Industry seeks anti-dumping duty on fishnets imports

Industry seeks anti-dumping duty on fishnets imports

The domestic manufacturing of fishnet constitutes a major part of the domestic demand.
The Dollar Business Bureau

Indian fishnet manufacturing industry has urged the Indian government to initiate anti-dumping investigation and impose an anti-dumping duty on imports of fishnet or fishing net from Bangladesh and China.

Indian Fishnet Manufacturers Association, on the behalf of the fishnet producers, filed a petition before the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to identify, assess and collect anti-dumping duty on dumping of fishnets. Acting upon their requests, the authorities have initiated an investigation on whether the cheap imports from Bangladesh and China have caused a significant injury to the domestic industry.

The authorities have assured the industry that in case of dumping, the government would initiate an anti-dumping duty, which would be adequate to remove the ‘injury’ to the domestic industry.

The domestic manufacturing of fishnet constitutes a major part of the domestic demand. Fishing nets are made from fibers woven in a grid-like structure, formed by knotting a relatively thin nylon thread.

Early nets were woven from grasses, flaxes and other fibrous plant material. Later cotton was used. Due to the technical characteristics of Nylon, Nylon fishnet accounts account for over 65-70% of the total fishnet consumption world over. HPDE constitutes about 25-30% of the total fishnets and PP/Polyester constitutes the rest of 5-10% of the total demand globally.

The industry has included nylon fishing nets, whether 100% or blended. In case of blended, fishing nets should contain at least 50% nylon by weight.

The industry has maintained that there is no difference between the importer goods and that produced by the domestic industry. And they are comparable in terms of essential product characteristics such as physical & chemical characteristics, manufacturing process & technology, functions & uses, product specifications, pricing, distribution & marketing and tariff classification of the goods.

The period of investigation proposed by the applicant was April 2015 to March 2016.

India's imports of fishnets stood at $5.32 million in 2013-14, 6.80 million in 2014-15 and $5.98 million in 2015-16.
The Dollar Business Bureau - Apr 06, 2017 12:00 IST