European Commission Sends Clear Signal to Pakistani and Guatemalan Dumped Ethanol Producers
European ethanol producers drop antidumping complaint following European Commission’s commitments to continue monitoring illegal imports and to expedite a fresh investigation if injurious dumping emerges again.
(PRWEB) May 14, 2006
The CIEP (Committee of Industrial Ethanol Producers, a Brussels based platform representing European ethanol [ethyl alcohol] producers supplying the industrial market) has decided to withdraw its antidumping complaint against Pakistan and Guatemala, primarily as a result of the recent change in the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) which appears to have reduced, for the moment, the volume of dumped imports that have entered the European Union from these countries.
For its part, the European Commission has given a firm commitment to the CIEP that it will continue to closely and regularly monitor ethanol imports from these two countries under its own procedures and will act expeditiously to start a new investigation should dumped imports resume. As a result, in its Decision 2006/301/EC of 25 April 2006, the European Commission has officially closed the proceeding.
The CIEP is confident that the thorough investigation launched by the European Commission in May 2005 has confirmed the existence of dumping which indisputably inflicted serious injury on the EU ethanol industry. The entry into force of the revised GSP on January 1st 2006 restored the full EU customs tariff for Pakistani imports and although it has certainly not eliminated dumping practices, the CIEP acknowledges that this action appears to have reduced the volumes of imports that have entered the EU. While dumped imports from Guatemala continue to remain highly threatening to the EU industrial ethanol industry, it was the combined damage caused by imports from both countries that motivated the CIEP to lodge its complaint.
The CIEP has therefore decided to withdraw its complaint based on the Commission’s written commitments that it “will monitor imports of the product concerned from Pakistan and Guatemala with a view to collecting information which could be a part of a dossier on which a new anti-dumping case could be based”.
The Chairman of the CIEP, Dr Phillip Davison, has welcomed this commitment saying “the European Commission commitments to continue monitoring ethanol imports from Pakistan and Guatemala, and to act promptly if dumping starts again, sends a strong message to the ethanol industry outside the European Union that dumping practices will not be tolerated in the future”.
Asked if the CIEP could consider future actions against other countries, Dr Davison responded that “the European ethanol industry does not want to suffer from unfair trade practices from third countries or from any imports which are dumped, subsidised or fraudulent. We are sure that the European Commission commitments will discourage other countries from following the example of Pakistan and Guatemala. If this is not the case, the CIEP will undertake all necessary actions to ensure that that the EU ethanol market continues to operate under fair competition rules.”
This was the first time the EU investigated ethanol trade flows for signs of dumping. The CIEP estimates the financial loss for 2005 at approximately 20 millions euros because of dumped, subsidised or illegal imports. The EU ethanol production is a vital and competitive sector and the backbone for industrial and pharmaceutical industries. The market is highly competitive and EU producers cannot compete against unfairly dumped, subsidised or fraudulent imports of ethanol. The initial complaint filed in April by the CIEP was supported by virtually the entire EU ethyl alcohol industry and was received very favourably by EU ethanol producers in order to preserve a fair and healthy EU ethanol market.
For more information: please contact Dr. Phillip Davison, Chairman of the CIEP,
Tel.: +44 (0)7774 110284 or
Agathe Jagiella, Secretary General of the CIEP,
Tel.: +32 (0)2 554 19 19
Notes for the editor:
The Committee of Industrial Ethanol Producers (CIEP) represents the following ethanol producers: Innovene, Royal Nedalco, Sasol and Tereos-Sodes. Its mission is to prevent the EU ethanol industry from being threatened by unfair imports.
For the full notice of the initiation of the anti-dumping procedure, please consult the Official Journal of the European Communities, C-129/22 of 26 May 2005.
For the full text of the Commission Decision 2006/301/EC of 25 April 2006 terminating the anti-dumping proceeding, please consult the Official Journal of the European Communities, L-112/13 of 26 April 2006.
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