November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: The European Union has informed Pakistan that it is going to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of bedlinen from Pakistan, which the EU believed was causing harm to its local industry. Pakistan has, however, opposed the move.

Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar in a press conference here on Monday said the EU had no right to take such a drastic action before the completion of the dumping investigation it was conducting.

EU Trade Minister Pascal Lamy on Friday informed the commerce minister that the

EU had decided to levy anti-dumping duty on Pakistan’s bedlinen.

The commerce minister said the EU had initiated an anti-dumping investigation against Pakistan’s bedlinen, which he said, seemed to be an abuse of WTO rules.

The EU levied anti-dumping duty on Pakistan’s bedlinen in 1997, which was withdrawn in January 2002 as the investigation conducted into the matter did not determine the dumping element in Pakistan’s exports of bedlinen to the EU.

In December 2002, the EU again started investigation but the investigation team did not complete the process and left the country half-way through without completing its job.

The minister said he had asked the EU trade commissioner for completion of investigation before taking any decision.

Answering a question, Mr Humayun said that without determining the actual quantum of dumping in bedlinen how could the EU levy anti-dumping duty on Pakistan’s export.

He said that Pakistan once again had offered the EU a voluntary price mechanism in which certain products would not be exported below the prescribed price. According to the minister, the EU was trying to twist the matter in relation to the tariff quota, which restrained the free export of items. This may affect Pakistan’s export of bedlinen to the EU.

The commerce minister said he along with some top bedlinen exporters will soon visit Brussels and then Geneva to sort out the matter. He said in case the EU carried out its threat Pakistan would be left with no option but to challenge it at the WTO appellate tribunal.

Pakistan’s total share in bedlinen import of the EU stood at 50,000 tons out of a total import of 200,000 per annum. From January-November 2003, Pakistan exported bedlinen to the EU worth $312 million, showing an increase 27 per cent over the same period last year.

Mr Humayun said Pakistan had already submitted a comprehensive package to the EU with regard to bedlinen, dividing the export items in six categories with different values.

Meanwhile, the commerce minister met with the stakeholders regarding the anti-dumping investigations in the EU.

The minister assured the stakeholders that his ministry would do its best to have the issue settled amicably with the EU and request it to withdraw the anti-dumping proceedings as Pakistan considered the chain investigation as unjustified and because proper investigation of sample companies were also not carried out.