The first phase of a scheme to set up an early warning system on anti-dumping proceedings against Vietnamese exports is due to be put into operation in this September, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Wednesday.
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| Officials of Ministry of Industry and Trade are fielding businesses’ questions at a meeting on the early-warning system in HCMC on Wednesday. |
Bach Van Mung, director general of the Vietnam Competition Administration Department under the ministry, told a meeting in HCMC to collect suggestions for accomplishing the system that the website for warning is now under test run as planned.
The website is providing warnings about potential risks of anti-dumping measures imposed on Vietnamese products, including textile and garment, footwear, seafood, furniture and electric devices bound for the U.S. and EU.
The scheme is implemented in three phases. The second phase, in which warnings on risks of anti-dumping against products of ten industries exported to five markets are given, is expected to be completed in early 2011. The number of industries and markets involved will be expanded to 20 and 10 respectively in the last phase.
Mung said the early warning system would be helpful for Vietnamese exporters to take caution when shipping items having high risks of anti-dumping imposition.
“They will actively adjust their amount as well as prices of products exported to the two markets if warned early,” Mung said. Vietnamese exporters also can look for another alterative market or prepare to meet book-keeping requirements and respond to a lawsuit, he added.
“The system may help reduce the number of potential anti-dumping investigations against Vietnamese products,” he said. The official, however, didn’t exclude the possibility of wrong warnings misleading businesses.
The system is being built based partly on the proportion and prices of Vietnamese goods shipped to importing countries, which may result in incorrect alert and cause enterprises to miss chances to boost their export, said Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).
“In the U.S., 99% of consumed footwear is imported and they produce only 1%, so if the administration bases on the proportion of Vietnamese imports to the market to give a red warning – the highest level of warning, it’s wrong,” the association representative said at the meeting.
Kiet suggested that the administration be cautious and refer to information and ideas of associations before giving the highest level of warning.
Some other businesses showed their worries about the possibility of foreign producers exploiting the website to file lawsuits against Vietnamese export.
Vietnam, an export-dependent country, has faced 34 anti-dumping lawsuits since 1994.
