Thai corn exporters protest against 28 pct EU anti-dumping duties |
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Fri, 09 Mar 2007 10:07
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BANGKOK (XFN-ASIA) - Thailand's sweet corn industry voiced outrage at major French food companies, accusing them of having influenced the European Union's decision to impose a total of 28 pct anti-dumping duties on their exports.Yesterday, some 100 Thai sweet corn exporters demonstrated outside the Franch embassy here and rallied in front of the Bangkok office of the European Union to protest against the 28 pct duties imposed by the EU on their exports.'The Thai sweet corn industry will die. We cannot compete with other countries if the EU imposes 28 pct duties on us,' said Pornchai Pinvises, vice president and chairman of the Thai sweet corn processor group.Within two months, the EU is set to impose an additional 13.2-pct tax on Thai sweet corn products, on top of the current 15-pct, bringing the total duties on Thai corn exports to 28.2 pct, Pornchai said.He said French vegetable companies Bonduelle and D'Aucy were behind the EU's decision and called for an investigation.'We asked the EU to investigate as Thai companies were not involved in dumping on the European market,' Pornchai said.The heavy anti-dumping duties could affect more than 1 mln Thais in the industry, he said, adding that his group is in talks with the commerce ministry to discuss whether to bring a case to the World Trade Organization.Thailand is the world's third largest sweet corn producer, after the US and France. Some 34 pct of Thai sweet corn products were exported to the European Union last year, Pornchai said.afp/net
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