R.1 Short title and commencement

       (1) These rules may be called the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Countervailing Duty on Subsidized Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995.
       (2) They shall come into force on the 1st day of January, 1995.

R.2 Definitions

       In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -
       (a) "Act" means the Customs Tariff Act,1975 (51 of 1975);
       (b) "domestic industry" means the domestic producers as a whole of the like article or domestic producers whose collective output of the said article constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of that article, except when such producers are related to the exporters or importers of the alleged subsidised article, or are themselves importers thereof, in which case such producers shall be deemed not to form part of domestic industry:
       Provided that in exceptional circumstances referred to in sub-rule (3) of rule 13, the domestic industry in relation to the article in question shall be deemed to comprise two or more competitive markets and the producers within each

R.3 Appointment of designated authority

       (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette , appoint a person not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the Government of India or such other person as that Government may think fit as the designated authority for purposes of these rules.
       (2) The Central Government may provide to the designated authority the services of such other persons and such other facilities as it deems fit.

R.4 Duties of the designated authority

       It shall be the duty of the designated authority in accordance with these rules -
       (a) to investigate the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy in relation to the import of an article;
       (b) to identify the article liable for countervailing duty;
       (c) to submit its findings, provisional or otherwise to the Central Government as to -
       (i) the nature and amount of subsidy in relation to an article under investigation.
       (ii) the injury or threat of injury to an industry established in India or material retardation to the establishment of an industry in India consequent upon the import of such articles from the specified countries.
       (d) to recommend the amount of c

R.5 Decision as to country of origin

In cases where articles are not imported directly from the country of origin but are imported from an intermediate country, the provisions of these rules shall be fully applicable and any such transaction shall, for the purpose of these rules be regarded as having taken place between the country of origin and the country of importation.

R.6 Initiation of investigation

       (1) Except as provided in sub-rule (4) the designated authority shall initiate an investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged subsidy only upon receipt of a written application by or on behalf of the domestic industry.
       (2) An application under sub-rule (1) shall be in the form as may be specified by the designated authority in this behalf and the application shall be supported by evidence of -
       (a) subsidy and, if possible, its amount,
       (b) injury where applicable, and
       (c) where applicable, a casual link between such subsidized imports and alleged injury.
       (3) The designated authority shall not initiate an investigation pursuant to an application made under sub-rule (1) unless -

R.7 Principles governing investigations

       (1) The designated authority shall, after it has decided to initiate investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged subsidization of any article, issue a public notice notifying its decision. Public notice regarding initiation of investigation shall, inter alia, contain adequate information on the following:
       (i) the name of the exporting countries and the article involved;
       (ii) the date of initiation of the investigation;
       (iii) a description of the subsidy practice or practices to be investigated;
       (iv) a summary of the factors on which the allegation of injury is based;
       (v) the address to which representations by interested countries and interested parties should be directed; a

R.8 Confidential informations

       (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), (2), (3) and (7) of rule 7, sub-rule (2) of rule 14, sub-rule (4) of rule 17 and sub-rule (3) of rule 19 copies of applications received under sub-rule (1) of rule 6 or any other information provided to the designated authority on a confidential basis by any party in the course of investigation, shall, upon the designated authority being satisfied as to its confidentiality, be treated as such by it and no such information shall be disclosed to any other party without specific authorisation of the party providing such information.
       (2) The designated authority may require the parties providing information on confidential basis to furnish non-confidential summary thereof in sufficient details to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the confidential information and if, in the opinion of a party providing such info

R.9 Accuracy of the information

Except in cases referred to in sub-rule (8) of rule 7 the designated authority shall during the course of investigation satisfy itself as to the accuracy of the information supplied by the interested parties upon which its findings are based.

R.10 Investigation in the territory of other specified countries

       (1) The designated authority may carry out investigations in the territories of other countries, in order to verify the information provided or to obtain further details :
       Provided that the designated authority notifies to such country in advance and such country does not object to such investigation.
       (2) The designated authority may also carry out investigations at the premises of any commercial organisation and may examine its records if such organisation agrees and if the country in whose territory the said commercial organisation is situated, is notified and has not raised any objection for the conduct of such investigation.

