Brussels, 29/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Provisional anti-dumping duties have been put on biodiesel imported into the EU from Argentina and Indonesia, before a December decision for definitive duties.
On 28 May, the European Commission announced in the Official Journal of the EU that provisional anti-dumping duties would enter into force - as of 29 May - on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia. Applicable for 6 months, while awaiting a decision on definitive duties - a decision on which the EU27 member states are due to reach by 28 November - the duties range from 6.8% to 10.6% for Argentinian biodiesel and from zero to 9.6% for Indonesian biodiesel. With the approval of the member states, the Commission is thus following up on a complaint lodged in August 2012 by the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) against the practice of dumping - a practice from which biodiesel producers in Argentina and Indonesia are gaining advantage. In three years, to 2012, the market share of Argentina and Indonesia rose from 0% to almost 30% of the European market. Other action could follow by mid-August as the Commission is also investigating subsidies granted to Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel producers.
Buenos Aires criticises EU's aggressive protectionism. “Due to an inability to compete, Europe is strengthening its aggressive protectionism against Argentinian biodiesel” against a backdrop of crisis, denounced Argentina's foreign affairs ministry immediately. It also said it was ready to take the necessary action within international law to protect Argentina's exporters. In mid-May, Buenos Aires launched WTO proceedings targeting the European regime for biodiesel imports (see EUROPE 10847).
The dispute between the EU and Argentina on biodiesel dates back to April 2012 when Spain put a brake on imports of Argentinian biodiesel in retaliation at the decision of Argentina's president, Christina Kirchner, to seize control of Argentinian subsidiary YPF from the Spanish oil group Repsol. Madrid then reviewed its position and Buenos Aires suspended its complaint at the beginning of February (see EUROPE 10778). (EH/transl.fl)