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Compendium of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws
in the Western Hemisphere


  1. Steps of the Investigation

    1. Conduct Verification

      a. Antidumping

      WTO Standard: In order to verify information provided or to obtain further details, the authorities may carry out investigations in the territory of other Members as required, provided they obtain the agreement of the firms concerned and notify the representatives of the government of the Member in question, and unless the Member objects to the investigation. The procedures described in Annex I [to the Agreement] shall apply to investigations carried out in the territory of other Members. Subject to the requirement to protect confidential information, the authorities shall make the results of any such investigations available or shall provide disclosure thereof [...], to the firms to which they pertain and may make such results available to the applicants. (AD Agreement, Art. 6.7)


Argentina

   The standard of Article 43 of Decree 2121/94 is complementary to the standard of the Agreement, which is directly applied.

   For the purpose of verifying the information submitted by a party, or obtaining further information, the competent implementing authority may decide to carry out investigations in the country or abroad.

   Verifications abroad must have the prior consent of the firms involved and the government of the country in question.

   In the case of verifications to be carried out in the national territory, the party concerned will facilitate the verification requested by the competent implementing authority. (Decree 2121/94, Art. 43).

Bolivia

   The Technical Secretariat shall verify the information provided in response to the questionnaires or submitted in the course of the investigation.

   For this purpose, it may visit the domiciles of the parties involved in the investigation, including those of the complainant, the exporter, the foreign producer and the importer; the Technical Secretariat shall restrict itself to verifying the documents in the file or checking those whose examination has been ordered.

   The Technical Secretariat may also verify prices through other sources which it seems important for the investigation.

   In particular, it shall take into account the information provided by the inspection bodies legally established in Bolivia.

   The information and evidence provided regarding production costs or the subsidy received may be verified in the country of origin or source if the government authority concerned and, where appropriate, the manufacturer of the product agree to verification.

   Where the government of the exporting country or, where appropriate, the manufacturer of the product subject to investigation does not agree to verification, the Technical Secretariat shall determine countervailing measures on the basis of the best available information. Bi-ministerial Decision, Art. 19.

Brazil

   In order to verify information provided, SECEX may carry out investigations in the territory of other members as required, provided SECEX obtain the agreement of the firms concerned and the representatives of the government of the member in question are notified and do not object to the investigation. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 30.1). Upon initiating an investigation, the government of the exporting country and the interested companies will be informed of the intention to carry out on-the-spot investigations. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 65).

   In exceptional circumstances, the verifiers may include non-government experts.

   In such cases the companies and exporting country authorities will be informed. These experts will keep the information confidential, subject to the penalties for violation contained in Art. 325 of the Brazilian Penal Code. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 65.1).

   Whenever possible the parties being verified will be told before the visit is made the response to their questions or enquiries. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 65.7).

   Subject to the requirements to protect confidential information, the authorities shall make the results of any such investigations available or shall provide disclosure thereof to the firms to which they pertain and may make such results available to the other interested parties. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 30.3).

   On-the-spot investigations may be carried out in interested companies located in Brazilian territory, provided that said companies have given their prior authorization. (Dec. 1602/95 - Art. 30.2).

Canada

   For the preliminary decision, the estimated margin of dumping is based as much as possible on verified data.

   However, the requirement for an on-site visit to verify information submitted is at the option of Revenue Canada and a decision not to conduct a verification exercise does not in any way preclude using the data submitted.

   In investigations where it is impossible to visit all exporters, the larger exporters are normally visited to verify their submissions.

   Before any on-site verification visit takes place, Revenue Canada contacts the respondent to confirm arrangements and to advise, in a general manner, the data that will be verified and should be made available at the time of the visit.

   Following the preliminary determination, verification may consist of visiting additional firms not visited during the first 90 day period, verifying new information or re-visiting exporters for clarification of certain issues.

Chile

   The Commission may conduct investigations in other countries as necessary, provided that it has given due notice to the government of the country concerned, and that that government does not object to the investigation. In addition, the Commission may conduct investigations on the premises of a company, and may examine its books, provided that

         a) it obtains permission from the company, and

         b) it notifies the government of the country concerned, and that government does not object. Investigations on the premises of a company are to be conducted in accordance with the procedures established in Annex VI of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

   Without prejudice to the provisions regarding the protection of confidential information, the Commission shall make the results of these investigations available to the companies to which they refer, or it shall provide them information on those results, and may also provide such results to the petitioners. (Supreme Decree No. 16, Ministry of External Relations, published in the Diario Oficial on May 17, 1995).

