Colombia has wrongly imposed an anti-dumping duty on French fries from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. This is the opinion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after years of legal play. According to the European Commission, this concerns € 20 million in export value on which duties have been wrongly paid.
At the end of 2017, the Colombian trade association for the potato sector (Fedepapa) started a study into potato products from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. A year later, an anti-dumping duty was imposed set on product from the three countries. This mainly concerns frozen fries.
Market protection
The Colombian Trade Commission ruled at the time that French fries were being dumped in the country at too low prices, harming domestic production. This is a so-called ad valorem levy, whereby a levy is imposed afterwards that depends on the sales price. At the announcement, Romain Cools, then secretary of Belgapom and FPVhouse, announced that he would not leave it at that and would appeal, which happened.
Joint appeal
This is the first time that three EU member states have jointly appealed to the WTO. This concerns a so-called Multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement (Mpai). According to figures from the European Commission include the total export value of potato products to Colombia €20 million from the three countries. The EC also states that the WTO decision is a strong signal for other countries that think they can protect their markets with anti-dumping duties.
Last year it was announced that New Zealand was investigating anti-dumping of European fries. In the end it was judgment negative. This summer, South Africa introduced one for the second time anti-dumping duty against fries from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It is almost always local chip manufacturers who blow the whistle on unfair trade practices, after which an investigation is initiated.
Trade without interference
Colombia must immediately allow European fries to enter the country again, without a tax. If this is not done in time, the South Americans will face countermeasures. The export of fries to the country has not suffered much from the tariffs in recent years. In May this year, imports of European fries reached a record 9.346 tonnes, after the market recovered from the corona pandemic in 2021 and 2022. However, imports have slowed down considerably in recent months. Belgium is the largest supplier of fries, followed by the Netherlands.