Regulation 44

As soon as practicable after the initiation of an investigation or review, the Minister must specify in detail the information required from any interested party, and the form in which that information is required.

The Minister must ensure that the interested party is aware that if information is not supplied within a reasonable time, the Minister may make determinations on the basis of the facts available, including those contained in the application for the initiation of the investigation by the domestic industry.

The Minister may request that an interested party provides its response in a particular medium (such as computer tape) or computer language.

Where a request is made under paragraph (3), the Minister must consider the reasonable ability of the interested party to respond in the requested medium or computer language, and must not request the party to use for its response a computer system other than that used by the party.

The Minister must not maintain a request for a computerised response if the interested party does not maintain computerised accounts and if presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden on the interested party, such as entailing unreasonable additional cost and trouble.

The Minister must not maintain a request for a response in a particular medium or computer language if the interested party does not maintain its computerised accounts in such medium or computer language and if presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden on the interested party, such as entailing unreasonable additional cost and trouble.

All information which is —

If an interested party does not respond in the requested medium or computer language but the Minister finds that the circumstances set out in paragraphs (3) to (6) have been satisfied, the failure to respond in the requested medium or computer language is not to be considered to significantly impede the investigation.

Where the Minister does not have the ability to process information provided in a particular medium (such as computer tape), the information must be supplied in the form of written material or any other form acceptable to the Minister.

Even though the information provided may not be ideal in all respects, this does not justify the Minister disregarding it, provided that the interested party has acted to the best of its ability.

If evidence or information is disregarded, the supplying party must be informed forthwith of the reasons therefor, and must have an opportunity to provide further explanations within a reasonable period, due account being taken of the time-limits of the investigation.

If the explanations are considered by the Minister as not being satisfactory, the reasons for the rejection of such evidence or information are to be given in any published determinations.

If the Minister has to base his or her findings, including those with respect to normal value, on information from a secondary source, including the information supplied in the application for the initiation of the investigation or review, he or she must do so with special circumspection.

If paragraph (13) applies, the Minister must, where practicable, check the information from other independent sources at his or her disposal, such as published price lists, official import statistics and customs returns, and from the information obtained from other interested parties during the investigation or review.

If relevant information is withheld from the Minister as a result of the failure of an interested party to cooperate, the Minister may make a determination which is less favourable to that party than he or she would otherwise have made.