The Commerce Ministry has initiated sunset review of anti-dumping duty on import of “metronidazole” from China, even as the earlier sunset review on the subject goods was continuing since June 2006, warranting a fresh look at the continuation or discontinuation of the anti-dumping duty.
Metronidazole is anti-diarrhoea and anti-microbial drug and is used in cases of amoevises, trichommonas to prevent post-operative infection after surgery, giardiasis, acute ulcerative and gingivitis, anaerobic, vaginosis treatment of infection caused by anaerobic micro formation.
An initiation notification issued by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties of the Commerce Ministry said the fresh probe deals with the product covered in the original investigation and the previous sunset review undertaken in 2005-06.
It said that the only domestic manufacturers Aarti Drugs Ltd and Unichem Laboratories Ltd (India) have filed a duly ‘substantiated' application', alleging dumping of the subject goods by China and sought for review and continuation of the anti-dumping duties even as the five-year span of the first sunset review is getting over by June 2011.
The Authority took cognisance of the fact that Aarti Drugs Ltd has imported the subject goods under the duty free advance licensing scheme out of the total imports during the proposed period of investigation that is, January 1, 2010, till end-December 2010 on grounds that these imports were warranted to meet its export commitments. After scanning the relevant rules and considering the facts of the case, the Authority held that Aarti Drugs is not required to be excluded from the ambit and scope of the domestic industry in terms of the anti-dumping rules.
It further maintained that even Aarti Drugs Ltd were to be excluded from the fresh probe because of the imports contracted by it, the Authority said that the other petitioner Unichem Laboratories would constitute as the domestic industry, being the only remaining producer of the subject goods.
Besides the 12-month span of January to December 2010 as the period of probe, the Authority said the injury analysis would cover the fiscal years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 to determine the likelihood of dumping and injury to domestic industry.