The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, has explained the reason for suspending the protection measure for blocks from Serbia.
The Minister clarified that based on anti-dumping laws and countervailing measures, the time for imposing the measure has expired. "In terms of market protection, MIET has two laws that protect our local market. It is the Law on Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures. I would like to inform you about the Anti-Dumping Law. We have two anti-dumping protection measures against Serbia, the one on flour and the other one on peak blocks. While at the moment we are analyzing two more cases: the case of blocks 19, 19, 25, which is in process, and the case of import pertaining to the concentrate from Serbia, which is also in process. In these two cases, according to the final analysis, we will reflect with anti-dumping measures, but we must take into account the legal deadlines provided by the relevant laws ", said Minister Hajdari.
She also stated that she encourages businesses and associations to notify the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade of any possible suspicion.
"At the same time, in case of suspicion about any discrimination or imported products that are discriminated, I encourage businesses and business associations to address the case to the ministry. We will protect local producers from unfair trade policies, but also according to the competition law and the law on foreign trade, while the law on foreign trade has passed the first hearing in the Parliament. I say that this law is of high value, which protects producers and regulates unfair trade policies, protects local producers and exporters who will export abroad, but always based on the basic principles of the WTO. "With these two laws, on competition and foreign trade, we have a broader plan for the protection of the local market," said the minister.
The Minister also explained to reporters the abolition of the anti-dumping measure, based on the law.
"I would like to explain to the public everything pertaining to the abolition of the anti-dumping protection measure 0.02 euros for blocks with dimensions 19, 19, 25 imported from Serbia as well as the announcement of the decision taken for opening an official investigation. Based on the request of the Manufacturers Association for the construction materials based on clay dated on 16.03.2016, the Department of Trade at MIET, after a research done, based on Article 48 of the Law on Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures, dated 07.07 .2016, had recommended and imposed the anti-dumping protection measure in the amount of 0.02 euro for blocks with dimensions 19, 19, 25 imported from Serbia. However, this decision taken on July 7, 2016 did not specify the term of 5 years, as required by law, and the Department of Trade here in MIET, based on the legal interpretation of the Legal Department of this ministry, specifically according to legal obligations of Article 46, paragraph 2 and Article 47, paragraph 5, 6 and 7 of the Law on Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures, after consulting with the Commission for the assessment of special duties on imports has concluded that the decision of the anti-dumping protection measure for standard blocks 19,19,25, which are imported from Serbia should be abolished due to expiration. Thus, it was a legal obligation and I am quoting the article word by word: Article 46, paragraph 2 cites: “Any anti-dumping or countervailing duty shall expire after a maximum of five (5) years from its imposition”. And according to Article 47, paragraph 7: “Measures imposed on the basis of this expiry proceeding can last for up to five (5) years”, said Minister Hajdari.
The Minister also spoke about the consequences that would be in case of not abolishing this measure.
"Therefore, taking into account all these actions, the decision has been abolished, because on July 7, 2021, according to the legal deadlines, 5 years have passed since the implementation of this measure. Consequences of not abolishing this decision, it is worth noting that any delay would be considered a violation of the law, and refund. The Government of Kosovo, respectively the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade would have been obliged to return the funds and the obligation of dumping margin for importers, including penalties according to the laws ", emphasized Minister Hajdari.
The Minister informed the media that after these actions she has decided to initiate an official investigation into the import of blocks from Serbia, explaining the legal way.
"According to Article 47, paragraph 5, we have removed the anti-dumping measure, in order to allow the local industry to submit a new request for review in a short time. This is due to the fact that MIET has closely followed the clay-based construction material sector and possessed analysis as part of the re-evaluation of this measure. Therefore, after the abolition of the anti-dumping protection measure, we had a meeting with the Association of Manufacturers of clay-based construction material and the association has submitted the request. Upon request we have followed the further steps based on the law, and the Department of Trade has sent the questionnaire to the association to complete the data. On August 2, 2021, visits have taken place to construction material companies, where we received the prices of blocks imported from Serbia. On August 4, 2021, a meeting was held with the Commission for the assessment of special duties on imports. In order to address the request of the association, preliminary investigations were analyzed and conducted by the Department of Trade, which recommended the opening of investigations. "As a minister, I have decided to open investigations for the import of blocks from Serbia," said Minister Hajdari.
