India will legally challenge the countervailing duty (CVD) petition filed by the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) in the U.S., the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said on Friday.
COGSI, a body of shrimp producers based in the Gulf of Mexico in US, last week filed a petition, seeking relief from subsidised shrimp imports from seven countries including India and demanding imposing 21 percent duty on imports. "Hearing on the CVD petition is done by the US department of commerce and hence we have to engage US-based lawyers. Along with that, we will send a team along with the promotional body Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda) to the US next week. The final decision of the US department of commerce on the petition will be on February 11, 2013," said Norbert Karikkassery, president of SEAI's Kerala chapter.
Indian seafood industry is passing through a tough phase, Karikkassery noted. "Provisional figures for the first half of fiscal 2013 show that there is a year-on-year decline of 6.9 percent in quantity and 16.6 percent in U.S. dollar earnings in marine products export," he said.
