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Seafood exporters vet dumping woes
Protecting the interests of Vietnamese seafood exporters, many of whom have been embroiled in dumping disputes in several markets, topped the agenda at a seminar held in HCM City yesterday .
"Anti-dumping investigation in EU – law and practice – in case of Vietnamese seafood exported to EU," organised by the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers and French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel, focused on the experiences of seafood exporters involved in anti-dumping investigations in the EU.
Gerard Depayre, Senior Trade Advisor with Gide Loyrette Nouel and former director of the EU Antidumping and Antisubsidy Department, admitted it was unlikely that anti-dumping would remain the central issue as it once was in EU trade policy.
But the number of cases could increase in the coming period due to the current economic crisis and the progressive liberalisation of certain agricultural sectors as a result of which these sectors may feel more inclined to make use of anti-dumping.
"Clearly those areas where Viet Nam’s exports are increasing fast and capturing significant shares of the EU market can be the target for complaints," he said.
In the EU, four conditions for the imposition of anti-dumping duties are dumping, including injury to the domestic industry of like products, causal link between the injury and dumped imports, and anti-dumping measures to be in the community interest.
However, unlike in the US, "the European Commission and the Council may still decide not to resort to measures if they consider the imposition of anti-dumping duties not to be in the community interest," Depayre said.
The maximum time allowed for investigations is 12 months, and 15 months in complicated cases. Provisional measures may be imposed for no more than six months, and nine in complicated cases.
The punitive duty, once imposed, will remain unchanged as long as the importer or exporter concerned cannot demonstrate through a review or refund procedure that the duty is higher than would be justified based on prices actually paid.
The two organisers also held a similar seminar in southern Can Tho City on September 30. They come at a time when Viet Nam has become one of the world’s largest exporters of aquatic produce and its exports to the EU totaled 350,000 tonnes last year, or more than 25 per cent of total export by volume. The EU accounted for 40 per cent of the country’s catfish exports.
Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of VASEP, said total seafood exports last year were worth US$4.5 billion, making Viet Nam the world’s sixth largest seafood exporter.
The main anti-dumping cases in the EU against Vietnamese products in the past few years were mostly related to three issues – the country’s market-economy status, individual treatment, and analogue country – Prof. Claudio Dordi, Team Leader of the Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP), said.
MUTRAP is a project by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade to help implement the Socioeconomic Development Project and the Post-WTO Action Plan for sustained pro-poor economic growth through stronger integration into the global trading system.
The consequences for firms from non-market economies (NME) is that the normal value of their export products will be calculated using data collected in an "analogue" or reference country.
There is no "individual" dumping margin for enterprises in NME.
However, normal value would be determined as for a market economy for those producers who are able to show that their costs and prices are not distorted by state intervention, Dordi said.
Market-economy status
Clearly, getting market-economy status will considerably reduce the vulnerability of Vietnamese exporters to anti-dumping attacks.
Depayre said the European Commission’s report on the progress of Viet Nam towards obtaining market-economy status was expected to be presented to the EU Council in one or two months.
The report’s conclusions would depend on the appreciation of the progress made by Viet Nam in meeting a series of criteria designed to measure the absence of price interference by the State.
If it failed in this quest, Viet Nam should focus on improving the conditions under which individual producers could claim market economy treatment (MET), he said.
"And improvement in firms’ accounting will be of crucial importance. As for exporters, they need to diversify their exports and export markets, and adopt a cautious policy regarding volume and price," he said.
VNS
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