Indonesia fails to convince WTO in EU fatty alcohols dispute

GENEVA (Reuters) - A World Trade Organization dispute panel ruled on Friday that the European Union had been largely within its rights to impose anti-dumping duties on Indonesian fatty alcohols, rejecting most of Indonesia's complaint at the Geneva-based trade body.

The panel ruling, which can be appealed, threw out two of Indonesia's claims about the EU's basis for applying duties, but faulted the EU for failing to disclose results of a verification visit to Indonesian firm PT Musim Mas.

The EU had imposed dumping duties on fatty alcohol exports from Musim Mas and Ecogreen Oleochemicals, but reduced the duty on Ecogreen's products to zero after a European court case.

Fatty alcohol is made from kernel oil, a palm oil derivative, and mainly used in the production of detergents and surfactants, as well as in cosmetics, food and industrial solvents.

(Reporting by Tom Miles, editing by Stephanie Nebehay)