PAFMIL seeks higher dumping duty on Turkish flour

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) has asked the Department of Agriculture to impose higher dumping duty on Turkish flour.

In a statement PAFMIL executive director Ric M. Pinca said the dumping duty imposed by the DA at the recommendation of the Tariff Commission is not enough to stop Turkish flour exporters from continuing the malpractice of dumping. The World Trade Organization (WTO) defines dumping as the “export of goods at prices lower than its domestic prices in the exporting country”.

Pinca said noted that the Tariff Commission ( TC )  found Turkey dumping wheat in the Philippines and recommended a dumping duty ranging from 2.87 percent to 16.19 percent on 13 Turkish exporters and no dumping duty on four others.” We believe the TC erred by not considering other improper practices of Turkish flour exporters which enabled them to dump flour prices to the detriment of local flour millers,” he added.

“The definitive finding of flour dumping against Turkey may have proven the PAFMIL was right all along in its complaint against the unfair trade being practiced by Turkey. But this legal triumph is meaningless if it does not stop the unfair trade in wheat flour which Turkish flour millers continue with impunity. It is obvious that the positive finding of dumping and the corresponding duty imposed do not faze them at all,” Pinca said.

The issuance of Department Order 10 providing minimal dumping duty is a mere slap on the wrist for Turkish millers and does not prevent them from proceeding with this malpractice, the PAFMIL statement added.

The millers explained that PAFMIL’s computation submitted to the TC and DA show that Turkish dumping margins range from 26 percent to 65.41 percent, thus the dumping duty on these flour exporters should also be at that range.

Worse, Turkish flour exporters may even go to the extent of colluding with each other by exporting their wheat flour through the four Turkish millers who were not imposed any dumping duty, the millers said.

PAFMIL urged the DA to prevent further threat and material injury to the local wheat flour milling industry by imposing higher dumping duty on all Turkish flour millers exporting to the Philippines and to deprive Turkish millers the undue and unfair advantage derived from their highly irregular and deficient Import Processing Regime (IPR). 

Specifically, PAFMIL said Turkish flour millers should be imposed the following dumping margins: Erisler (40.16), Eksun (63.04), Ulusoy (26), Ulas (39.22), Doruk (37.83), Akduy (28.84), DOST (52), Ektas (50.67), Kale medencilik (58.29), Karahan (29.36) Ozdoyuran (61.51), Tekinak (45.91), Tekirdag (36.87), Turun (30.77), Unay (65.41), Yorukogullari (51.50) and Yulsel Tezcan (46.96.)