ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: The National Tariff Commission has issued the “Statement of Essential Facts” as a prelude to its Final Determination on the complaint about alleged dumping in Pakistan of tinplate by a South African producer.

The first case of anti-dumping in Pakistan under the WTO agreements was instituted by the Commission on a complaint filed last February by Siddiqsons, producers of tinplate of a certain specification used in packing of vegetable ghee.

After the necessary investigations as prescribed in WTO rules as well as the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance, 2000, promulgated by the government of Pakistan, the Commission imposed about 24 per cent anti-dumping duty on the tinplate imported from South Africa through its “Preliminary Determination” last July.

The Statement of Essential Facts, NTC chairman Dr Faizullah Khilji, told Dawn here on Wednesday, would be the basis of the Final Determination to be issued by the Commission. It had been circulated to all the interested parties, including the importers and local producers of the said tinplate.

As required under the rule, they are required to communicate their comments, if any, to the Commission within 15 days. As in the case of preliminary determination, the Commission will issue its Final Determination one month after the circulation of Statement of Essential Facts.

Even after the Final Determination, the interested parties would be given an opportunity to present their point of view in a disclosure meeting with the Commission. Such meetings will be held separately with each of the parties — importers as well as the exporter.

The rules provided a period of 45 days within which the Final Determination can be appealed against before an Appellate Tribunal and, at the same time, before the WTO.

The Tribunal is a professional body with an ex-judge of the Supreme Court as chairman and an economist and a customs expert as members. The government has, however, yet to set up such a Tribunal. The interested party can also go in appeal directly to the WTO at the same time.

When his attention was drawn to a newspaper report quoting the exporters of impugned tinplate to Pakistan, the NTC chairman said the quarter of whether tinplate of a certain specification was suitable for packing of foodstuffs concerned the Ministry of Health.

The Commission was concerned only with determining whether the product being imported and that being produced within Pakistan were like products and whether these invited action under the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance, he stated.