R.11 Nature of subsidy

       (1) The designated authority while determining the subsidy shall ascertain as to whether the subsidy under investigation -
       1[(a) relates to export performance including those illustrated in Annexure III to these rules, or]
       (b) relates to the use of domestic goods over imported goods in the export article, or
       (c) it has been conferred on a limited number of persons, engaged in manufacturing, producing or exporting the article unless such a subsidy is for -
       (i) research activities conducted by or on behalf of persons engaged in the manufacture, production or export; or
       (ii) assistance to disadvantaged regions within the territory of the exporting country; or
       (i

R.12 Calculation of the amount of the countervailable subsidy

       (1) For the purposes of these rules, the amount of countervailable subsidies, shall be calculated in terms of the benefit conferred on the recipient which is found to exist during the investigation period for subsidization
       (2) As regards the calculation of benefit to the recipient, the following factors shall apply, namely -
       (a) government provision of equity capital shall not be considered to confer a benefit, unless the investment can be regarded as inconsistent with the usual investment practice (including for the provision of risk capital) of private investors in the territory of the country of origin or export;
       (b) a loan by a government shall not be considered to confer a benefit, unless there is a difference between the amount that the firm receiving the loan pays on the government loan

R.13 Determination of injury

       (1) In the case of imports from specified countries, the designated authority shall give a further finding that the import of such article into India causes or threatens material injury to any industry established in India, or materially retards the establishment of an industry in India.
       (2) Except when a finding of injury is made under sub-rule (3), the designated authority shall determine the injury, threat of injury, material retardation to the establishment of an industry and the casual link between the subsidised import and the injury, taking into account inter alia, the principle laid down in Annexure I to the rule.
       (3) The designated authority may, in exceptional cases, give a finding as to the existence of injury even where a substantial portion of the domestic industry is not injured if -
      

R.14 Preliminary findings

       (1) The designated authority shall proceed expeditiously with the conduct of the investigation and shall, in appropriate cases, record a preliminary finding regarding existence of a subsidy and its nature and in respect of imports from specified countries, it shall also record its preliminary finding regarding injury to the domestic industry and such finding shall contain sufficiently detailed explanation for the preliminary determination on the existence of a subsidy and injury and shall refer to the matter of fact and law which have led to arguments being accepted or rejected. Such finding shall contain -
       (i) the names of the suppliers or, when this is impracticable, the supplying countries involved;
       (ii) a description of the product which is sufficient for customs purposes;
       (iii) the amount

R.15 Levy of provisional duty

       The Central Government may, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 9 of the Act, impose a provisional duty on the basis of the preliminary findings recorded by the designated authority:
       Provided that no such duty shall be imposed before the expiry of sixty days from the date of issue of the public notice by the designated authority regarding its decision to initiate investigations :
       Provided further that such duty shall remain in force for a period not exceeding four months.

R.16 Termination of investigation

       (1) The designated authority shall, by issue of a public notice terminate an investigation immediately if -
       a) it receives a request in writing for doing so from or on behalf of the domestic industry affected, at whose instance the investigation was initiated;
       (b) it is satisfied in the course of an investigation, that there is no sufficient evidence either for subsidisation or, where applicable, injury to justify continuation of the investigation;
       (c) it determines that the amount of subsidy is less than one per cent ad valorem or in the case of a product originating from a developing country the amount of subsidy is less than two per cent.
       (d) it determines that the volume of the subsidized imports, actual or potential or injury where applicable,

R.17 Suspension or termination of investigation on acceptance of price undertaking

       (1) The designated authority may suspend or terminate an investigation, if -
       (a) the government of the exporting country -
       (i) furnishes an undertaking that it would withdraw the subsidy.
       (ii) in case of specified countries, undertakes to limit the quantum of subsidy within reasonable limit, or to take other suitable measures to neutralise the effect of such subsidy, provided that the designated authority is satisfied that the injurious effect of the subsidy is eliminated, or
       (b) in case of specified countries the exporters concerned agree to revise their prices so that injurious effect of subsidy is eliminated and the designated authority is satisfied that the injurious effect of the subsidy is eliminated:
      &nb

R.18 Disclosure of information

The designated authority, shall, before giving its final findings, inform all interested parties and interested countries of the essential facts under consideration which form the basis of its decision and permit the interested parties to defend their interest.

R.19 Final findings

       (1) The designated authority shall, within one year from the date of initiation of an investigation determine as to whether or not the article under investigation is being subsidized and submit to the Central Government its final finding, as to -
        (a) (i) the nature of subsidy being granted in respect of the article under investigation and the quantum of such subsidy;
        (ii) whether imports of such articles into India in the case of imports from specified countries, cause or threaten material injury to an industry established in India or materially retards the establishment of any industry in India and a casual link between the subsidized imports and such injury; and
       (iii) Whether a retrospective levy is called for and if so, the reasons therefor and the date of commencement of such levy.

