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Australia ends dumping probe of South African peach products
The Australian Anti-Dumping Commission has ended its investigation of alleged dumping by South African producers of prepared or preserved peaches, following an application brought by Australian company SPC Ardmona in July last year.
The commission said in its termination report published in The Australian on December 13 that it had found goods exported to Australia by Langeberg & Ashton Foods and Rhodes Food Group had been dumped, but that the dumping margin was less than 2%.
International trade law expert Rian Geldenhuys said because of the negligible dumping margins, it could not hurt the Australian industry. It was insignificantly small and did not indicate any intention of dumping, so the commission had decided to terminate the investigation.
“As such the South African industry will not face anti-dumping duties when its products enter the Australian market,” he told Business Day following the publication of the notice.
Mr Geldenhuys is an international trade and commercial lawyer with Trade Law Chambers, who represents South African producers.
Australia announced last year that it wanted a total ban on all canned-fruit products produced abroad, a move that would have hit South Africa’s fruit industry‚ which supplies 40% of the total processed fruit market in that country.
Anti-dumping measures are introduced when the price of a product produced in one country‚ is sold in another at a price lower than the price at which local producers produce and sell.
The commission said in its termination report it was satisfied that the volumes of goods that had been exported to Australia over a reasonable examination period from South Africa, that had been dumped, was negligible.
Officials from the commission visited South African canners during the course of the investigation last year and recommended the termination of the investigation to the commission.
SPC Ardmona had also applied in July last year for safeguard duties to be introduced against South African canned-fruit producers, and although the Australian Productivity Commission last year found no grounds for implementing provisional safeguard duties on South African producers of canned fruit, its final report has not been published.
SPC Ardmona had asked for a duty of 45%‚ or a quota on imports that would have had a similar effect as the 45% duty. The company claimed the appreciation of the Australian dollar had led to imports becoming cheaper and the market share of domestic producers declining significantly. Further‚ there had been a decrease in fruit bought from domestic growers.
The Productivity Commission found in November last year that the requirements for introducing provisional safeguard measures in terms of World Trade Organisation rules had not been met. Mr Geldenhuys said earlier that the rules for the introduction of safeguard measures required a sharp‚ significant and recent increase in imports that caused material injury to the local market.
Evidence presented by South African producers showed‚ in fact‚ there had been a drop in imports in most instances and where there had been an increase‚ it was not significant.
Mr Geldenhuys said they had been informed that the Productivity Commission had completed its final report and had sent it on for government approval. “We will only know the outcome once it has been released by the Australian government,” he told Business Day.
