Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Documents Submission Procedures; APO Procedures

The Department of Commerce ("the Department") is amending its regulations in antidumping ("AD") and countervailing duty ("CVD") proceedings governing information submitted to the Department and administrative protective orders in order to improve the Department's procedures and provide clarification to some aspects of the Department's regulations. Specifically, the Department is amending its regulations as follows: To reflect a transfer in the function of receiving submissions filed in AD/CVD proceedings from the Central Records Unit to the Administrative Protective Order ("APO") Unit, and to change the name of the APO Unit to APO/Dockets Unit; to reflect the fact that the Central Records Unit has moved to Room 1117 of the Herbert C. Hoover Building; to reflect a transfer in the function of maintaining public service lists from the Central Records Unit to the APO/Dockets Unit; to update the definition of "Customs Service" to reflect the reorganization of the Executive Branch; to clarify that documents filed with the Department will only be time stamped when appropriate, for example, when an interested party submits a request for treatment as a voluntary respondent; to clarify when an APO will be placed on the record with respect to new shipper reviews, applications for scope rulings and changed circumstances reviews; to clarify when a party must serve business proprietary information already on the administrative record to new authorized applicants to the APO; to require parties to file a formal letter of appearance to request placement on the public service list of any segment of an AD/CVD proceeding, either as a cover letter to the APO application or as a separate document; and to clarify when a party is to be considered an "interested party" for the purposes of the APO. Finally, the Department is amending its short form application for access under an APO (Form ITA-367).