Commonwealth of australia

Customs Act 1901

Instrument of Approval No. TMRO 1999/1

Approval of form for application for review of a decision whether to publish

a dumping duty notice or a countervailing duty notice

I, Geoffrey Arthur Hine, a person acting in the office of Trade Measures Review Officer, approve, under subsection 269ZXA of the Customs Act 1901, the form set out in the Schedule as the form for applying for review of a decision referred to in paragraph 269ZZA (a) or (b) of that Act (that is, a decision of the Minister whether to publish a dumping duty notice or countervailing duty notice).

Dated 1 April 1999.

G. A. Hine

SCHEDULE

APPLICATION TO

TRADE MEASURES REVIEW OFFICER

FOR REVIEW OF A DECISION

WHETHER TO PUBLISH

A DUMPING DUTY NOTICE, OR

A COUNTERVAILING DUTY NOTICE

DECLARATION

I hereby request, in accordance with Section 269ZZA of the Customs Act 1901, that the Trade Measures Review Officer review a decision by the Minister responsible for Customs:

to publish :  a dumping duty notice(s), or

  a countervailing duty notice(s)

OR

not to publish :  a dumping duty notice(s), or

  a countervailing duty notice(s)

in respect of the goods which are the subject of this application.

I believe that the information contained in the application:

• provides reasonable grounds for a review to be undertaken; and
• is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature: ….………………………………………………………………………..

Name: …………………………………….…………………………………………

Position: ……….…………………………………………………………………….

Company: ......………..……………………………………………………….........

Date:            /            /

NOTE: This page must be completed by the applicant and attached to the front of the application.

 Parties engaging a consultant or adviser to act on their behalf should enclose a copy of the authorisation for the consultant/adviser.

 If the application contains material that is confidential or commercially sensitive, a non‑confidential version, containing sufficient detail to give other interested parties a clear and reasonable understanding of the information being put forward, must be provided or the application will not be accepted.

REVIEWABLE DECISIONS

Division 9 of Part XVB of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) deals with reviews by the Trade Measures Review Officer (the Review Officer).  Where a party is of the opinion that grounds exist to review a reviewable decision by the Minister, that party has the right to seek a review.  Intending applicants should familiarise themselves with the relevant sections of the Act, and should also examine the explanatory brochure produced by the Trade Measures Review Secretariat.

The role of the Review Officer is to review certain decisions made by the Minister responsible for Customs, or by the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Customs Service (the CEO).

Decisions made by the Minister which are reviewable:

- to publish a dumping duty notice;

- to publish a countervailing duty notice;

- not to publish a dumping duty notice; and

- not to publish a countervailing duty notice.

Note : The Review Officer has the power only to make recommendations to the Minister.  The Review Officer may not revoke the Minister’s decision or substitute another decision.

Decisions not reviewable by this process include decisions by the Minister:

- to accept an undertaking in respect of a dumping or subsidy matter;

- to vary the amount of the ascertained normal value, export price and non-injurious price imposed by an existing notice;

- to continue or not to continue dumping or countervailing measures; and

- following a review by the Review Officer.

REVIEW OF A MINISTERIAL DECISION

Any interested party may lodge an application for review.  An “interested party” may be:

- the original applicant for dumping or countervailing measures;

- a party representing the industry, or a portion of the industry, which produces the goods which are the subject of the reviewable decision;

- a party directly concerned with the importation or exportation to Australia of the goods;

- a party directly concerned with the production or manufacture of the goods;

- a trade association, the majority of whose members are directly concerned with the production or manufacture, or the import or export of the goods to Australia; or

- the government of the country from which the goods originated or were exported.

Intending applicants should refer to section 269ZX of the Act to establish whether they are eligible to apply.

THE APPLICATION

An application for a review must be received within 30 days after a public notice of the reviewable decision was first published in a national Australian newspaper.

An application must clearly and comprehensively set out the grounds on which a review is sought, and provide sufficient particulars concerning the challenged finding or findings to satisfy the Review Officer that a reinvestigation of these could lead to a change to the reviewable decision to which the application relates.  It is not sufficient simply to request that a decision be reviewed.

The Review Officer does not have any investigative function, and will take account only of information to which the CEO had regard, or was required to have regard, when making recommendations to the Minister.  The Review Officer will disregard any information in applications and submissions which was not available to the CEO.

TIMING OF THE REVIEW

The Review Officer will recommend to the Minister within 60 days of the public notification of the review - but not sooner than 30 days from the publication of the notice - that the reviewable decision be affirmed, or that the CEO be directed to reinvestigate the finding or findings which formed the basis of the reviewable decision.  In special circumstances the Minister may allow the Review Officer a longer period for completion of the review.

INFORMATION WHICH MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION

• Name, street and postal address, and form of business of the applicant (for example company, partnership, sole trader).
• Name; title/position; telephone and facsimile numbers; and e-mail address of a contact within the organisation.
• Name of consultant (if any) representing the applicant.
• Specified interest in a review.  (Refer to categories of interested parties listed under “Review of a Ministerial Decision”, above).
• Full description of the imported goods to which the application relates.
• The tariff classification/statistical code of the imported goods.
• Where applicable, the number and title of the Australian Customs Service report relating to the decision in question.
• The finding or findings in that report that the Review Officer is being asked to review, (such as like goods, Australian industry, export prices, normal values, dumping, material injury, causal link, threat of material injury, non-injurious price).
• A detailed statement setting out the ground or grounds which would, in the applicant’s view, warrant the reinvestigation of the finding or findings which formed the basis of the decision by the Minister whether to publish a dumping duty notice or a countervailing duty notice.  Such a statement must accompany each claim in an application for review.

WHERE TO LODGE THE APPLICATION

Applications must be lodged with, or mailed to:

FURTHER INFORMATION