Three Italian manufacturers dumped tomato products in Australia, the country’s anti-dumping regulator has said.
Australia’s Anti-Dumping Commission has been examining the imports of prepared and preserved tomatoes into the country after local food group SPC Global Holdings lodged a complaint last year.
The Commission has weighed up allegations of the “dumping and subsidisation” of the products and, in a 172-page “statement of essential facts”, has set out its early findings.
In the report, the Commission said it was “preliminarily satisfied” De Clemente, IMCA and Mutti exported dumped goods to Australia between 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.
The watchdog has found La Doria did not dump products in the country and has proposed ending the investigation into the company.
Meanwhile, the Commission said all four exporters from Italy received countervailable subsidises on goods exported to Australia.
However, according to the report, the level of subsidisation received by all four companies “in respect of the goods was negligible”. The watchdog has proposed ending this part of the investigation.
It added: “The Commissioner preliminarily considers that, at this point in the investigation based on the evidence before the Commissioner and, having assessed other factors in the Australian market for prepared or preserved tomatoes in which the Australian industry competes, imports of dumped and/or subsidised goods from Italy have had an effect on SPC’s economic condition but material injury to the Australian industry has not been caused by those imports.”
Interested parties have 20 days from the report’s publication to provide submissions.
In a statement, SPC Global managing director Robert Iervasi said: “SPC respects the process but is disappointed with the initial findings. We remain committed to fair competition and ensuring a level playing field for Australian manufacturers and growers.”
He added: “We will review the statement of essential facts in detail and will continue to engage constructively with the Commission through the remaining stages of the investigation.”
Just Food has approached De Clemente, IMCA and Mutti for comment.
