The Trade Remedies (Increase in Imports Causing Serious Injury to UK Producers) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

CHAPTER 3 Conduct of an investigation

Registration of interest and the issuing of questionnaires

24.—(1) Where the TRA has made a determination to initiate an investigation, it must set a period during which interested parties and any other person may make themselves known to the TRA (a “registration period”).

(2) The TRA may issue a questionnaire (see regulation 25) to—

(a) interested parties who have made themselves known to the TRA during the registration period;

(b) UK producers, importers and overseas exporters (or associations thereof) which the applicant UK producers have identified in their application; and

(c) contributors who have made themselves known to the TRA during the registration period.

(3) Where the TRA uses a limited examination in accordance with regulation 26 (limited examination), it may limit the issuing of questionnaires to those interested parties included in that examination.

(4) Where an interested party or a contributor makes themselves known to the TRA after the end of the registration period, the TRA may issue a questionnaire to that person if it is satisfied that doing so would not significantly impede the progress of the investigation.

(5) Where an interested party makes themselves known to the TRA after the end of the registration period, the TRA may include that party in a limited examination in accordance with regulation 26 (limited examination).

(6) The TRA must not issue a questionnaire after the statement of intended final determination is published (see regulation 29).

Form of questionnaires and deficiency notice

25.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the questionnaire referred to in regulation 24 (registration of interest and the issuing of questionnaires) may take such form and contain such questions and other material as the TRA considers appropriate for the purpose of the investigation.

(2) A questionnaire must set out the date by which it must be returned to the TRA.

(3) Where, following a review of the returned questionnaire, the TRA determines that it is incomplete or that the information supplied to it is inadequate, it may issue a notice to the relevant interested party or contributor requesting clarification or supplementary information (a “deficiency notice”).

(4) The deficiency notice must set out a time limit by which any missing, clarificatory or supplementary information is to be supplied.

Limited examination

26.—(1) The TRA may, where it considers it appropriate for the purpose of making any determination or conducting any analysis under the Act or these Regulations, limit its examination to a sample of—

(a) categories of goods;

(b) UK producers;

(c) transactions for the purchase of the like goods and directly competitive goods in the United Kingdom; or

(d) anything else the TRA considers it appropriate to examine in order to make its determination.

(2) Where the TRA limits its examination in accordance with this regulation, it may use any reasonable method to determine the sample it considers appropriate.

Authentication visit and authentication visit report

27.—(1) The TRA may make such arrangements in connection with an authentication visit as it considers appropriate.

(2) Where the TRA conducts an authentication visit, it must—

(a) provide a written report on the authentication visit (an “authentication report”) to the person subject to that visit;

(b) require the person subject to an authentication visit to supply it with a version of the authentication report with summarisation of the information that it requests the TRA to treat as confidential (a “non-confidential authentication report”); and

(c) set a time limit by which the non-confidential authentication report is to be supplied.

(3) In the application of regulation 16 (confidential information) to this regulation, a reference in that regulation to—

(a) the supply of information is to be taken to include information obtained by the TRA from the person subject to an authentication visit; and

(b) a non-confidential summary is to be taken to include a non-confidential authentication report.

Hearing

28.—(1) The TRA may conduct a hearing at any time during an investigation either—

(a) at the request of any interested party; or

(b) on its own initiative.

(2) The TRA must notify interested parties and contributors of any processes and procedures to be adopted at a hearing in advance of it taking place.

(3) When deciding whether and how to conduct a hearing, the TRA must have regard to—

(a) the need to preserve the confidentiality of information it is treating as confidential in accordance with regulation 16(3) or (4); and

(b) whether holding a hearing and whether such processes and procedures it proposes to adopt at a hearing would be convenient to interested parties and contributors.

(4) The TRA must allow interested parties and contributors to present their views by written and oral statements (see regulation 18(3)).

(5) Where the TRA decides to conduct a hearing, it—

(a) must give sufficient notice of the hearing to interested parties and contributors;

(b) must allow interested parties and contributors to attend; and

(c) may request that an interested party or a contributor intending to attend to supply the TRA with the information they wish to rely on at the hearing.

(6) Where the TRA makes a request referred to in paragraph (5)(c), it must set a time limit by which such a request must be complied with.

(7) An interested party or a contributor is not under an obligation to attend a hearing.

(8) The TRA must not determine that an interested party who fails to attend a hearing is a non-cooperative party (see regulation 20) or that such failure to attend is otherwise prejudicial to its interests.

Disclosure

29.—(1) Before making a final affirmative or final negative determination for the purpose of paragraph 9(5) of Schedule 5 to the Act, the TRA must—

(a) publish a statement (a “statement of intended final determination”) which sets out—

(i) the final determination that it intends to make (“intended final determination”);

(ii) a summary of the facts considered by the TRA during its investigation;

(iii) those facts referred to in sub-paragraph (ii) that formed the basis of the intended final determination; and

(b) inform interested parties who have supplied information that has been considered by the TRA—

(i) how it has used the information supplied by that party in making the intended final determination; and

(ii) of the details of the TRA’s assessment forming the basis of the intended final determination.

(2) The TRA must specify in the statement of intended final determination a period during which it will consider comments on that statement from interested parties, contributors or any other person who has supplied information to it.