ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: The National Tariff Commission (NTC) has initiated an anti-dumping investigation against alleged dumping of tinplate into Pakistan by the exporters from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The NTC initiated the investigation into dumping of tinplate of thickness of less than 0.5mm and of width of 600mm or more in response to an application filed with the NTC by domestic manufacturer Siddiqsons Tin Plate Limited under the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance, 2000.

The government had already levied an anti-dumping duty on the import of tinplate from South Africa.

An official announcement said that in the notice of initiation, the NTC had asked the interested parties to apply for registration within 10 days after the publication of the notice.

The commission would now send questionnaires to the known exporters, foreign producers and importers of the investigated product, asking them to provide information within 37 days.

After due process — once the requisite information on questionnaire has been received from the interested parties and examined by the NTC — it was expected to make a preliminary determination. Under the ordinance, the NTC could not make a preliminary determination sooner than 60 days from the date of initiation of the investigation.

If an affirmative preliminary determination of dumping and injury was made, then a provisional anti-dumping duty might be applied for a period of four months.

According to the notice, the tinplate has a wide range of applications. It was used in packing of edible oils, foodstuff, paints, petroleum products, etc. Its imports in the recent past have increased manifold.