The Hindu Business Line : US court rules against bond requirements for shrimp imports

Unjust treatment
India, currently, has to pay anti-dumping duty to the tune of 10.17 pc and execute a bond of the same value.
The favourable verdict was returned to eight major shrimp importers into the US.

Kochi , Dec. 14

The US Court of International Trade has given a preliminary ruling that the additional bonding imposed on shrimp imports to the country are contrary to the law. Exporters from six countries, India, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Ecuador and Brazil have to execute custom bonds over and above the anti-dumping/countervailing duty to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the US, for their shrimp export operations.

Welcoming the US ruling, the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said the doors of justice were now opening up for the Indian shrimp industry that had been discriminated against so far. India, currently, has to pay anti-dumping duty to the tune of 10.17 per cent and execute a bond of the same value.

`Unfair'

A report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds also concluded that the custom bonds were not fairly applied and impose excessive burden on international trade.

"GAO's findings are consistent with what we know in the seafood community: That CBP policy subjects shrimp importers to unfair treatment, and it must be stopped," the US-based National Fisheries Institute (NFI) President, Mr John Connelly, said in a statement. "CBP has placed an excessive burden on businesses large and small, and NFI is satisfied that this GAO report recommends CBP thoroughly examine the impact of their policies on importing businesses."

The NFI had bought a suit before the Court of International Trade challenging the requirement that companies importing shrimp into the US be subject to anti-dumping duty cash deposits, as well as the requirement of customs bonds, effectively requiring double the amount of security required under the anti-dumping duty law. The favourable verdict was returned to eight major shrimp importers into the US, including Eastern Fish, Ore-Cal, Red Chamber, IGF, Tamp-Bay, Oriental Foods, Berdex Seafood and Aqua Star.

Singled out

The NFI is a leading advocacy organisation in the US seafood industry with member companies ranging in their ambit of operations from fishing vessels to seafood restaurants — encompassing the industry from water-to-table in diversity.

The NFI had argued that this practice of customs bond was contrary to the law and that shrimp importers were uniquely and unfairly singled out for this additional bonding requirement.

The Court of International Trade has ruled on the request for preliminary injunction and the NFI will soon move to the suit's second phase, in which the court will rule on the merits of NFI's arguments to determine if CBP's actions were `arbitrary and capricious'.

A final decision from the Court of International Trade is expected some time in 2007, the NFI statement added.

More Stories on : Aquaculture | Exports & Imports | Anti-dumping | Courts/Legal Issues

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