Flour millers score price scare

Local flour millers on Tuesday bucked allegations made by Turkish exporters that prices of bread and related products would increase soon following the imposition of antidumping duties on Turkish flour imports.

“Scaring the public with pronouncements saying the price of pan de sal will go up by 50 centavos per piece will also not work as it has no basis in fact. Even the Department of Trade and Industry has said that the dumping duty on Turkish flour will have no effect on Pinoy Pandesal and Pinoy Tasty because Turkish flour is not used to produce these low-cost products,” said Ric M. Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil).

Pafmil noted that instead of making such pronouncements, the Turkish flour exporters should face the allegations and address the dumping case against them.

“The case against Turkish flour is dumping which the World Trade Organization defines as the export of products at prices lower than the domestic prices at the exporting country. The Department of Agriculture has determined that Turkey is dumping flour in the Philippines and has slapped a dumping duty ranging from 2 percent to 39.26 percent,” Pinca explained.

In May last year, Pafmil complained that Turkish flour millers were exporting flour to the Philippines “at dumping prices which is in violation of the WTO rules” and thus causing injury to the local flour milling industry.

But it was only last month that the Department of Agriculture recommended the imposition of a provisional duty of 35 percent on hard flour, 39.26 percent on biscuit bread, and 35.21 percent on soft flour. Amy R. Remo