Indonesia Appeals To Wto Against Dsb Decision On Fatty Alcohol

Pewarta :

Indonesia Appeals To Wto Against Dsb Decision On Fatty Alcohol

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Foreign Trade Directorate General has appealed to the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the decision of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO over Indonesia's certain fatty acid.

Certain fatty alcohol, a derivative of palm oil, could be used  as the main basic material of surfactant, which is used in the production of detergent, body treatment products and cosmetics.

Indonesia protested the decision of the DSB, which favored the European Union with the application of Articles 2.3  and  2.4,  and  Articles 3.1   and 3.5 of Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA). Indonesia was favored only in its claim related to article 6.7 of  ADA on  transparency of investigation report.

The decision of the DSB panel favored the EU with a 2:1 position against Indonesia.

"SEE is used  by almost all Indonesian producers and exporters in the palm oil sector. The decision of DSB panel on SEE, if won by Indonesia, could be jurisprudence for similar issues in the future," Director of Trade Security Pradnyawati said.

The terminology of SEE, means a parent company and subsidiaries are considered an economic unit.

The Indonesia protest followed an anti dumping investigation by the European Commission starting 13 August, 2010  on petition by two EU certain fatty alcohol producers  - Cognis Gmbh  and Sasol Olefins & Surfactants Gmbh.

Based on the result of the investigation, EU slapped selective anti dumping import duty of 45.63 euro/MT - 80.34 euro/MT on Indonesian producers and exporters  from 8 Nov. 2011 until November 2016.

Following the EU decision, Indonesian producers and exporters filed an appeal  with  local General Court of the EU which freed one producers/exporter from the anti dumping import duty penalty.

Before the  imposition of the anti dumping import duty, imports of  certain fatty alcohols from Indonesia by the European Union  were valued at US$53.5 million  in 2009, up 45.16 percent to US$112.6 million  in 2011.

After the decision on the anti dumping import duty, the Indonesian exports of certain fatty alcohol to the EU  dropped to US$109.2 million in 2012. In 2013,  the export value rose  to US$119.4 million, but shrank in the following year to only US$69.1 million  and to US$58.9 million in 2016.

In the period of 2012-2016, after the imposition of the anti dumping import duty, Indonesia's exports of certain fatty  alcohol  shrank by 20.42 percent annually on the average.

Indonesia's exports of certain fatty alcohol to the EU  valued at US$71.6 million  or 13.87 percent of the country's total exports of that commodity which totaled US$515.9 million in 2016. (*)
Editor: I Gusti Bagus Widyantara
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