Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), an arm of the Indian federal Commerce Ministry has recommended, a range of anti-dumping duty on certain jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal, trade sources said.The recommendation came following a DGAD investigation launched to probe a petition filed by Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) last year seeking protection from cheaper jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal.The DGAD has recommended a duty from $ 19.30 to $ 351.72 per tonne on a range of jute products from Bangladesh and a duty of $ 8.18 -to $ 38.90 per tonne for jute products from Nepal. The products include yarn, hessian fabric and sacking bags.The DGAD said the purpose of recommending anti-dumping duty was to protect the domestic Indian jute industry through unfair trade practises and to create a fair and open competition in the Indian market, according recent reports published in India media.The reports quoting DGAD said that preventing imports from neighbouring countries was not the motive behind the move. Seventeen Indian jute mills, accounting for 42 per cent of the domestic market share, had petitioned the Indian government, pointing to the fact that Bangladesh jute producers were selling their products in India at a price lower than their prices in their own country.They had said that Bangladesh government was providing a ten per cent cash subsidy for boosting jute exports and that is why the Bangladesh producers could sell their products in India at rates lower than their own domestic prices.Bangladesh Commerce Ministry has already taken up the issue with India government and negotiations are expected to start soon.Currently, Bangladesh jute and jute goods enjoy zero-duty benefit on export to the Indian market under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
