INTRODUCTION

Mexico appeals certain issues of law and legal interpretations developed in the Panel Report, Mexico – Definitive Anti-Dumping Measures on Beef and Rice, Complaint with Respect to Rice (the “Panel Report”). The Panel was established to consider a complaint by the United States concerning the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties by Mexico on imports of long-grain white rice from the United States, as well as certain provisions of Mexican law relating to anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings.

The Mexican Rice Council filed an anti-dumping petition on 2 June 2000 with the Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Development (“SECOFI”), Mexico's investigating authority at that time. The investigation was initiated in December 2000 by the Ministry of Economy (“Economía”), which succeeded SECOFI as Mexico's investigating authority. The notice of initiation, a copy of the petition and attachments thereto, and the investigation questionnaire were sent to the Government of the United States and to the two exporters that were specifically identified in the petition as the “exporters”, Producers Rice Mill, Inc. (“Producers Rice”) and Riceland Foods, Inc. (“Riceland”). Two additional exporters, The Rice Company and Farmers Rice Milling Company (“Farmers Rice”), came forward following the initiation of the investigation and before the preliminary determination, and requested copies of the questionnaire.

The period of investigation for the purpose of the dumping determination was 1 March to 31 August 1999. For the purpose of the injury determination, Economía collected data for the period March 1997 through August 1999, but based its analysis on the data for 1 March to 31 August for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999 and issued its final affirmative determination on 5 June 2002. Economía found that Farmers Rice and Riceland had not been dumping during the period of investigation and consequently imposed a zero per cent duty on these exporters. With respect to The Rice Company, Economía determined a dumping margin of 3.93 per cent and imposed a duty in that amount. Economía also imposed on the remaining United States exporters of the subject merchandise, including Producers Rice, a duty of 10.18 per cent, calculated on the basis of the facts available.