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US Department of Commerce officials have wrapped up their 10-day investigation in Viet Nam ahead of November’s final verdict in the shrimp dumping case, the chairman of Viet Nam’s Shrimp Committee, Nguyen Van Kich, said on Monday.
"The DOC delegation said they were pleased with the results of their investigation because of the co-operative attitude of the four Vietnamese defendants. The verification was finished one or two days earlier than expected," Kich said.
The US officials came to Viet Nam on August 27 to verify documents submitted by Viet Nam in the dumping case.
All the defendants except the Kim Anh Company answered all the delegation’s questions in full, prepared in consultation with law firm Willkie Farr Galagher.
"Almost all Vietnamese defendants passed the DOC’s complicated verification pro-cesses, which will prove Viet Nam was not dumping shrimp on the US market," Kich said.
However, Kich said he was worried about Kim Anh as it had refused to provide the US delegation with any information.
Kim Anh exports to several markets besides the US and was said therefore to have had difficulty collating the necessary information in time for the delegation’s visit.
"This is a regretful situation for Kim Anh as the DOC will have to rely on what data they have in assessing the size of the anti-dumping duties," Kich said.
The Viet Nam Shrimp Committee said it would continue to co-operate with Willkie Farr Galagher and US shrimp importers to prove that Viet Nam had not dumped its products on the US.
"We expect the anti-dumping duties imposed on Viet Nam shrimp exporters will be significantly reduced against the preliminary levels," Kich said.
The DOC made a preliminary ruling in June that Vietnamese shrimp companies had dumped their product on the US market and subsequently imposed anti-dumping duties of 11.13 to 93.13 per cent.
VNS - (16/09/2004)
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