R.20 Levy of duty

       (1) The Central Government may, within three months of the date of publication of the final findings by the designated authority under rule 19, impose, by notification in the Official Gazette, upon importation into India of the article covered under the final finding, a countervailing duty not exceeding the amount of subsidy as determined by the designated authority under rule 19 :
       Provided that in case of imports from specified countries the amount of duty shall not exceed the amount which has been found adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.
       (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) where a domestic industry has been interpreted according to the proviso to clause (b) of rule 2, a countervailing duty shall be levied only after the exporters have been given opportunity to cease exporting at subsidized prices

R.21 Imposition of duty on non-discriminatory basis

Any countervailing duty imposed under rule 15 or 20 shall be on a non-discriminatory basis and applicable to all imports of such article, if found to be subsidised and where applicable, causing injury except in the case of imports from those sources from which undertakings in terms of rule 17 have been accepted.

R.22 Date of commencement of duty

       (1) The countervailing duty levied under rules 15 and 20 shall take effect from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette.
       (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) -
       (a) where a provisional duty has been levied and where the designated authority has recorded a finding of injury or where the designated authority recorded a finding of threat of injury and a further finding that the subsidised imports, in the absence of provisional duty would have led to injury, the countervailing duty may be imposed from the date of imposition of provisional duty:
       (b) in the circumstances referred to in sub-section (4) of section 9 of the Act, the countervailing duty may be levied retrospectively from the date commencing ninety days prior to the imposition of provisional

R.23 Refund of duty

       .-(1) If the countervailing duty imposed by the Central Government on the basis of the final findings of the investigation conducted by the designated authority is higher than the provisional duty already imposed and collected the differential shall not be collected from importer.
       (2) If the countervailing duty fixed after the conclusions of the investigation is lower than the provisional duty already imposed and collected, the differential shall be refunded to the importer.
       (3) If the provisional duty imposed by the Central Government is withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (3) of rule 20, the provisional duty already imposed and collected, if any shall be refunded to the importer.

R.24 Review

       (1) The designated authority shall, from time to time, review the need for continued imposition of the countervailing duty and shall, if it is satisfied on the basis of information received by it that there is no justification for the continued imposition of such duty or additional duty, recommend to the Central Government for its withdrawal.
       (2) Any review initiated under sub-rule (1) shall be concluded within a period not exceeding 12 months from the date of initiation of such review.
       (3) The provisions of rules 6, 7,8, 9,10,11,12,13,16,17,18,19,20,22 and 23 shall mutatis mutandis apply in the case of review.

ANNEXURE.1 ANNEXURE I

       Principles governing the determination of injury
       The designated authority shall take into account inter alia, the following principles while determining injury :-
       1. (1) A determination of injury for purposes of rule 13 shall be based on positive evidence and involve an objective examination of both (a) the volume of the subsidized imports and the effect of the subsidized imports on prices in the domestic market for like products and (b) the consequent impact of these imports on the domestic producers of such products.
       (2) With regard to the volume of the subsidized imports, the designated authority shall inter alia consider whether there has been a significant increase in subsidized imports, either in absolute terms or relative to production or consumption in India.
    

ANNEXURE.2 ANNEXURE II

       ANNEXURE II
       Principles for determination of subsidy which has been conferred on a limited number of persons as referred to in Rule 11
       1. The designated authority in order to determine as to whether a subsidy has been conferred on a limited number of persons engaged in the manufacture or production of an article, shall take the following principles into consideration :-
       (a) whether the granting authority or the legislation pursuant to which the granting authority operates, explicitly limits access to a subsidy to certain enterprises. However, where the granting authority, or the legislation pursuant to which the granting authority operates, establishes objective criteria or conditions governing the eligibility for, and the amount of, a subsidy, such subsidy shall not be considered to have been

ANNEXURE.3 ANNEXURE III

       PART- 1
       ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF EXPORT SUBSIDIES
       (a) The provision by governments of direct subsidies to a firm or an industry contingent upon export performance.
       (b) Currency retention schemes or any similar practices which involve a bonus on exports.
       (c) Internal transport and freight charges on export shipments, provided or mandated by governments, on terms more favourable than for domestic shipments.
       (d) The provision by governments or their agencies either directly or indirectly through government-mandated schemes, of imported or domestic products or services for use in the production of exported goods, on terms or conditions more favourable than for provision of like or directly competitive products or

ANNEXURE.4 ANNEXURE IV

       GUIDELINES FOR THE CALCULATION OF THE AMOUNT OF SUBSIDY IN
       COUNTERVAILING DUTY INVESTIGATIONS
       A. CALCULATION OF SUBSIDY PER UNIT/AD VALOREM
       The calculation of the benefit shall reflect the amount of subsidy found to exist during the investigation period and not simply the face value of the amount at the time it is transferred to the recipient or foregone by the government. Thus, the face value of the amount of the subsidy should be transformed into the value prevailing during the investigation period through the application of the normal commercial interest rate. The objective of the calculation should be to arrive at the amount of subsidy per unit of production during the investigation period. In the case of consumer products, such as television sets, the appropriate unit would be each indivi