28. 6. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 166/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 1812/91 of 24 June 1991 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of espadrilles originating in the People’s Republic of China and definitively collecting the provisional anti-dumping duty THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 of 11 July 1988 on protection against dumped or subsi- dized imports from countries not members of the Euro- pean Economic community ('), and in particular Article 12 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, submitted after consultation within the Advisory Committee as provided for by that Regulation, Whereas, A. PROVISIONAL MEASURES (1) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3798/90() imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of espadrilles originating in the People’s Republic of China falling within CN codes ex 64041990 and ex 64052099. This duty was extended for a period of two months by Regulation (EEC) No 1051/91 (. B. SUBSEQUENT PROCEDURE (2)  Following the imposition of the provisional anti- dumping duty, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Chinese Chamber of Commerce’, acting on behalf of the three producer/exporters specified in Regula- tion (EEC) No 3798/90, who were joined by a fourth  producer/exporter — the Shanghai Stationery and Sporting Goods Import and Export Corporation — which had not previously made itself known to the Commission, requested, and was granted, a hearing by the Commission. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce also made its views known in writing. : (3)  The three importers’ associations which had previ- ously responded, together with three importers and " a group of nine importers who had not previously () OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. () OJ No L 365, 28. 12. 1990, p. 25. () OJ No L 107, 27. 4. 1991, p. 1. ) ) ® made themselves known to the Commission, also requested, and were granted, hearings and made their views known in writing. The complainant also requested, and was granted, a hearing. The parties concerned were informed of, and implemented, all the procedures for exercising their rights under Article 7 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88. \ In particular, they were informed in writing, at their own request, of the essential facts and consi- derations upon which the Commission proposed to base its recommendation that a definitive duty be imposed with definitive collection of the amounts secured by way of the provisional duty. They were also given the opportunity to make comments after receiving this information. The Commission studied these reactions and took account of a number of the views expressed in its definitive conclusions, which are approved by the Council. The Commission’s dumping investigation covered the period from 1 January 1988 to 31 December 1988. Several parties criticized the choice of this reference period on the grounds that it was too remote from the initiation of the proceedings. In addition to the reasons given by the Commis- sion in recital (8) of Regulation (EEC) No 3798/90, where this selection was justified in terms of the Commission’s determination to gather the fullest - possible and most easily verifiable information from generally small Community producers and importers, the Council considers that this selection will have only a limited effect on the measure itself. None of the indicators points to a fall in the normal value in 1989. C. PRODUCT COVERED BY THE INVESTIGATION The group of importers mentioned in (3) above asked the Commission to reconsider its provisional conclusions, as set out in recitals (9) and (10) of