HA NOI — The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has delayed announcing the third preliminary tariff results for Vietnamese frozen warm-water shrimp exports to the US for the period of February 1, 2007 – January 31, 2008.

The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) said the DoC put a notice in the Federal Register last Thursday that the unveiling of tariff results would be moved from October 31 this year to March 2, 2009.

US tariff regulations require the department to issue preliminary results of an administrative review within 245 days after a review is requested. If a proceeding is deemed too complicated to complete the review within the time period, regulations allow the department to extend the deadline to a maximum of 365 days, which is what occurred in this case, said the DoC.

The DoC said additional time was necessary to gather information on the corporations involved including their sales practices and manufacturing methods, as well as analyse survey responses and issue supplemental questionnaires.

Earlier this month, the DoC decided to exempt four Vietnamese frozen warm-water shrimp export and processing companies from anti-dumping tariffs for exports shipped to the US between February 1, 2006 and January 31, 2007, after a lengthy second administrative review. — VNS