Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 9 December 2009 – Apache Footwear and Apache II Footwear v Council

(Case T-1/07)

Dumping – Imports of footwear with uppers of leather originating in China and Vietnam – Market economy status – Community interest

1.                     Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Dumping margin – Determination of the normal value – Imports from countries not having a market economy as referred to inArticle 2(7)(b) of Regulation No 384/96 – Application of rules relating to countries with a market economy – Application reserved for producers satisfying the cumulative conditions set out in Article 2(7)(c) of Regulation No 384/96 – Group of companies (Council Regulation No 384/96, Art. 2(7)) (see paras 84-85)

2.                     Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Regulations imposing anti-dumping duties (Art. 253 EC) (see para. 96)

3.                     Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Discretion of the institutions – Judicial review – Limits (see paras 111-112)

Re:

APPLICATION for partial annulment of Council Regulation (EC) No 1472/2006 of 5 October 2006 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitely the provisional duty imposed on imports of certain footwear with uppers of leather originating in the People’s Republic of China and Vietnam (OJ 2006 L 275, p. 1), in so far as it concerns the applicants.

Operative part:

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Apache Footwear Ltd and Apache II Footwear Ltd (Qingxin) to bear their own costs as well as those incurred by the Council of the European Union;

3. Orders the European Commission, the Confédération européenne de l’industrie de la chaussure (CEC), BA.LA. di Lanciotti Vittorio & C. Sas and the 16 other interveners whose names are listed in the Annex to bear their own costs.