NCE welcomes enactment of legislation on antidumping, countervailing and safeguards; urges measures

The National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) has welcomed the much-awaited Antidumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Measures Acts which were passed in parliament on 7 March. The enactment of these two acts were long overdue in the case of Sri Lanka since over 30 countries both developed and developing including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which are competitors of Sri Lanka related to international trade in the South Asian region had already enacted such domestic legislation.

The chamber is particularly pleased with the enactment of this legislation since local industry has been making representations in the past that imports are entering the country in some instances at lower prices than the normal value.

In this context with the implementation of the trade liberalisation policies of the Government, and particularly the ongoing negotiations of the government to enter into Free Trade Agreements and Economic Partnership Agreements with several countries including large economies such as China and India and also with Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh, which are in the pipe line, local entrepreneurs have been particularly concerned regarding possible surges in imports which could cause damage to local enterprises; in addition to The Free Trade Agreements that have been already signed with India, Pakistan, and Singapore. 

The enactment of this legislation will provide safe guards to local enterprises in regard to imported products which are deliberately priced below their normal value, and sometimes below the cost of production of the exporting countries, to drive out competition from local enterprises which produce the same or similar products. Similarly, the legislation provides safeguards to local enterprises in respect of imported products which have received excessive and unfair subsidies in the producing country, which are actionable under the legislation. 

Further the Safeguard Measures Act provides for the protection of domestic enterprises from sudden surges in imports which could cause injury to domestic enterprises 

However as stated in a press release of the Ministry of Strategy Development and International Trade these new laws are not aimed at providing blanket protectionism to domestic industry, but rather a credible set of remedial measures in the event of injury cause to domestic industry. Therefore, their primary purpose is to ensure fair competition and to provide domestic industry a level playing field 

As stated by the Ministry, the chamber is conscious of the fact that dumping is often mistaken to mean cheap or low-priced imports. In this context mere complaints by local enterprises that goods are imported at low prices will not be sufficient to provide remedial measures through the levy of anti-dumping duties, but should be done through a laid down procedure where applications should be submitted by the attracted industries for initiation of investigations, and for the imposition of anti-dumping duty or to provide other remedial measures.

For this purpose, the Chamber notes that the investigating authority has been vested with the Director General of Commerce, to whom application has to been made by the affected domestic enterprises, following a laid down procedure. Thereafter the Director General of Commerce is required to investigate and determine the injury if any that is caused to affected local enterprises within a stipulated time frame, and recommend action for the imposition of additional or countervailing duties for which authority is vested with the Ministry of Finance. 

In order to made the implementation process of the enacted legislation productive and beneficial to local enterprises, while conforming to international trading practices, the chamber is of the view that domestic industry and entrepreneurs, especially those engaged in SMEs, should be educated on the assessment of any damage to local enterprises by collating accurate information, and thereafter make application to the responsible state Authority who is the Director General of Commerce, following proper procedure. 

For this purpose the chamber suggests the conduct of suitable forums or workshops to educate local entrepreneurs, or in the alternative conduct a Trainers Training Workshop for representatives of the relevant Trade Chambers and other organisations, to enable them to suitably advice and educate member companies to facilitate the provision of  relief measures.