Third tranche of anti-dumping legislation passes House of Representatives
The third tranche of the Australian Government’s anti-dumping legislation through the was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday (9 May 2012).
Dumping occurs when goods are imported into the domestic market at below production cost or through unlawful subsidies from other foreign governments. Australian food manufacturers are hit hard by these practices.
The Government’s purpose in reforming Australia’s anti-dumping system is to improve access to the anti-dumping system for Australian businesses, and ensure that anti-dumping investigations can be resolved more quickly.
The bill will proceed to the Senate for consideration.
The legislation makes four substantive reforms to the anti-dumping system. It:
– It gives Australian Customs and Border Protection, or the Minister for Home Affairs, the power to make a determination as to the level and extent of any subsidies provided in relation to a product where adequate information about the product has not been provided by the company or country of origin;
– It removes a limitation on the inclusion of profit when deciding a ‘normal value’ of a product;
– It removes the need for a separate review of anti-dumping measures when they occur close to another similar inquiry; and
– It allows the Minister to apply additional dumping duty in the interim while cases are being investigated.
“We are making these reforms to improve access to the anti-dumping system for businesses, provide faster resolution of anti-dumping investigations and ensure greater consistency with anti-dumping administrations in other countries,” Mr Clare said.
Minister for Home Affairs Jason Clare today said, “This legislation directly addresses the concerns of business, workers and unions.
“It implements reforms we announced last year that will make our anti-dumping system clearer and fairer, while ensuring that it complies with our international obligations.”
The fourth and final tranche of legislation to implement the anti-dumping reforms announced last year is scheduled to be introduced in the next Parliamentary sittings.
