KARACHI, Feb 6: The Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU) will take up the issue of anti-dumping duty on Pakistani bedlinen in the second week of this month.
Once the council approves the duty it will become effective from March 18, 2004, official sources said on Friday.
Sources said that the EU Advisory Committee on anti-dumping on Monday approved a punitive duty of 13.1 per cent and forwarded the case to the Council of Ministers who are expected to meet in the middle of this month.
"If the Council of Ministers give their consent to the punitive duty on Pakistani bedlinen it will have a crippling blow on country's exports," official source said.
The EU initiated anti-dumping duty investigations on the complaint of Eurocoton, a group of EU bedlinen producers, by the end of October 2002. Although an EU team visited Pakistan in June last year to carry out investigations, it did not complete the process and failed to carry out verification of data provided by six sample companies of the country.
Despite the fact that exporters had fully cooperated in the EU investigation and had provided all data on production, cost of manufacture and exports but the EU team carried out verifications only in two of the sample companies.
The sources said that actually the EU team only investigated in one of the two companies whereas the verification for the second company was left in the middle. The EU team left Pakistan without completing the verification process, on the pretext of security for which government had given complete assurances to the EU officials.
The matter was also taken to the highest level and the commerce minister on several occasions met the EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy and held discussion with him on telephone a number of time. The EU trade commissioner was apprised of the factual situation that neither any dumping had taken place nor any inquiry to the EU industry could be proved.
Pascal Lamy even assured the commerce minister that Pakistan's viewpoint will be kept in view and that Pakistan will be consulted before imposition of anti-dumping duty. However, all of a sudden a general disclosure document was made available on December 10, 2002, wherein 14.1 per cent anti-dumping duty was contemplated, the sources said.
Throughout the intervening period, the European lawyers engaged by exporters, government representatives and Pakistan missions in Brussels and in other EU countries kept on lobbying with both the European Commission and individual member countries persuading them against anti-dumping measure.
At every level it was forcefully pointed out that no dumping had taken place, nor there had been any injury caused to the EU industry. Unfortunately, the sources said the EU's Advisory Committee on anti-dumping last Monday, decided to by a narrow margin in favour of the imposition of anti-dumping duty of 13.1pc.
Sources said all out efforts will once again be made to make a strong presentation to the visiting EU team during the third week of this month with regard to the rightful position of Pakistan against the EU anti-dumping measure. This could lead to a gainful result ahead of a review of the anti-dumping duty in the month of May this year, and due relief was afforded to bedlinen industry, sources said.