Secretariat for International Relations defends investigation into dumping in potato exports

The Secretary of International Agribusiness Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), Tatiana Palermo, considered the questioning of the practice of dumping of frozen potato exports from Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands to Brazil to be positive. The decision was made by the Department of Commercial Defense, the Secretariat of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Industry, Development and Foreign Trade (Mdic).

The ministry decided to initiate an investigation to verify the existence of the practice of dumping (an action that consists of selling a product at prices below market prices, causing an imbalance in competition) and “damage to the domestic industry” in exports of frozen potatoes, coming from these four countries to Brazil. The decision was published in Circular Secex nº 79, last December, based on a petition from a Brazilian food company, Bem Brasil Alimentos Ltda. The preparation of a petition by national companies is not complex and must be presented in the format defined by Secex Ordinance nº 41, of October 2013.

“The opening of the process demonstrates that Brazilian agribusiness companies are becoming more active in defending fair trade, as is already happening in other sectors, such as metallurgy and chemicals”, says Tatiana Palermo. It is still a “quite timid” movement, and should be better explored by these companies, she added.

Currently, only two products in the sector have anti-dumping duty measures, in force until 2018: garlic (originating in China) and milk powder (originating in New Zealand and the European Union). These products are part of a group of 75 current measures. The application of the anti-dumping duty on garlic is the oldest: it first came into force in 1996. There were then three revisions (2000, 2006 and 2011), which allowed the right to be maintained to this day.

According to the Secretariat for International Agribusiness Relations (SRI), this shows that practices harmful to international trade are not restricted to one region or country in the world, and that the application of anti-dumping duties acts to protect a segment or production operating in Brazil.

The SRI also clarifies that anti-dumping duties aim to prevent unfair practices in international trade, characterized by the sale of products at a lower price than the market price, and are based on agreements and rules established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The application of the measure requires an investigative process to verify dumping, damage to domestic production and the causality between the two.