14 economies seek to tighten WTO rules to curb abusive antidumping

HONG KONG, Dec. 14 Kyodo

Fourteen economies seeking to tighten the World Trade Organization's rules on antidumping reaffirmed Wednesday their determination to try to curb abusive practices by countries such as the United States, a Japanese official said.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai hosted a meeting of the so-called ''Friends of Antidumping Negotiations'' group, whose members say they suffer from abusive antidumping measures. The meeting was held in parallel with a WTO ministerial meeting that began Tuesday in Hong Kong.

Improving trade rules, including those on antidumping, is part of the current WTO Doha Round of trade liberalization talks. During the meeting, the participants agreed that the Doha Round cannot be concluded without progress in strengthening trade rules, the official said.

The members of the group are Japan, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, Mexico, Colombia, Israel, Costa Rica and Singapore. All members but Israel took part in the day's talks and agreed to meet again later this week to coordinate their stances, he said.

According to the official, Nikai told the meeting that he is satisfied with the part on antidumping of a draft Hong Kong accord presented by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy. The Japanese minister said it is important to seek further progress in this area before the scheduled end of the Doha Round within 2006.

The draft text called on member economies to take into account ''the need to avoid unwarranted use of antidumping measures'' and clarify rules on the determination of dumping, damages caused by it, and ''the level, scope and duration of measures.'' It also sought enhanced transparency in antidumping investigations.

The United States, which ranks second in the list of countries invoking antidumping measures after India over 10 years from 1995, has kept such sanctions for maximum 33 years in the past, the official said. The group against abusive antidumping measures seeks their termination in five years.

Japan ranks fifth among countries against which antidumping measures were taken during the 10-year period from 1995. China tops the list, followed by South Korea and Taiwan.

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