Colombia

   Even though there are no provisions on the subject in Colombias Decree 299 of 1995, the practices are carried out in conformity with Article 5 of the Agreement on Application of Article VI of the General Agreement and Tariffs and Trade of 1994 and Article 12 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

Costa Rica

   In order to verify information provided or to obtain further details, the authorities may carry out investigations in other countries as required, provided they obtain the agreement of the firm concerned and provided they notify the representatives of the government of the country in question and unless the latter object to the investigation.

   The procedures [...] shall apply to verifications carried out in exporting countries.

   The authorities shall, subject to the requirement to protect confidential information, make the results of any verifications available or provide disclosure thereof [...] to the firms to which they pertain and may make such results available to the applicants.

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

   There is no specific provision but El Salvador applies the rules in accordance with the WTO Antidumping Agreement.

Guatemala

Honduras

Jamaica

   The Board examines and obtains verification of the documents submitted to it. (Sec. 17).

Mexico

   The Ministry "may verify" the information and evidence submitted during the investigation, and "for that purpose may issue a written order authorizing a search of the legal domicile, the establishment or the place where the relevant information is located. . .". (I/84).

   "Information and evidence submitted by the interested parties may be verified in the country of origin if the interested partes so agree.

   Without their consent, the Ministry shall assume that the requesting party's claims are true, unless there exist elements which indicate otherwise". (I/83).

   Detailed records of the searches shall be drawn up in the presence of two witnesses provided by the party subject to the search or, in the absence of the said party or in the event that the said party refuses to provide witnesses, by the authority in charge of the proceedings. (I/83).

   There is no explicit statement that the parties shall have access to the report, but the Regulations so imply: they provide the interested parties the opportunity to submit their opinions or objections on the content of the report. (II/173-VII).

   Since the Law and its Regulations fail to indicate the period during which a verification visit should be made, the investigating authority shall observe the provisions of the corresponding articles of the Antidumping Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies, as well as paragraph 7 of Appendix 1 to the Antidumping Agreement and paragraph VI of the Agreement on Subsidies, respectively.

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

   The evidence and information submitted by each of the interested parties shall be made known to each of the parties involved, except for that which has been consigned as confidential information, which will be treated as such by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Nonetheless, in this case, the party that submits such information must provide non-confidential summaries of it or, in exceptional circumstances when this is not possible, set forth the reasons why such summaries cannot be provided.

   When in the view of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce the application for certain information to be considered confidential is not justified, and the party that has provided it does not wish to authorize its disclosure in general or summarized terms, unless it is shown convincingly, from an appropriate source, that the information is correct.

   The Ministry of Industry and Commerce, when it deems it necessary, may undertake investigations and produce the pertinent evidence in the territory of the exporting country so long as the exporting countries have so authorized, the authorities of the respective Government have been notified, and they have not presented any objection.

Peru

Santa Lucia

Trinidad and Tobago

   For the purpose of verifying the information submitted by a party.

   The Authority may carry out an investigation in the territory of another country if the circumstances warrant provided that the Authority notifies such country in advance and such country does not object.

   The Authority may carry out an investigation at the premises of a commercial organisation situated in the territory of another or may examine its records if such organisation agrees and if the country raises no objection.

   The same applies in the case of a subsidy or countervail investigation.

United States

   1. COMMERCE

   In an AD investigation, Commerce must conduct a verification of the submitted data at the respondents' premises in order to verify the accuracy and completeness of submitted factual information.

   During the investigation phase of an AD proceeding, verifications almost always occur after Commerce issues the preliminary determination.

   During the administrative review phase, however, verification typically occurs prior to the preliminary determination.

   In administrative reviews, verifications are not mandatory (except every third year, if no verification was conducted in the previous two years).

   As part of the verification process, Commerce representatives meet with company officials and review accounting and financial records as well as other records deemed relevant.

   2. ITC

   The ITC has the authority to verify the information submitted in the petition and in questionnaire responses.

   Additionally, ITC representatives will often visit the production facilities of domestic producers to familiarize themselves with the product subject to the investigation and the production process.

Uruguay

Venezuela

   ". . . the Technical Secretariat shall collect all the information it deems necessary on the dumping or the subsidies and on the injury which they cause or might cause. For this purpose, the Technical Secretariat may, when it deems appropriate, examine the books of the importers, exporters or other traders involved in the transactions concerned".

   The Technical Secretariat can also conduct investigations in third countries, preliminary examination of the firms implicated and only if no opposition exists on the part of the government of the interested country. (1992 Law, Art. 43).

 
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