Jute Product originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal

To be published in Part-I Section I of the Gazette of India Extraordinary F. No. – 7/11/2024 - DGTR Government of India Department of Commerce Ministry of Commerce & Industry (Directorate General of Trade Remedies) 4th Floor, Jeevan Tara Building, 5, Parliament Street, New Delhi – 110001 Dated: 30 June 2025 INITIATION NOTIFICATION

Case No. AD(MTR) – 02/24

Subject: Initiation of Mid term review investigation concerning imports of “Jute Products”

originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal. 1. Having regards to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 as amended from time to time (hereinafter referred as the ' Act’) and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment, and Collection of Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995, (hereinafter referred to as the 'Rules’), Indian Jute Mils Association [“IJMA”] and AP Mesta Twine Mills Association [“AJMA”] (hereinafter referred to as the ’applicant associations’ or 'applicants’) have filed an application before the Designated Authority (hereinafter referred to as the ' Authority’), for initiation of mid-term review investigation concerning antidumping duties imposed on imports of “Jute Products ” (hereinafter referred to as the 'product under consideration’ or 'subj ect goods ’), originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal. 2. The applicants have submitted that there is a need to re-evaluate and enhance the anti-dumping duty levied against imports of the subject goods exported from Bangladesh and Nepal. A. Background of the Case 3 The original investigation concerning imports of the subject goods from Bangladesh and Nepal was initiated by the Authority vide Notification No. 14/19/2015-DGAD, dated 21.10.2015. Definitive Anti-dumping duties were recommended vide Notification No. 14/19/2015-DGAD, dated 20.10.2016 and were imposed vide Customs Notification No. 01/2017-Customs (ADD), dated 05.01.2017, and amended further by Customs Notification No. 11/2017-Customs (ADD), dated 03.04.2017. Subsequently, an anti-circumvention investigation was initiated vide Notification No. 7/3/2018- DGAD9 dated 20.03.2018 concerning imports of ' Jute Sacking Cloth', (a penultimate stage of "Jute Sacking Bag") from Bangladesh. The Authority vide Notification No. 7/3/2018-DGAD, dated 19.03.2019 recommended extension of the existing anti-dumping duty imposed on Sacking Bags vide the above notifications, which was imposed vide Customs Notification No.24/2019-Customs (ADD), 1

dated 18.06.2019. 4. The Authority undertook a sunset review investigation and recommended extension ofantidumping duty on imports of Jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal vide Notification No. 7/09/2021-DGTR. The ministry of Finance extended the anti dumping duty vide Notification No 33/2022 Customs (ADD) dated 30th Dec., 2022. B. Product under Consideration 5. The present investigation being a mid-term review, the scope of the product under consideration is the same as that in the previous investigation. The product under consideration is in the previous investigation is as under: “6. The present investigation is a sunset review investigation concerning anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of “jute products” originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal. Hence, the PUC in the present investigation is also “jute products ” originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal. The product under investigation as defIned in the original investigation is as follows . “26. The product under consideration in the present investigation is “ Jute Products” comprising of Jute Yarn/twine (multiple folded/cable(i and single), Hessian Fabrics and Jute Sacking bags. At the time of initiation, the classifIcation was considered under Chapter 53 and 63 of the 1975 Act and further sub- classifIed under custom heads 5307, 5310 and 6305. It was stated that the said customs classi$cation is however only indicative and is in no way binding on the scope of the present investigation. However, it is later noted from the data fIled by producers/exporters from Nepal that the exports of yarn/twine have also been made by exporters/ producers of the product from Nepal under Custom heading no. 5607, which covers Twine, Cordage, Ropes and Cables whether or not Plaited or Braided and whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or sheathed with rubber and plastics. 27. The Authority notes that Jute is a natural and an eco-friendly fIber, which comes from the inner bark of plants. The broad usages of jute include packaging, geotextiles , protection of rooting plants, making _of cloths , bags, wrapping, boot and shoe lining, fuse yarns, aprons, canal and motor linings, ropes, strings, upholstery foundation, curtains and furnishing fabrics etc. Further, Jute can also be mixed with wool for fIne yarn and fabric production. 28. Raw jute in the form of bates is processed in jute mills to produce products like jute yarn/twine, hessian fabric, sacking bags, and other products. The manufacturing process of Jute entails different stages such as selection of jute for a batch, piecing up, softening and lubricating, conditioning or piling, breaker carding, $nisher carding, frst drawing, second drawing, third drawing and JJ spInnIng 2

7. The subject goods are classifIed under Chapter 53 and 63 of the Customs TariJ Act and have been further sub-classifIed under custom heading 53101013, 63051040, 53101012 5307 1010 and 53072000. The said customs classifIcation is, however, only indicative and is in no way binding on the scope of the present investigation. Further, this being a sunset review investigation, the scope of the PUC remains the same as it was in the original investigation.
8. It is also noted that post the issuance of the fInal fIndings in the original investigation, the Authority conducted an anti-circumvention investigation. Through its $nat $nding dated 19th March 2019. the Authority concluded that the duties imposed on jute sacking bag was being circumvented through exports of jute sacking cloth from Bangladesh and consequently through Customs NotifIcation No. 24/2019-Customs (ADD)9 anti-dumping duty was also extended on jute sacking cloth imported from Bangladesh.

