Application for review
Intending applicants should refer to section 269ZX of the Act to establish whether they are eligible to apply. With regard to a decision by the Minister, any interested party may lodge an application for a review. The Act defines an interested party as:
- the original applicant for dumping or countervailing measures;
- a party representing the industry, or a portion of the industry, which produces the goods which are the subject of the reviewable decision;
- a party directly concerned with the importation or exportation to Australia of the goods;
- a party directly concerned with the production or manufacture of the goods;
- a trade association, the majority of whose members are directly concerned with the production or manufacture, or the import or export of the goods to Australia; or
- the government of the country from which the goods originated or were exported.
With regard to a decision by the CEO, only the party which lodged the relevant application for the publication of a dumping duty notice or a countervailing notice, or for the assessment of duty, may seek a review.
An application for a review of a Ministerial decision must be received by the Review Officer within 30 days after the public notice of the reviewable decision was first published in a national Australian newspaper. In the case of a reviewable decision by the CEO, an application to the Review Officer must be made within 30 days after being notified of that decision.
It is essential that an application be submitted using the approved form. An application must clearly and comprehensively set out the grounds on which a review is sought, and provide sufficient particulars concerning the challenged finding or findings to satisfy the Review Officer that a reinvestigation of these could lead to a change to the reviewable decision to which the application relates. It is not sufficient simply to request that a decision be reviewed. In assessing whether sufficient grounds exist for a review, an intending applicant should familiarise themselves with Division 9 of Part XVB of the Act.
If the application contains material which is confidential or commercially sensitive (ie information the publication of which would adversely affect a person's business or commercial interests) a summary of that information must be provided to the Review Officer in a non-confidential version. The summary must contain sufficient detail to give other interested parties a clear and reasonable understanding of the information being put forward, without breaching confidentiality or adversely affecting the interests concerned. Applications will be rejected unless accompanied by a non-confidential version which adequately reflects the reasons for seeking review of a decision. If those reasons cannot be summarised, a statement of reasons why summarisation is not possible must be provided.