Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/366 of 19 February 2026 making imports of sodium benzoate originating in the People’s Republic of China subject to registration

Official Journal EN of the European Union L series 2026/366 20.2.2026 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION(EU) 2026/366 of 19 February 2026 making imports of sodium benzoate originating in the People’s Republic of China subject to registration THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union(1)(‘the basic Regulation’), and in particular Article 14(5) thereof, After informing the Member States,

Whereas:

(1) On 19 December 2025, the European Commission (‘the Commission’) announced, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union(2), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding with regard to imports into the Union of sodium benzoate originating in the People’s Republic of China.

(2) This initiation followed a complaint lodged on 10 November 2025 by Lanxess Chemical B.V on behalf of producers representing more than 25 % of the total Union production of sodium benzoate.

1. PRODUCT SUBJECT TO REGISTRATION

(3) The product subject to registration (‘the product concerned’) is sodium benzoate, usually falling under the Customs and Statistics (‘CUS’) number 0023120-9 and the Chemical Abstracts Service (‘CAS’) number 532-32-1, currently classified under ex CN code 2916 31 00 (TARIC code 2916 31 00 91) and originating in the People’s Republic of China.

2. REGISTRATION

(4) Under Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation, imports of the product concerned may be made subject to registration for the purpose of ensuring that, if the investigation results in findings leading to the imposition of anti-dumping duties, those duties can, if the necessary conditions are fulfilled, be levied retroactively on the registered imports in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

(5) The Commission has decided to make imports of the product concerned subject to registration on its own initiative under Article 14(5) of the basic Regulation. The conditions for retroactive collection of duties will be assessed in the regulation imposing definitive duties, if any.

(6) Any future liability would emanate from the findings of the anti-dumping investigation.

(7) The calculations provided in the complaint requesting the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation estimate a dumping margin of 125 % and an injury elimination level between 70 % and 90 % for the product concerned for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The amount of possible future liability would normally be set at the lower of those two levels, according to Article 9(4) of the basic Regulation.

(8) If, during the investigation, the Commission finds evidence of raw material distortions pursuant to Article 7(2a) of the basic Regulation, the amount of possible future liability would be set at the level of the dumping margin as

provided for in Article 7(2b) of the basic Regulation if it is concluded that a duty lower than the margin of dumping would not be sufficient to remove the injury suffered by the Union industry.

(1) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/1036/oj.

(2) OJ C, C/2025/6744, 19.12.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6744/oj.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/366/oj 1/2EN OJ L, 20.2.2026

(9) However, at this stage the Commission is not in a position to estimate the amount of possible future liability. Thus, the amounts mentioned in the complaint are only for information purposes and cannot create any expectations as to the actual level of liability which will be established as a result of the investigation.

3. PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

(10) Any personal data collected in the context of this registration will be treated in accordance with Regulation

(EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3), on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. The customs authorities are hereby directed, under Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, to take the appropriate steps to register imports into the Union of sodium benzoate, usually falling under the Customs and Statistics (‘CUS’) number 0023120-9 and the Chemical Abstracts Service (‘CAS’) number 532-32-1 currently classified ex CN code 2916 31 00 (TARIC code 2916 31 00 91) and originating in the People’s Republic of China.

2. Registration shall expire nine months following the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 19 February 2026.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(3) Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39, ELI: http://data.

europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj).

2/2 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/366/oj