The scope of the product under consideration includes the four product types: jute yarn/twine, hessian fabric, sacking bag, and sacking cloth. The interested parties in the present investigation may provide their comments on PUC/PCN methodology within 15 days of the initiation of this MTR. C. Like article 7. The Applicants have claimed that the subject goods, which are being dumped into India, are identical to the goods produced by the domestic industry. There are no differences either in the technical specifications, quality, functions or end-uses of the dumped imports and the domestically produced subject goods and the product under consideration manufactured by the applicant. The two are technically and commercially substitutable. Hence, for the purposes of the present investigation, the Authority holds that the two should be treated as “like article” under the AD Rules. Therefore, for the purpose of the present investigation, the subject goods produced by the applicants in India are being treated as 'like articles’ to the subject goods being imported from the subject countries. D. Subject countries 8. The subject countries in the present midterm review investigation is Bangladesh and Nepal. E. Period of Investigation 9 The period of investigation (POI) for the present investigation is April 2024 to March 2025 (12 Months) and the injury investigation period will cover the periods April 2021 to March 2022, April 2022 to March 2023, April 2023 to March 2024 and the POI. Since the present review investigation is based on changed circumstances comparison will also be made with the POI of the last concluded sunset review investigation, i.e., 2020-2021. F. Domestic industry and Standing 3

10. The application has been filed by Indian Jute Mils Association [“IJMA”] and AP Mesta Twine Mills Association [“AJM/V’] on behalf its members. The following companies, that are members of the Applicant Associations, are domestic producers of the like article in India:

lli. IV. V. VI . vii. ViIi. Bowreah Jute Mills Pvt. Ltd Caledonian Jute & Industries Ltd Cheviot Company Ltd. Gloster Ltd. Hooghly Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. Ludlow Jute & Specialities Ltd. The Naihati Jute Mills Company Ltd. Neelam Jute Co. Ltd. 11. The above-mentioned companies have not imported the subject goods from the subject countries and they are not related to any of the importers or exporters of the subject goods. 12. The domestic producers constitute a major proportion of the total domestic production and therefore constitute domestic industry under Rule 2(b) of the Anti-dumping Rules. G. Grounds for review 13. The applicants have claimed that there is a need for re-evaluation of dumping margin and injury margin for exporters/producers from Bangladesh and Nepal based on the following change crrcurnstances : a. There has been decline in the export price of subject goods. b. Decline in export prices not in consonance with the decline of prices of raw jute which constitutes the major cost of subject goods. c. Exports are being made by producers beyond their installed capacity indicating routing of goods produced by other producers. 14. The applicants have therefore, claimed that in view of changed circumstances there is a need for enhancement of anti-dumping duties levied. Applicants have also claimed that the changed circumstances are of lasting nature. H. Initiation of midterm review investigation 15 On the basis of the duly substantiated application by the domestic producers of like article in India, and having satisfied itself, on the basis of prima facie evidence substantiating the need for a mid-term review of anti-dumping duty earlier imposed on the subject goods originating in or exported from Bangladesh and Nepal and in accordance with Section 9A of the Act read with Rule 23(IA) of the Rules, the Authority, hereby, initiates mid-term review of the antidumping duties imposed on imports of subject goods originating in or exported from the subject countries. I. Sampling of Exporters 4

