February 14, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 15, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The National Tariff Commission (NTC) on Monday imposed 10.94 per cent ad valorem provisional anti-dumping duty on 13 Indian exporters of Phthalic Anhydride (PA) to Pakistan for a period of four months.

The duty has been levied following the initiation of investigation on August 11, 2005 into dumping of Phthalic Anhydride (PA) in Pakistan by the Indian exporters in response to an application filed with the NTC by a domestic producer of PA—M/s Nimir Chemicals Pakistan Limited, Lahore.

The NTC order stipulates that the commission shall make the final determination no later than 6 months from the date of the publication of notice of preliminary determination.

It may be added that the product is used chiefly in the production of plasticizers, alkyd resins, polyester resins, dyes and pigments.

An official announcement said any exporter/foreign producer from India, if wants an individual dumping margin, he may voluntarily submit necessary information to the NTC within a period of 15 days.

In the application filed with the NTC by Pakistan’s domestic industry, the applicant identified 13 exporters/producers from India involved in dumping of PA in Pakistani market. The NTC upon initiation forwarded a copy of notice of investigation to all known exporters/producers of PA from India.

A copy of the notice was also sent to the High Commission of India with a request to forward the same to all exporters/producers of PA in India asking them to submit their data to the NTC.

However, none of the exporters/producers provided the requisite information, claimed the NTC announcement.

As required by the law, the NTC, after the initiation of investigation, sent questionnaires to the Indian exporters/producers and Pakistani importers of the product, seeking information within the statutory time period of 37 days. The NTC, after expiry of the time period given to the parties, informed the Indian exporters/producers that it is constrained to impose anti dumping duty after preliminary investigation and/or final determination based on the ‘best information available’ because of no response from them. The High Commission of India was also informed accordingly.

In the meantime, officials of the commission carried out on-the-spot investigation at the premises of the domestic industry at Lahore in order to verify the information provided by the complainant.

According to the announcement, the interested parties can also submit briefs containing their views on a particular issue or issues to the commission up to 30 days before the date of final determination.

This was the eighth investigation conducted under the Pakistan Anti-dumping Duties Ordinance, 2000 and where the commission has imposed provisional anti-dumping duty. The previous cases involved exporters of various products from South Africa, Indonesia, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Malaysia and Thailand.