The European Court of Justice has overturned the December 2020 decision (GM Dec. 18, 2020) by the European Commission (EC) to extend antidumping duties on ammonium nitrate imports from Russia for another five years.
The court’s ruling followed a suit filed in February 2021 by JSC Nevinnomyssky Azot and JSC Novomoskovsk Azot, both subsidiaries of EuroChem Group AG (GM May 7, 2021), who claimed that the EC’s review procedure had contravened the EU’s requirements on antidumping legislation.
The EC’s 2020 decision to extend the antidumping duties, which had been in effect for a quarter century, followed a 15-month investigation (GM Sept. 27, 2019). As a result of the decision, the applicants remained subject to an antidumping duty of between €28.78-€32.71/mt, according to the product type.
In its July 5 ruling, however, the European Court noted that removing the duty could result in Russian imports of AN being redirected from other markets, mainly from Latin America, to the EU, which, it noted, is more attractive for Russian suppliers both logistically and regarding prices.
The Court ruled that the EC, as part of its sunset review, had requested additional information from Brussels-based Fertilizers Europe, which represents Europe’s major fertilizer manufacturers. The Court said the EC had requested the review on the pricing of ammonium nitrate from Russia following the expiration of the legal deadline for opening an investigation, according to an Interfax report.
“The European Commission has three months prior to the expiration of the measures to ensure that the evidence [provided in the request to review the duty] is sufficient, and it may request additional information,” the Court said in its ruling. “However, the Commission may not compensate for the lack of sufficient evidence in a request filed within the statutory deadline or replace missing or incomplete aspects of the request with new information.”