After the preliminary determination, the Commerce Department conducts a `verification' of the response to the questionnaire. It sends a team of two to four people to the headquarters and production facilities of the foreign company to verify the accuracy of the information that has been submitted. In a countervailing duty investigation, this verification includes the government agencies who responded to the questionnaires, The verification normally lasts one or two weeks, depending on how many companies and topics are involved. The inquiry can be wide-ranging and it is important that the foreign company prepare as thoroughly as possible for the verification.

The timing of the verification and the post-verification activities is somewhat flexible. Although in theory the verification may take place before the Commerce Department's preliminary determination, the standard practice recently has been to conduct the verification afterwards. One or two weeks before the verification is scheduled to begin, the Commerce Department normally issues a verification outline.

This outline is sometimes detailed, but it often provides only a skeletal explanation of what the Commerce Department will examine during the verification. In recent years, outlines have become more standardized.

After the verification, the Commerce Department staff will prepare detailed verification reports summarizing the results. These reports are usually ready two to three weeks after the verification has been completed, although reports are sometimes not prepared until much later.

A more detailed description of the verification process and of strategies for a successful verification is provided in chapter 11. For present purposes, the most important point to note is that the verification is an extremely important phase of the investigation. If the foreign company is unable to verify the accuracy of its response and more generally to convince the Commerce Department of the reliability of the company's accounting system, there is a significant risk that the Commerce Department will reject the company's response and instead use the 'facts available' rule. 'Facts available', formerly known as 'best information available', is a euphemism under United States law for the use of the worst information possible. It is usually the information submitted in the petition by the domestic industry.

Source: Business Guide to Trade Remedies in the United States: Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguards legislation practices and procedures