KARACHI, Aug 6: The European Union is unlikely to propose the imposition of provisional anti-dumping duties on bedlinen imports originating from Pakistan, official sources said on Wednesday.

Sources said that the European Commission (EC) has informed its member states that it was not proposing the imposition of provisional anti-dumping as some technical aspects of the investigation had not been met.

The Commission’s suggestion is based on technical grounds because the required steps for carrying out investigation prior to imposition of provisional duties had not been fully met by the EC’s investigating team.

Knowledgeable sources in the ministry of commerce told Dawn on telephone that the European Commission (EC) has taken this position after looking into legal aspect of the issue under which certain conditions has to be met before imposing duties.

As the investigation period is allowed upto nine months the EC could impose provisional duties up to September 18, 2003. But as the Commission has to change its stance on the issue, and if it decides so, the definitive duties could be slapped by March next year.

The EC initiated anti-dumping proceedings in December last year on a complaint filed by the representative body of European textile industry, Eurocot, which stated that dumping of bedlinen was going on from Pakistan which was causing material injury to the local industry.

These proceedings started exactly after nine months when earlier punitive duties on bedlinen imports from Pakistan were removed in February 2002.

Based on preliminary findings the commission in the third week of last month hinted at imposing 40 per cent dumping duty on bedlinen from Pakistan. The comparison carried out by the EC of export prices from Pakistan with prices charged by community (EU industry) producers indicated a dumping margin of around 40 per cent.

There is great resentment among exporters who feel that the European Union (EU) was trying to restrict bedlinen exports from Pakistan through tariff barriers ahead of quota free era starting from January 1, 2005.

The outcome of the parleys between the minister for commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan and the EU’s Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy on the sidelines of ministerial meeting at Montreal, Canada was still awaited.