Imposition of Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act , 1968

1 Definitions.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“anti-dumping duty” means a duty imposed under section 14 of this Act;

“the Commission” means An Coimisiún Dumpála established under section 4 of this Act;

“country” includes territory, area and place;

“countervailing duty” means a duty imposed under section 18 of this Act;

“dumping” means, in relation to goods, importing goods whose fair market price exceeds their export price, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“duty” means duty of customs;

“export price” means, in relation to goods, the price of the goods determined under section 2 of this Act;

“injurious dumping” means dumping that causes or threatens to cause material injury to an industry in the State or retards materially the establishment of an industry in the State;

“margin of dumping” means, in relation to goods, the amount by which the fair market price of the goods exceeds the export price of the goods;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce, but where, but for this provision, a power, function or duty under this Act would fall to be exercised or fulfilled by that Minister in relation to any goods which are an agricultural product within the meaning of the Agricultural and Fishery Products (Regulation of Export) Act, 1947, and in respect of which the powers of the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries under that Act are not vested for the time being in the Minister, the power, function or duty aforesaid shall be exercised or fulfilled by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries and “Minister” shall be construed accordingly;

“fair market price” means, in relation to goods, the price of the goods determined under section 3 of this Act;

“produced” includes grown and manufactured in whole or in part and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“provisional duty” means a duty imposed under section 13 of this Act;

“subsidy” has the meaning assigned to it by section 19 of this Act.

(2) References in this Act to the country in which goods were produced shall be taken, in a case where there are two or more countries which answer to that description, as a reference to any of those countries.

(3) References in this Act to the country from which goods are exported are, in the case of goods exported to the State, references to the country from which they were consigned to the State and goods which in course of consignment from any country to the State pass through or are transhipped in any third country shall not on that account be regarded for the purposes of this Act as having been exported from that third country.

2 Export price.

2.—(1) The export price of goods shall be determined by the Commission and, subject to subsection (2) of this section, where goods are imported into the State under a contract of sale which is a sale in the open market between a buyer and seller independent of each other, the export price of the goods shall be the price under the contract of sale, subject to a deduction for the cost of insurance and transport of the goods from their port or other place of export to their port or other place of import and any other costs, charges or expenses incurred in respect of the goods after they have been moved from their port or other place of export, except so far as any such costs, charges or expenses are required to be met separately by the buyer.

(2) The export price of any goods shall, in cases where subsection (1) of this section does not apply or the Commission is unable to ascertain the facts from which to determine the export price under that subsection, be such price as the Commission shall determine by reference to such sale of those or comparable goods (or of any goods in which they were incorporated) as it may select, with such adjustments as may appear to it to be proper.

3 Fair market price.

3.—(1) The fair market price of goods in any country shall be determined by the Commission and, subject to subsection (2) of this section, the fair market price of goods in any country shall, where those or comparable goods are sold in that country in the ordinary course of trade for consumption or use in that country, be the price at which they are so sold, subject to such adjustments for differences in conditions or terms of sale, taxation or any other matter as may be necessary to ensure that the export price and the fair market price of the goods are the prices of the goods under two similar contracts of sale.

(2) The fair market price of goods in any country shall, in cases where subsection (1) of this section does not apply or the Commission is unable to ascertain the facts from which to determine the fair market price under that subsection, be such price as the Commission shall determine by reference to any price obtained for goods of the same kind or similar goods exported from that country, with such adjustments of the kind specified in subsection (1) of this section as may appear to it to be proper or, if the Commission thinks fit, by reference to the cost or estimated cost of production of goods of the same kind or similar goods, with such adjustments of the kind aforesaid as may appear to it to be proper.

(3) No adjustment shall be made under this section in respect of restrictions or charges on the export of materials from any country so as to favour manufacturers in that country who use those materials in goods produced by them.

4 An Coimisiún Dumpála.

4.—(1) There shall be a commission to be known, and in this Act referred to, as An Coimisiún Dumpála.

(2) The Commission shall consist of a chairman and four ordinary members, of whom the chairman and two ordinary members shall be appointed by the Minister and two ordinary members shall be appointed by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

(3) Whenever the business of a meeting of the Commission is concerned with goods in relation to which powers, functions and duties under this Act are exercised and fulfilled by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, a member of the Commission who was appointed by that Minister and who shall be chosen by the Commission for the purpose shall act as chairman of the meeting, and the chairman shall act as an ordinary member of the Commission.

