in the event of an increase in unfairly dumped or subsidized imports, it adds European importers, users and distributors face uncertainty, often small and medium-sized companies that rely on third-party markets. Goods will be registered on the first day of the investigation and, conversely, the applicable anti-dumping or countervailing rates will be known for the first time nine months later when provisional measures are taken. This unpredictability will have a significant impact on the cash flows and supply chains of these downstream companies. The question of the Commission’s compliance with WTO rules legitimately arises…

For more information please refer to the article: News article – European Commission decision – Registration of imported products subject to trade defense investigation

***

Our team is always available to provide you with more information at the following address: brussels@dsavocats.com.