India is planning to sign anti-dumping agreements with the European Union, South Korea and China.
Commerce ministry officials said discussions with Korea and China were at an advanced stage. They said the arrangements will not give any of the countries the right to raise specific cases during the annual review exercise. However, they will help put in place a mechanism to discuss the policy on investigations.
The first round of negotiations with EU are scheduled for May, about a month-and-a-half after EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy's visit to India. EU has been raising the issue of transparency in anti-dumping investigations by India.
On the other hand, New Delhi has repeatedly said the EU has been targeting Indian exports and has imposed back-to-back duties. Lamy had also raised the anti-dumping issue during his visit to India earlier this month.
China, Korea and EU headed the list of countries against which investigations had been initiated by New Delhi.
Of the 131 cases registered till February, China topped the list with 66 cases, while EU and Koreahad 24 cases each.
Conversely, of the 83 anti-dumping cases against India, EU had initiated 27 -- the most number of cases registered by any country. China had initiated two investigations while data for Korea was not available.
Recent anti-dumping investigations on textile items initiated by EU have soured relations between New Delhi and Brussels.