(4) A member of the Commission may be removed from office by the Minister of State who appointed him.

(5) The first members of the Commission shall be appointed as soon as may be after the passing of this Act.

(6) A casual vacancy occurring among the members of the Commission appointed by the Minister thereto shall be filled by an appointment made by the Minister and a casual vacancy occurring among the members appointed by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries thereto shall be filled by an appointment made by that Minister, and a member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the period for which his predecessor, if he had continued to be a member, would have held office.

(7) A member of the Commission may resign his office.

(8) The term of office of a member of the Commission shall be fixed at the time of his appointment by the Minister of State who appoints him and shall not exceed five years.

(9) An outgoing member of the Commission shall be eligible for reappointment.

(10) A member of the Commission shall hold office on such terms and conditions as may be fixed at the time of his appointment by the Minister of State who appointed him after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

(11) A member of the Commission shall be paid such remuneration (if any) and allowances (if any) for expenses as the Minister of State who appointed him determines with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(12) The Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, shall not apply to the office of member of the Commission.

5 Officers and servants of Commission.

5.—(1) The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may appoint such officers and servants as he thinks necessary to assist the Commission in the performance of its functions.

(2) The officers and servants so appointed shall hold office on such terms and conditions (including terms and conditions for the granting of superannuation allowances by way of pension or gratuity or both to or in respect of such officers and servants) and receive such remuneration as the Minister for Finance determines.

6 Membership of either House of the Oireachtas by Members of Commission.

6.—(1) Where a member of the Commission is nominated either as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas or as a member of Seanad Éireann, he shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Commission.

(2) A person who is for the time being entitled under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein shall, while so entitled, be disqualified from becoming a member of the Commission.

7 Investigation by Commission.

7.—(1) Whenever—

(a) (i) in relation to any goods, a request is made to the Commission by a person who produces goods of the same kind or of a kind whose sales might be adversely affected by the dumping of those goods or by a trade association representing such producers to investigate whether those goods have been or are being dumped, and

(ii) the Commission considers it probable that the goods to which the request relates have been or are being dumped and that the dumping was or is injurious dumping,

or

(b) the Minister considers it probable that any goods have been or are being dumped, that the dumping was or is injurious dumping and that there are exceptional circumstances which warrant a request by him to the Commission to investigate whether those goods have been or are being dumped, and the Minister so requests,

the Commission shall carry out an investigation of the matter and shall make a report in writing to the Minister of the result of its investigation.

(2) Whenever the Minister considers it probable that another government or authority outside the State has given a subsidy on the production or export of goods of any kind which have been or are being imported into the State, he may request the Commission to investigate whether the importation is such as to cause or threaten to cause material injury to an industry in the State or to retard materially the establishment of an industry in the State, and the Commission shall carry out the investigation and shall make a report in writing to the Minister of the result of its investigation.

(3) The Commission shall have regard to any international agreements or conventions to which the State is a party.

8 Notice of investigation and submissions by interested persons.

8.—(1) The Commission shall cause to be published in Iris Oifigiúil and in such national daily newspaper or newspapers as it thinks fit notice of its intention to hold an investigation.

(2) Any person may make a submission to the Commission in the manner directed by the Commission.

9 Restriction on interested person acting as member.

9.—If a member of the Commission is personally interested in a particular matter with which the Commission is dealing, he shall inform the Minister of State who appointed him to the Commission accordingly and shall not act as a member during the consideration of the matter, unless that Minister, being of opinion that his interest is not such as to interfere with the impartial performance of his duties, authorises him to act and publishes in accordance with the procedure in section 8 the fact that such an authorisation has been given.

10 Power of Commission to obtain information.

10.—(1) The Commission may for the purposes of its functions:

(a) request witnesses (other than the Revenue Commissioners and their officers) to attend before it,

(b) examine the witnesses attending before it, and

(c) request any such witness to produce to the Commission any document in his power or control.

(2) (a) A person who knowingly or recklessly makes a statement or representation either verbally or in writing to the Commission which is false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(b) Where an offence under this subsection or under section 11 (3) or 22 (9) of this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence.

