12.2.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 40/17 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 236/2004 of 10 February 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1339/2002 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of sulphanilic acid originating in the People's Republic of China and India THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community () (the basic Regulation), and in particular Article 12(3) thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: A. PROCEDURE 1. Original measures (1)  In July 2002, the Council imposed a definitive anti- dumping duty (the original measure) on imports of sulphanilic acid originating, inter alia, in the People's Republic of China by Regulation (EC) No 1339/2002 (). The country-wide duty rate applicable to the net, free-at- Community frontier price, is 21 %. 2. Request for an anti-absorption reinvestigation On 12 May 2003, a request for a reinvestigation of the measure referred to in recital 1 was lodged pursuant to Article 12 of the basic Regulation. The request was submitted by Sorochimie and Quimigal (the applicants), two producers representing 100 % of the Community production of sulphanilic acid. The applicants submitted sufficient information showing that the anti-dumping duty imposed on sulphanilic acid originating in the People's Republic of China has not led to sufficient movement in the prices in the Community. In fact, the evidence contained in the request showed that export prices and prices delivered (duty unpaid) to final customers in the Community fell significantly following the imposition of the anti-dumping measures, suggesting an increase in dumping which impeded the intended remedial effects of the anti-dumping measures in force. (") OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1972/2002 (O] L 305, 7.11.2002, p. 1). () OJ L 196, 25.7.2002, p. 11. 3. The anti-absorption reinvestigation On 26 June 2003, the Commission announced by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (°) the initiation of a reinvestigation, pursuant to Article 12 of the basic Regulation, of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of sulphanilic acid originating in the People's Republic of China. The Commission officially advised the producers/expor- ters known to be concerned, the representatives of the exporting country, importers and users of the initiation of the reinvestigation. Interested parties were given the opportunity to make their views known in writing and to request a hearing within the time limit set out in the notice of initiation. The Commission sent questionnaires to all parties known to be concerned. Two complete questionnaire replies were received from a Chinese exporter, Sinochem Hebei import and export corporation (Sinochem), and from a user importing directly the product concerned from the People's Republic of China, 3V Sigma, Italy (3V Sigma). It has to be noted, that the investigation which led to the imposi- tion of the original measures (the original investigation) established that sulphanilic acid is imported into the Community directly by the final users of this product. Three other importersfusers declared that they would not reply to the questionnaire because they had only imported very marginal quantities of the product concerned during the investigation period. A fourth importer/user submitted some information but stopped cooperating in the course of the investigation. The investigation period of this reinvestigation (new IP) ran from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003. The new IP was used to determine the current level of export prices and the level of the prices delivered to the final customer in the Community. In establishing whether the prices in the Community had moved sufficiently, the price levels charged during the new IP were compared to those charged during the original investigation period (original IP) which had covered the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001. () O] C 149, 26.6.2003, p. 14.