DATE : 2013-08-23

China has launched an anti-dumping probe into imports of Indian tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), an organic compound used in the food industry.

The commerce ministry said it has received requests from domestic TBHQ producers, accusing Indian manufacturers of dumping the product in the Chinese market and calling for an inquiry.

The ministry will consider whether Indian companies have sold TBHQ at an artificially low price in China and any consequences that the action may have brought to Chinese businesses, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The investigation is expected to take at least a year, and may be extended to February, 2015.

TBHQ is an aromatic organic compound widely used in the food industry as anti-oxidant for vegetable oil, many edible animal fat, roasted food, fried food and other meat products.

It is also used as a stabiliser for insecticide as well as an intermediate for dyes and pharmaceutical. This is the second anti-dumping probe on Indian imports by China this month .

On August 14, China launched an anti-dumping probe against the single-mode optical fibre imports from India.  

SOURCE : Financial Express