Author: Ann Fornaro
Last saved by: Jay Carreiro
Company: OCIO

Provisional Rules of Ministry of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation on
On-the-spot Verification In Anti-Dumping Investigations
Article 1   With a view to regulating the procedure of on-the-spot verification in anti-dumping investigations, these Rules are formulated in accordance with provisions of the “Anti-Dumping Regulation of the People’s Republic of China”. 

Article 2   The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (hereinafter referred to as MOFTEC) delegates the Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports and Exports to be responsible for implementation of these Rules.

Article 3   The on-the-spot verification provided for in these Rules refers to the procedure under which MOFTEC dispatches its officials to the relevant exporting countries (regions) during the process of the investigation to verify the genuineness, accuracy and completeness of the information and materials submitted by the exporters and producers concerned, and to collect further information and materials needed for the anti-dumping investigation.

Article 4   MOFTEC carries out the on-the-spot verification only on those exporters and producers of the relevant exporting countries (regions) who have been fully cooperative in the investigation.

Article 5   The on-the-spot verification is mainly to verify the information and materials submitted by the exporters and producers, including:

All information and materials in the response to the questionnaire submitted by the exporters and producer;
Information and materials contained in the response to the supplementary questionnaire submitted by the exporters and producers upon the requirement by MOFTEC;
Information and materials submitted to MOFTEC by the exporters and producers on their own initiative;
Other information and materials that MOFTEC considers necessary to verify.
Article 6   MOFTEC may decide, depending upon various situations of each case, whether to carry out an on-the-spot verification. 

Article 7   MOFTEC normally carries out on-the-spot verification after the preliminary determination is made, and may also carry out the verification before the preliminary determination is made, depending upon various situations of each case. 

Article 8   Having decided to carry out an on-the spot verification, MOFTEC shall notify in advance the exporters and producers who are to be verified, and the governments of the countries (regions) where the exporters and producers to be verified are located. 

Article 9   Before the on-the-spot verification is conducted, MOFTEC shall obtain explicit agreement from the exporters and the producers concerned.
 
Article 10   Where the on-the-spot verification is agreed by the exporters and producers concerned, MOFTEC shall notify the governments of the countries (regions) where the exporters and producers to be verified are located of names, addresses of the exporters and producers to be verified, the schedule agreed upon for the verification, and other relevant information.
 
MOFTEC shall not carry out an on-the-spot verification if the government of the countries (regions) where the exporters and producers concerned are located objects to it. 

Article 11   Prior to the on-the-spot verification, MOFTEC shall notify in advance the exporters and producers in question of the concrete timetable for the verification. 

Article 12   The verifying team shall be organized by MOFTEC, and normally consists of the government officials in charge of the anti-dumping investigation.

In exceptional circumstances, MOFTEC may invite non-governmental experts to take part in the on-the-spot verification, provided that the exporters and producers to be verified and the governments of the countries (regions) where they are located are so informed in advance. Such non-governmental experts shall strictly abide by the obligation of confidentiality.

Article 13   The verifying team shall, prior to the on-the-spot verification, notify the exporters and producers in question of the general nature of the information to be verified, and of any further information which needs to be collected. 

The verifying team may, where it considers necessary, issue a detailed list of questions for the verification to the exporters and producers in question prior to the verification.

Article 14    The exporters and producers in question shall well prepare all evidence and materials supporting the information contained in the response to the questionnaire and supplementary questionnaire and shall make them available for the verification.

If the original records of evidence and materials mentioned in the previous Paragraph of this Article are stored in the format of electronic data under a particular computer programme, the exporters and producers in question shall guarantee that such computer programme is workable and that the electronic data can be copied and printed.

Article 15   The exporters and producers subject to the verification shall co-operate actively with the verifying team during the on-the-spot verification and make the staff originally responsible for the  preparation of the  response to the questionnaire and other staff concerned available and able to explain any questions  raised by the verifying team.  

Article 16   The working language for the verification is Chinese, or any other language the verifying team agrees to use. 

Article 17   The verifying team may, depending upon the complicatedness of the case, take a comprehensive approach or a sampling approach to conduct its verification.

Article 18   The on-the-spot verification may be carried out within the scope previously notified, but such scope shall not impede the verifying team to request on the spot further information and materials on the basis of the obtained information and materials. 

Article 19   MOFTEC shall, within a reasonable period after the verification is completed, disclose the result of the verification to the exporters and producers subject to the verification. MOFTEC may disclose a summary of the result of the verification to other interested parties upon their requests provided that the confidential information of the exporters and producers is not involved in such disclosure. 

Article 20   The information and materials provided in the response to the questionnaire and supplementary questionnair e, and the information and materials further collected during the verification will constitute the basis for MOFTEC to determine the dumping and the dumping margin. 

Article 21   Under one of the following circumstances, MOFTEC may make determination of dumping and dumping margin on the basis of facts available and the best information available:

The exporters or producers concerned reject the on-the-spot verification;
The government of the countries (regions) where the exporters and producers to be verified are located objects to the on-the-spot verification;
The exporters or producers fail to actively co-operate in line with the requirement reasonably made by the verifying team; 
The verification fails to be completed as scheduled due to the delay caused by the exporters or producers in question;
Serious problems are discovered during the verification with respect to the genuineness, accuracy and completeness of the information and materials provided by the exporters and producers in question;
There exists obvious fraud or concealment conducted by the exporters and producers in question;
Other activities that impede the on-the-spot verification.
Article 22   In case the export price is constructed in an anti-dumping investigation, or where MOFTEC considers necessary, MOFTEC may carry out an on-the-spot verification on the domestic importers of the product under investigation. Such verification shall be carried out by reference to these Rules. 

Article 23   Upon request by the exporters and producers concerned while the governments of the countries (regions) where they are located has no objection, MOFTEC may dispatch its staffs to the exporting country (region) to explain the questionnaire of the anti-dumpling investigation.

Article 24   MOFTEC shall be responsible for interpretation of these Rules.

Article 25   These Rules shall enter into force from the date of 15 April 2002.