Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1919of 12 July 2024amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/265 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of ceramic tiles originating in India and Türkiye

Article 127 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558) (the EU Customs Code), stipulates that two persons shall be deemed to be related if one of the following conditions is fulfilled: (a) they are officers or directors of the other person’s business; (b) they are legally recognised partners in business; (c) they are employer and employee; (d) a third party directly or indirectly owns or controls or holds 5 % or more of the outstanding voting stock or shares of both of them; (e) one of them directly or indirectly controls the other; (f) both of them are directly or indirectly controlled by a third person; (g) together they control a third person directly or indirectly; (h) they are members of the same family. Persons who are associated in business with one another in that one is the sole agent, sole distributor or sole concessionaire, however described, of the other shall be deemed to be related only if they fall within the criteria referred to in the preceding sentence.

between the applicant and NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş., a non-sampled co-operating exporting producer in the original investigation.

(9) By letter dated 23 January 2024, the Commission informed the applicant that, given the family links between the shareholders and the management of the applicant and NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş., the applicant and NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş. were considered to be part of the same group for trade defence purposes, but that it would assess the applicant’s request as an exporting producer related to a cooperating exporting producer listed in Annex II of the original Regulation.

(10) The Commission requested further information and supporting evidence, in particular with regard to when the applicant started manufacturing ceramic tiles and exporting these to the Union.

(11) On the basis of the applicant’s reply, the Commission confirmed that the applicant was related to NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş. during the original investigation period, although it was not yet a ceramic tiles producer then. The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette showed that the applicant was founded in 2005. Güral Porselen Turizm ve Vitrifiye Sanayi Anonim Şirketi started the construction of a new factory to manufacture ceramic tiles in 2017. Delays were incurred and that factory, initially foreseen to be operational in the original investigation period, opened in August 2022 only. This is confirmed in the audited reports for the financial years ending in 2021 and 2022 and the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, which reported that the applicant opened a ceramic tiles factory in 2022

This was further confirmed by the supplier of the relevant manufacturing technology in a press release: https://www.sacmi.com/fr-FR/ceramics/news/14943/Gural-Seramik-invests-with-SACMI-new-6-million-m2-year-production-facility-now-operational (last viewed on 6 June 2024).

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(12) Since the duty applicable to the entity NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş. was based on the average of the sampled exporting producers, the inclusion of Güral Porselen Turizm ve Vitrifiye Sanayi Anonim Şirketi does not alter the Commission’s findings in this respect. Upon request, Güral Porselen Turizm ve Vitrifiye Sanayi Anonim Şirketi confirmed to the Commission that its application concerned imports as of the date when the initial questionnaire reply referred to in recital (7) was submitted. Thus, the Commission finds it appropriate that the anti-dumping duty on exports of NG Kütahya Seramik Porselen Turizm A.Ş. becomes applicable to exports of Güral Porselen Turizm ve Vitrifiye Sanayi Anonim Şirketi’s products to the Union as of 27 November 2023.