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1. Where, after consultation of the interested Member States, there appears to be sufficient evidence to warrant initiating proceedings, the Commission shall immediately:

(a) announce the initiation of proceedings by publishing a notice in the Official Journal of the European Communities; such notice shall state the product and Member States concerned, summarize the evidence, and invite interested parties to submit relevant infor mation to the Commission; they shall state the period within which interested parties may make written representations and apply to be heard orally by the Commission in accordance with paragraph 5;

(b) so advise interested Member States, the complainants and the exporters and importers known to the Commission to be concerned;

(c) commence an investigation at Community level, acting in cooperation with the Member States; the investigation shall cover both the alleged dumping and the resultant injury and shall be carried out in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 8; the investigation of dumping shall normally cover a period of not less than six months immediately prior to the initiation of proceedings.

2. The Commission shall seek all information it deems necessary and may, where it considers it appropriate to do so, examine and check the records of importers, exporters, traders, agents, producers, and trade associations and organizations.

3.

(a) The Commission may request Member States: - to supply information, - to carry out all necessary checks and inspections, particularly on importers, traders and producers, - to afford the necessary assistance to the officials authorized by the Commission to enable them to make their investigation.

(b) Member States shall take whatever steps are necessary to comply with requests from the Commission. They shall supply the Commission with the information requested and with the results of any inspections, checks or investigations carried out.

(c) Where the information is of general interest or where its circulation has been requested by a Member State, the Commission shall circulate the information to the interested Member States, except where it is confidential, in which case a non-confidential summary shall be circulated.

(d) Officials of the Commission shall be authorized, if the Commission or a Member State so requests, to assist the officials of Member States in carrying out their duties under this paragraph.

4.

(a) The complainant, the importers and exporters known to be concerned and the representatives of the exporting Member State may inspect all evidence supplied to the Commission by any party to the investigation (as opposed to internal documents prepared by the authorities of the Community or its Member States), provided that it is relevant to the defence of their interests, not confidential as defined in Article 6 and being used by the Commission in the investigation. Requests to see such evidence shall be made in writing to the Commission specifying the evidence concerned.

(b) Exporters and importers of the product under investigation may request to be told the essential facts and grounds on which it is intended to authorize the injured Member State or States to impose anti-dumping duties.

(c) (i) Requests for information pursuant to (b) shall:

(aa) be made to the Commission in writing;

(bb) specify the particular matters on which information is sought;

(cc) be received, in cases where a recommendation has been issued to the party or parties found to be responsible for dumping, not later than one month after publication of the recommendation.

(ii) the information may be given orally or in writing, as the Commission considers appropriate. Its disclosure shall be without prejudice to any subsequent recommendations or authorizations contemplated by the Commission. Confidential information shall be treated in accordance with Article 6.

(iii) The information shall normally be given no later than 15 days before the Commission authorizes the injured Member State or States to impose anti-dumping duties. Representations made after the information is given shall be taken into consideration only if received within a period to be set by the Commission in each case depending on the urgency, but being not less than 10 days.

5. The Commission may hear interested parties orally. It shall do so if they request such a hearing in writing within the period prescribed in the notice published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, showing that they are an interested party likely to be affected by the outcome of the proceedings and that there are particular reasons why they should be heard orally.

6. Furthermore the Commission shall, on request, give the parties directly concerned an opportunity to meet, so that opposing views may be presented and rebuttal arguments put forward. In providing this opportunity, the Commission shall take account of the need to preserve confidentiality and of the convenience of the parties. There shall be no obligation on any party to attend a meeting and failure to do so shall not be prejudicial to that party's case.

7. Anti-dumping proceedings shall not constitute a bar to customs clearance of the product concerned.

8. A proceeding shall be concluded either when it appears at the end of the investigation that it is not necessary to take measures, or when, as a result of a Commission recommendation, the enterprise undertakes to terminate dumping or by the Commission's authorizing the injured Member State or Member States to impose anti-dumping duties as provided for in Article 10.