June 14, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1424

BRUSSELS, June 13: The European Commission said on Friday it had appealed to the WTO over alleged US anti-dumping practices that harm EU exports.

The EU’s executive branch has requested that the WTO begin consultations under its Dispute Settlement Mechanism over the US use of “zeroing” when performing dumping calculations.

Dumping is a practice by which imported goods are sold at prices deemed to be unfair, that is, substantially below the cost of production.

Zeroing as practised by the US is contrary to WTO rules and causes damage to many EU exporters, said EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy.

The EU has already abandoned this practice and has several times asked the US to do likewise.—AFP