Tariff panel asked to study flooding of Chinese goods

NEW DELHI, DEC. 15. The Government today said the Tariff Commission had been directed to study the impact of flooding of cheap Chinese goods into India on the domestic industry and the Centre could consider imposing an anti-dumping duty upto 40 per cent on these goods if the situation so warranted. Replying to supplementaries during question hour in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Industry, Mr. Raman Singh, assured the agitated members that the Government was closely monitoring the situation arising out of import of goods from China and had, in fact, already initiated steps.

He said import of all packaged commodities had been subjected to compliance with all conditions of weights and measures as applicable to domestic producers.

Smuggling from Nepal

Steps had also been taken to check the smuggling of goods from Nepal and raids had been conducted at various places leading to the recovery of Chinese goods worth Rs. 5.60 crores.

Earlier, members cutting cross party lines, voiced concern over the flooding of Chinese goods into the Indian market and demanded that the Government set up a mechanism to assess the impact of these goods on Indian economy.

Terming the Chinese action as another form of ''terrorism,'' they said the Government should initiate suo motu action instead of waiting for a complaint from the domestic industry.

The Government had also made it mandatory for the producers to print the manufacturing date as also the maximum price, Mr. Singh said.

The Directorate General of anti-dumping and allied duties has recommended a final duty in 25 cases against China, he said, adding that provisional duty had been recommended in three cases against China and six cases initiated against China were under investigation for preliminary findings. Of the six cases, the designated authority had initiated suo motu investigations in three cases - dry battery, toys and sports shoes. he said.

Import of 131 products had been made subject to compliance with the mandatory Indian quality standards as applicable to domestic good.

For compliance with this requirement, all manufacturers and exporters of these products to India shall be required to register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards, he said.

Locos import

The Canadian export credit agency, Export Development Corporation (EDC) has offered to part-finance the import of ten diesel electric passenger locos from the General Motors Corporation, for which contract was placed by the Railway Ministry last year, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The Railway Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, said the EDC, which provides funds to finance procurement of goods and services of Canadian origin, had extended a line of credit for $52 million to the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC).

The amount was meant to part-finance the import of 21 high horse power diesel electric freight locomotives from the General Motors Corporation, USA and related transfer of technology for which contracts were placed by the Ministry in 1995, she said.

While $38 million had so far been released by the EDC in terms of these contracts to the supplier, the balance amount would be released in instalments linked to various stages of implementation of transfer of technology up to December 2005.

Replying to another question, Ms. Banerjee said that on the basis of a complaint of overpayment to private suppliers against the chief of vigilance of the Railway Board, the matter had been referred to CBI in September this year.

She said a decision had been taken to shift the incumbent from his present assignment to facilitate an impartial probe.

Fertiliser units

The Government today said it would make all efforts to revive the unviable fertiliser units and the new fertiliser policy will discuss the entire gamut of the problems of the industry including fuel pricing.

The Chemical and Fertiliser Minister, Ms. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, said sickness in PSU units was attributable to several factors, including technological, design and equipment deficiencies, surplus manpower and high operating costs.

- PTI

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