NEWSROOM
Shrimper
Advisory — Deadline Nears for First Potential Disbribution
of Duty Deposits on Shrimp Imports
July 22, 2005
Qualified
domestic shrimp producers who have been affected by foreign dumping
of shrimp have until Aug. 1 to file claims for an offset of qualifying
expenditures under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act
of 2000, commonly known as the "Byrd Amendment," according
to the June 1, 2005 Federal Register notice issued by the Bureau
of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP).
In consideration
of the short application deadline, and in an effort to assist
those who may not have received applications, the Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has posted "Producer's Claim
Applications and Certification" forms along with instructions
on its Web site at http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/shrimp/instructions.pdf
(1.82MB PDF), and the application
form at http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/shrimp/claim.pdf
(77.8MB PDF). Additionally,
forms may be obtained by contacting LDWF offices in Baton Rouge,
Slidell, New Orleans, Bourg, New Iberia and Lake Charles, as well
as Sea Grant Extension offices at LSU Ag Center locations in Cut
Off, Houma, Belle Chasse, Metairie, Abbeville, Franklin, New Iberia,
Lake Charles and Cameron. It is important to note that the sample
forms and instructions developed by the Southern Shrimp Alliance
(SSA) should be considered as an advisory only and should not
be taken as legal advice.
It is unlikely
that any funds collected from duty deposits on shrimp imports
will be available for distribution this year. However, if funds
are available for distribution, claims for 2005 distributions
must be received by the BCBP before Aug. 1, 2005. All claims should
be addressed to the Assistant Commissioner, Office of Finance,
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Revenue Division, Attention:
Leigh Redelman, P.O. Box 68940, Indianapolis, IN 46268 or if using
the street address; 6650 Telecom Drive, Suite 100, Indianapolis,
IN 46278.
The June 1,
2005, Federal Register notice also identified affected domestic
producers including commercial shrimp fishermen, shrimp vessel
owners, shrimp dealers and businesses who are potentially eligible
to receive a distribution. A producer is potentially eligible
to receive distributions if the producer publicly supported the
shrimp antidumping petition by submitting written support of the
petition or belonged to an organization that submitted written
evidence of support for the petition to the U.S. International
Trade Commission (USITC) before Dec. 8, 2004. The Federal
Register notice
is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/05-10497.pdf
(12MB PDF). The document
at this link is extremely large and may be difficult to open and
download without a high-speed Internet connection.
The BCBP requires
that in order to receive distributions from the six countries
named in the antidumping duty orders, separate applications must
be submitted for each country-claim. Applicants are advised that
claims require the producer to certify that it remains in operation
and continues to produce shrimp, has not been acquired by a company
or business that is related to a company which opposed the antidumping
investigations, has records to support each qualifying expenditure
listed in the certification, and how these qualifying expenditures
are determined to be related to the production of shrimp. Due
to the level of detail required in listing qualified expenditures
required in, it is recommended that applicants seek accounting
advice from professionals.
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