Brussels—Dentons’ International Trade team in Brussels successfully represented Bibus Metal’s Romanian subsidiary, S.C. Bibus S.R.L, in a customs dispute before the Court Appeal of Ploiesti, Romania. Bibus Metal is a leading stockist and supplier of semi-finished, high-performance materials made from nickel, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, titanium and titanium alloys and stainless steel for the aerospace sector.
In November 2019, the Ploiesti customs authorities carried out a customs control at Bibus Metal’s premises. The control was carried out on the basis of a report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) based on its investigation, launched in 2016, into the practice of circumventing anti-dumping duties imposed on certain seamless pipes and tubes of stainless steel, by declaring their origin as Indian. OLAF stated that the materials used for the products could not be classified as having Indian origin, and consequently that the products exported from India were not of Indian origin. Due to their previous import from China, OLAF concluded that the goods should be subject to protective measures in the form of anti-dumping duties. As a result, it imposed anti-dumping duties of 71.9 percent on the imports, in line with Council Implementing Regulation EU No 1331/2011 of 14.12.2011.
On behalf of Bibus Metal, Dentons challenged the Ploiesti customs authorities’ decision to impose retroactive anti-dumping duties, first before the Ploiesti Tribunal and subsequently, in appeal, before the Ploiesti Court of Appeal.
Dentons argued that, based on the data included in the Report, it simply could not be established whether the goods identified by the detained customs declarations in question had been imported by Bibus Metal’s Indian supplier from China, nor did it provide detail on the production process conducted in India. Therefore, the information contained in the OLAF Report was insufficient to confirm that the tubes and pipes identified in the customs declarations were of Chinese origin and, as such, subject to duties on imports of such goods into the EU. The Ploiesti customs authorities were obliged to carry out inspections in the case, collect complete evidence, and evaluate it in line with the principle of independent assessment.
After a year and a half, the Ploiesti Court of Appeal ruled to annul the customs authorities’ decisions and ordered them to repay Bibus Metal RON 962,367 plus RON 7,344 in interest. The judgment is final and was delivered in open court on June 8, 2022.
Brussels-based Counsel Nicoleta Tuominen led Dentons’ legal team on the matter, with significant support from Counsel Maria Krestiyanova.
Nicoleta Tuominen commented, “We are delighted to have been able to support our client in securing this tremendous victory. This is a significant decision, which may lead to a change in practice of Romanian customs authorities when receiving OLAF reports in the future.”
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