Brussels, 18/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to an announcement made on Tuesday 18 June in Rome by French and Italian agriculture ministers, the two countries agree on adopting a line of total transparency should China begin anti-dumping procedures against European wine.
Following a bilateral meeting, both the Italian minister Nunzia De Girolamo and his French guest, Stéphane Le Foll, said that they were not worried about the risk of China beginning such a procedure that could end up with the introduction of special customs duties being introduced on wine. Le Foll emphasised that “we have a common position and we reaffirmed our lack of worry with regard to supposed subsidies on wine because there aren't any!” He added that “any possible criticism from China is groundless”.
Almost as a joke but then more seriously, his Italian colleague proposed “inviting the most senior Chinese agricultural representatives to dinner in an effort to see whether the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of this sector would drink a toast with French and Italian wines and demonstrate that our exports are not unfair”.
What counts for Le Foll is that discussions between the EU and China are based genuine “European unity” and that divisions are avoided. In the event that, after the investigation, China begins an anti-dumping procedure on 5 August, Le Foll said that he hoped “that French winegrowers come on board quickly to act in total transparency; there is nothing to fear”. (LC/transl.fl)