M;sia Has Legal Framework to Safeguard Manufactures

MITI: M'sia Has Legal Framework To Safeguard Manufacturers

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has the legal and regulatory framework to safeguard local manufacturers in the face of unfair trade practices that may arise as a result of the current global economic and financial crisis, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said.I

ts Secretary General Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat, assured manufacturers that MITI was monitoring Malaysia's trade data and was in regular consultation with industry to ensure that local manufacturers were not disadvantaged by the influx of imports which might be artificially cheap.

In a statement, MITI said the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Act 1993 and Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Regulation 1994, which were in compliance with Malaysia's obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), provide Malaysia with the mechanism to take action against foreign manufacturers and exporters who were found to have dumped their products in the domestic market, thereby causing injury to local manufacturers.

Local manufacturers could ask the government to institute anti-dumping action when the price of an imported product was lower than the price sold in its domestic market, the ministry said.

To date, Malaysia has initiated 14 anti-dumping cases against 72 foreign companies in 13 countries, MITI said.Anti-dumping duties have been imposed by Malaysia on imports of newsprint from Canada, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines and theUnited States; maleic anhydride from Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea; and polyethylene terephthalate from Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand.

"In addition to instituting anti-dumping measures, which is price-based, local manufacturers who are seriously injured by a sudden surge of imports, can also petition the Government to institute safeguards measure under the Safeguards Act 2006 and Safeguards Regulation 2007," said Abdul Rahman.

He said MITI was also on guard to ensure that Malaysian exporters were able to compete fairly and not be subjected to protectionist measures by importing countries.

This was done mainly through the country's bilateral, regional and multilateral engagements with its trading partners, he added.In addition, the government was strengthening the implementation and enforcement of mandatory Malaysian standards for a range of manufactured products, said MITI.

As of Nov 30, 2008, a total of 5,444 Malaysian Standards (MS) have been developed, and of these, 3,160 are aligned with international standards while 173 standards have been made mandatory, it added.-- BERNAMA