16. In view of the potential participation of a large number of exporting producers from the subject countries, the applicant has requested for sampling of exporters. In order to complete the investigation within the prescribed time limits, and in terms of Rule 17 of the Rules, the Authority may resort to sampling i.e., limiting its findings either to a reasonable number of interested parties or articles by using statistically valid samples based on information available at the time of selection or to the largest percentage of the volume of exports from the subject country. J. Submission of Information
17. All the communications should be sent to the Designated Authority via email at email address dd15- dgtr@gov.in, dir 16-dgtr@gov.in and adv13-dgtr@gov.in. It should be ensured that the narrative part of the submission is in searchable PDF/ MS Word format and data files are in MS Excel format. Submissions requiring special software to access the files will not be accepted.
18. The known producers/exporters in the subject countries, the governments of the subject countries through their embassies in India, and the importers and users in India known to be concerned with the subject goods are being informed separately to enable them to file all the relevant information in the form and manner prescribed within the time limit set out below.
19. Any other interested party may also make its submissions relevant to the investigation in the form and manner prescribed within the time limit set out below. Any party making any confidential submission before the Authority is required to make a non-confidential version of the same available to the other parties. K. Time Limit
20. Any information relating to the present investigation should be sent to the Designated Authority via email at the following email addresses dd15-dgtr@gov.in, dir16-dgtr@gov.in and adv13- dgtr@gov.in within 30 days from the date on which it was sent by the Designated Authority or transmitted to the appropriate diplomatic representative of the exporting country as per Rule 6(4) of the AD Rules. It may, however, be noted that in terms of explanation of the said Rule, the notice calling for information and other documents shall be deemed to have been received within one week from the date on which it was sent by the Designated Authority or transmitted to the appropriate diplomatic representative of the exporting countries. If no information is received within the prescribed time limit or the information received is incomplete, the Authority may record its findings on the basis of the facts available on record in accordance with the AD Rules.
21. All the interested parties are hereby advised to intimate their interest (including the nature of interest) in the instant matter and file their questionnaire responses within the above time limit.
22. Where an interested party seeks additional time for filing of submissions, it must demonstrate sufficient cause for such extension in terms of Rule 6(4) of the AD Rules, 1995 and such request must come within the time stipulated in this notification. 5

L. Submission Of Information On A Confidential Basis 23. Any party making any confidential submission or providing information on a confidential basis before the Authority, is required to simultaneously submit a non-confidential version of the same in terms of Rule 7(2) of the AD Rules. Failure to adhere to the above may lead to the rejection of the response/ submissions. 24. The parties making any submission (including Appendices/Annexures attached thereto), before the Authority including questionnaire response, are required to file Confidential and Non-Confidential versions separately. In case, the submission is made in multiple parts, it is instructed to provide an index table in each part outlining the contents of all parts/emails and documents enclosed. Please ensure page numbering on all submissions. 25. Where the original documents are in a language other than Hindi and English, the interested parties are requested to ensure that the true translated version is provided along with the original documents. 26. The "confidential" or "non-confidential" submissions must be clearly marked as "confidential" or "non-confidential" at the top of each page. Any submission made without such marking shall be treated as non-confidential by the Authority, and the Authority shall be at liberty to allow the other interested parties to inspect such submissions. 27 The non-confidential version is required to be a replica of the confidential version with the confidential information preferably indexed or blanked out (in case indexation is not feasible) and summarized depending upon the information on which confidentiality is claimed. The non- confidential summary must be in sufficient detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information furnished on a confidential basis. However, in exceptional circumstances, the party submitting the confidential information may indicate that such information is not susceptible to a summary, and a statement of reasons why summarization is not possible must be provided to the satisfaction of the Authority. The other interested parties may offer their comments on the confidentiality claimed within 7 days of receiving the non-confidential version of the documents. 28. The Authority may accept or reject the request for confidentiality on examination of the nature of the information submitted. If the Authority is satisfied that the request for confidentiality is not warranted or if the supplier of the information is either unwilling to make the information public or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or summary form, it may disregard such information. 29. Any submission made without a meaningful non-confidential version thereof or a good cause statement on the confidentiality claim shall not be taken on record by the Authority. 30. The interested parties can offer their comments on the issues of confidentiality claimed by the domestic industry within 7 days from the date of circulation of the non-confidential version of the documents in terms of relevant paragraphs of this initiation notification. 6

31. The Authority on being satisfied and accepting the need for confidentiality of the information provided, shall not disclose it to any party without specific authorisation of the party providing such information. M. Inspection Of Public File
32. A list of registered interested parties will be uploaded on DGTR's website along with the request therein to all of them to email the non-confidential version of their submissions to all other interested parties. The non-confidential version of the questionnaire response or other submissions should preferably be circulated to all other interested parties on the same day and, in no case, later than the day following the filing of submissions on a confidential basis. Failure to circulate a non-confidential version of submissions/responses/information might lead to the consideration of an interested party as non-cooperatrve. N. Non-Cooperation
33. In case any interested party refuses access to and otherwise does not provide necessary information within a reasonable period, or significantly impedes the investigation, the Authority may declare such interested party as non-cooperative and record its findings based on the facts available to it and make such recommendations to the Central Government as deemed fit h~ah,r Siddharth Mahaj an (Designated Authority)