(3) The Commission may request the Revenue Commissioners to furnish to it such particulars of information furnished to them in documents for customs purposes as are necessary for the performance of its functions and the Revenue Commissioners shall comply with a request under this subsection.

11 Prohibition of disclosure of confidential information.

11.—(1) No person shall disclose information available to him by virtue of his being a member of the Commission or an officer or servant of the Commission or through being present at a meeting of the Commission without the consent of—

(a) in the case of information furnished by the Revenue Commissioners and furnished to them by another person, that other person, and

(b) in any other case, the person who furnished the information.

(2) Subsection (1) (b) of this section does not apply to—

(a) a communication made by a member of the Commission or an officer or servant of the Commission in the execution of his duties under this Act, or

(b) the disclosure of information in a report of the Commission to the Minister or for the purpose of legal proceedings under this Act.

(3) If any person contravenes subsection (1) of this section he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

12 Procedure at meeting of Commission.

12.—(1) The quorum for a meeting of the Commission shall be two.

(2) Every meeting of the Commission shall be held in private.

(3) Subject to subsection (1) of this section, the Commission may act notwithstanding vacancies in its membership.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commission may regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, its procedure and business.

13 Provisional duties.

13.—(1) The Commission may, during an investigation by it under this Act in relation to goods of any kind, recommend to the Minister that a provisional duty of such amount (not exceeding the margin of dumping estimated by it in relation to the goods) as the Commission may specify be imposed on such goods of that kind as the Commission may specify for such period or periods not exceeding six months as the Commission may specify.

(2) Whenever the Commission makes a recommendation to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, by order impose a duty (to be known and in this Act referred to as a provisional duty) of such amount, not exceeding the amount specified by the Commission in the recommendation, on such goods imported into the State (being goods of a kind specified in the recommendation) and for such period not exceeding six months as may be specified in the order.

(3) Whenever the Government impose an anti-dumping duty on goods of a kind on which there is for the time being a provisional duty, the order imposing the provisional duty shall expire.

14 Anti-dumping duties.

14.—(1) If, as result of an investigation by the Commission under this Act, the Commission is satisfied that there has been injurious dumping of goods of any kind, the Commission may recommend to the Minister that an anti-dumping duty of such amount (not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to the goods) as the Commission may specify be imposed on those goods or on such goods of that kind as the Commission may specify for such period or periods as the Commission may specify.

(2) (a) Whenever the Commission makes a recommendation to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section in relation to goods of any kind and the Minister is satisfied that there has been injurious dumping of goods of that kind, or

(b) whenever the Minister is satisfied that goods of any kind have been dumped and that there is danger that they will continue to be dumped and that the dumping is such as to cause or threaten to cause material injury to an industry in a country other than the State or the country from which they were imported or in which they were produced, and the government of the first-mentioned country so request,

the Government may, if they so think fit, by order impose a duty (to be known and in this Act referred to as an anti-dumping duty) of such amount, not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to the goods, and on such goods imported into the State (being goods of a kind specified in the recommendation or request) as may be specified in the order.

(3) Whenever the Commission makes a recommendation to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section in relation to any goods on which a provisional duty has been paid and the Minister is satisfied that there has been dumping of those goods and that the dumping has caused or would, but for the provisional duty, have caused material injury to an industry in the State, the Government may, it they so think fit, by order under subsection (2) of this section impose an anti-dumping duty on those goods of such amount (not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to the goods or the provisional duty on the goods, whichever is the lesser) as may be specified in the order and, upon the making of such an order in relation to goods, the payment of so much of the provisional duty chargeable in respect of the goods as is equal to the amount of the anti-dumping duty chargeable on the goods shall be deemed to have been a payment of the anti-dumping duty.

(4) (a) The Minister may, if he considers it in the public interest so to do, by order—

(i) suspend an anti-dumping duty or its application to goods of a particular class or description, or

(ii) exempt from the duty goods of a particular class or description.

(b) An order under this subsection may be made without limit as to time or for a specified period.

15 Repayment of provisional duty.

15.—(1) Any provisional duty paid on goods shall be repaid by the Revenue Commissioners—

(a) if the Commission does not make a report to the Minister in relation to the goods or goods of the same kind within six months after the date of the imposition of the duty,