Govt may impose anti-dumping duty on a Chinese medicine for infections

The government may impose anti-dumping duty on a Chinese medicine used to treat different kind of bacterial infections with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports.

The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated a probe into an alleged dumping of Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride from China following a complaint filed by Aarti Drugs Ltd.

Aarti Drugs Ltd has filed an application before the directorate for investigation into the imports from the neighbouring country, with which India has a huge trade deficit of over USD 50 billion, for imposing anti-dumping duty.

DGTR in a notification said that on the basis of the prima facie evidence submitted by the domestic industry about dumping of the product originating in or exported from China, "the authority, hereby, initiates an investigation".

In the probe, DGTR will determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping.

If it will be established that the dumping has impacted the domestic industry, the directorate would recommend imposition of the duty. The finance ministry will take the final decision to impose the duty.

Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride is used to treat different types of bacterial infections, including skin infections, bone and joint infections, respiratory or sinus infections, urinary tract infections, and certain types of diarrhea.

The period of investigation is April 2018 to June 2019 (15 months). It would also look at the data of 2015-18.

Countries carry out anti-dumping probe to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports

As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organization.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trade practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters.