Ms. Wichulee also placed request for translation of the AD documents as well as Turkish AD-related laws and regulation from Turkish into English.

It is hoped that the close cooperation between the two authorities and the English documents would enable the Thai Government and affected Thai exporters to speed up their response to the AD investigation process and to find an efficient and viable solution.

Even though translation of AD documents during the AD investigation process is not the policy of the Turkish Ministry of Economy, which is equally treat to all AD cases, Ms. Onat said that the translated AD laws and regulation can be downloaded from the Ministry’s website www.tpsa.gov.tr

Ms. Onat gave a briefing on the Turkish AD procedure which includes 7 steps.

1. Application: Domestic industry files a complaint on negative impacts from imported products with possible dumping evidence
2. Evaluation:  The application will be submitted to the Board of Evaluation of Unfair Competition in Imports and Its Duties on whether or not to initiate an investigation
3. Initiation of Investigation: If the Board agrees to initiate the AD investigation, the Ministry of Economy will publish a Communiqué in the Official Gazette. The Ministry will also request the interested parties to fill in questionnaires and submit to the Ministry within 37 days after the date of issue of the Gazette.
4. Gathering and Verification of Information: The Ministry will evaluate and verify the collated qualitative and quantitative data. If necessary, the Ministry’s representative may travel to the export countries and undertake on-site investigation.
5. Final Disclosure: After completion of data analysis, the Ministry will announce the final disclosure with the preliminary conclusion of the case. Interested parties will have 10 days to submit additional information for the case’s re-evaluation.
6. Public Hearing: The Ministry will open a public hearing and invite interested parties, including government representatives and affected exporters. The hearing will offer them to express their opinions and to defend the case. The public hearing could take as soon as 5 days after the last day of submitting additional information.
7. Final Result: The Ministry will publish the final result in the Official Gazette.

In general, it takes approximately 1 year to conclude an AD case in Turkey. If the affected exporters are not satisfied with the final result, they can further appeal the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Up to now, Turkey enforces AD measures on 8 products from Thailand, including polyester textured yarn, woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn, polyester synthetic staple fibers, bicycle and motorcycle tires and tubes, polyethylene terephthalate, fittings, polyester textured yarn and vulcanized rubber thread and cord. The latest initiation of investigation is thread made from synthetic and artificial discontinuous fiber starting in October 2012.

The Royal Thai Embassy has been cooperating and following up with the Ministry of Economy on AD investigation progress. It also translates AD-related documents from Turkish to English and forwards them to Ministry of Commerce of Thailand through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents are also directly circulated to the Thai Trade Office in Istanbul and the Thai-Turkish Business Council, to allow them to keep the affected exporters informed soonest.

In this regard, the Royal Thai Embassy reaffirms its commitment in helping the Thai entrepreneurs impacted by the AD cases and will continue to extend its assistance in following up on the AD cases’ progress and in coordinating with the Turkish Ministry of Economy in the future.

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Wichulee Chotbenjakul

Royal Thai Embassy