Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/362 of 17 February 2026 making imports of benzyl alcohol originating in the People’s Republic of China subject to registration with a view to allowing the levy of anti-dumping duties on the imports subject to registration

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union (1) (‘the basic Regulation’) and in particular Article 14(5) thereof,

After informing the Member States,

Whereas:

(1) On 19 December 2025, the European Commission (‘the Commission’) announced, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding with regard to imports into the Union of benzyl alcohol originating in the People’s Republic of China.

(2) This initiation followed a complaint lodged on 10 November 2025 by LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, LANXESS Chemical B.V. and Vynova Advanced Organics Maastricht B.V., collectively representing more than 25 % of the total Union production of benzyl alcohol.

(3) The product subject to registration (‘the product concerned’) is benzyl alcohol (also known as phenylmethanol, benzenemethanol, phenylcarbinol and hydroxytoluene), an aromatic alcohol, usually falling under the Chemicals Abstract Services (CAS) number 100-51-6 and the Customs and Statistics Number (CUS) 0011660-9, and originating in the People’s Republic of China.

(4) The product concerned is currently classified under CN code 2906 21 00 . The CN code is given for information only and without prejudice to a subsequent change in the tariff classification.

(5) Under Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation, imports of the product concerned may be made subject to registration.

(6) The purpose of registration is to ensure that anti-dumping duties, if any, can be levied retroactively on the imports subject to registration in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, if the necessary conditions are met.

(7) The Commission has decided to make imports of the product concerned subject to registration on its own initiative under Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation. The conditions for retroactive collection of duties will be assessed in the regulation imposing definitive duties if any.

(8) Any future liability would emanate from the findings of the anti-dumping investigation.

(9) The calculations provided in the complaint requesting the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation estimate a dumping margin of 79 % and an injury elimination level between 25 % and 55 % for the product concerned for the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025. The amount of possible future liability would normally be set at the lower of the dumping or injury level according to Article 9(4) of the basic Regulation.

(10) If, during the investigation, the Commission finds evidence of raw material distortions pursuant to Article 7(2a) of the basic Regulation, the amount of possible future liability would be set at the level of the dumping margin as provided for in Article 7(2b) of the basic Regulation if it is concluded that a duty lower than the margin of dumping would not be sufficient to remove the injury suffered by the Union industry.

(11) However, at this stage the Commission is not in a position to estimate the amount of possible future liability. Thus, the amounts mentioned in the complaint are only for information purposes and cannot create any expectations as to the actual level of liability which will be established as a result of the investigation.

(12) Any personal data collected in the context of this registration will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 17 February 2026.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/1036/oj.

(2) OJ C, C/2025/6741, 19.12.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6741/oj.

(3) Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj).