China News Service, August 31. According to the Ministry of Commerce's website, the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement on the 31st, deciding to start an anti-subsidy investigation on imported wines originating in Australia from August 31, 2020.
The Ministry of Commerce received a countervailing investigation application formally submitted by the China Wine Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as the applicant) on behalf of the domestic wine industry on July 6, 2020. The applicant requested that imports originating in Australia be filled in containers of 2 liters or less Wines (hereinafter referred to as related wines) to conduct countervailing investigations. According to Article 16 of the "Countervailing Regulations of the People's Republic of China", on August 14, 2020, the Ministry of Commerce issued an invitation to the Australian government for consultations on countervailing investigations, and discussed with the Australian government on August 27.
The Ministry of Commerce, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "County Subsidy Regulations of the People's Republic of China", has regard to the qualifications of applicants, the relevant information of the products applied for investigation, the relevant information of similar products in China, the impact of the products applying for investigation on domestic industries, and the relevant information of the country applying for investigation A review was conducted.
According to the evidence provided by the applicant and the preliminary review by the Ministry of Commerce, the total output of the applicant’s related wines in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 accounted for the main part of the total output of similar products in China during the same period, which is in line with the "Chinese Articles 11 and 13 of the Anti-subsidy Regulations of the People's Republic of China stipulate that domestic industries submit applications for countervailing investigations.
The application stated that the products applied for investigation have received subsidies from the Australian government, and there are a total of 40 subsidies items that may benefit from the Australian wine industry (enterprises). After preliminary examination, the Ministry of Commerce believes that the application contains the content and relevant evidence required for the filing of a countervailing investigation under Articles 14 and 15 of the Countervailing Regulations of the People’s Republic of China.
According to the announcement, based on the results of the above review and in accordance with Article 16 of the "Countervailing Regulations of the People's Republic of China", the Ministry of Commerce has decided to initiate an anti-subsidy investigation on imported wines originating in Australia from August 31, 2020.
The investigation will begin on August 31, 2020, and the investigation should normally be terminated before August 31, 2021, and can be extended to February 28, 2022 under special circumstances.