Turkey Imposes Prior Surveillance Measure on Imports of Solar Cells and Initiates Expiry Review into Chinese-origin Glass Fibre Reinforcement Materials

Hong Kong traders with export interests in Turkey may like to know that a prior surveillance measure will be applied on the importation of solar cells as provided for in Decree No. 2015/9 on a Surveillance Measure for Imports, published in Turkish Official Journal No. 29537 dated 19 November 2015. The prior surveillance measure is going to be implemented regardless of the country of origin, applying therefore to imports from, among others, Hong Kong and mainland China.

That said, only the importation of goods whose unit price is lower than that set down in Decree 2015/9 will be under surveillance. The tariff Statistical Position, definition and unit customs value of the products concerned are illustrated in the following table:

As illustrated in the table, the prior surveillance measure will be applied to the import of the products concerned having a unit customs value of less than 35 US Dollars per kilogram.

The products concerned can only be imported with a certificate of surveillance issued by the Turkish Ministry for Economy and requested by the relevant customs authority at the moment of the customs declaration. In the case where the value or quantity of imports determined by the relevant customs authority at the moment of customs declaration exceeds the value or quantity registered on the certificate of surveillance by up to 5% (inclusive), the difference shall be tolerated and shall not prevent the importation.

The certificates of surveillance, which cannot be transferred to third parties, are valid for a period of six months.

Hong Kong traders with export interests in Turkey may also like to know that Turkey has initiated an expiry review investigation concerning the anti-dumping duties previously imposed on certain glass fibre reinforcement materials originating in mainland China. The expiry review was initiated by Decree No. 2015/50 on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports, published in the Turkish Official Journal, No. 29536, dated 18 November 2015. The products concerned by this investigation currently fall under Tariff Statistical Positions 7019.11.00.00.00, 7019.12.00.00.00, 7019.19.10.00.00, 7019.19.90.00.00, 7019.31.00.00.00, 7019.90.00.10.00 and 7019.90.00.30.00. On the other hand, gravity dies and enclosures destined for the insulation of pipes and tubes are exempted from the scope of the investigation.

The application for the initiation of an expiry review was filed by Cam Elyaf Sanayii A.Ş. The original measures, rates of which had been increased after an interim review completed in 2015 by Decree No. 2015/5 (Turkish Official Journal No. 29329 dated 17 April 2015), had been initially introduced by Decree No. 2011/1 on the Prevention of Unfair Competition from Imports, published in the Turkish Official Journal, No. 27802, dated 31 December 2010.

The anti-dumping duty rates applicable to the products concerned as revised by Decree No. 2015/5 are illustrated in the following table. These continue to remain in force until the completion of the expiry review investigation pursuant to Article 35 of the Regulation on the Prevention of Unfair Competition in Imports.

Within the framework of the expiry review investigation, importers, producers and exporters of the products under investigation will be notified of the initiation of the investigation. Notified parties are required to submit their responses to the questionnaire, in Turkish, within 37 days from the date on which the notification was sent, including the time spent for delivery. For other interested parties who do not or have not received a notification, the 37-day deadline starts as from the publication date of the announcement in the Turkish Official Journal, i.e. 18 November 2015, including the time spent for delivery. Interested parties failing to submit their responses within the deadline will be considered as not cooperating, and the relevant determinations, within the framework of the investigations, will be made based on the facts available, which may lead to unfavourable or less favourable consequences compared to cooperating parties.

In the case where the Turkish Ministry for Economy decides to determine a normal value within the framework of the investigation, interested parties are invited to submit evidence proving that market economy conditions prevail for them in mainland China. If such claim cannot be substantiated by evidence, normal value calculations will be based on a constructed value, the calculation of which will be based on Turkey as the analogue country.