RIYADH, 8 September 2003 — The Shoura Council resumed its sessions yesterday after a 45-day summer vacation break with the passage of the Kingdom’s first anti- dumping law. The law was passed by a majority of 85 percent and will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval.
Despite being passed by a large majority, a pessimistic 15 percent said the anti-dumping law would not have any effect on the Saudi economy if it was not properly defined. It would do little to the Saudi market which was “already haphazard and chaotic” and where retailers have been allowed for decades to import whatever they want in any quantity, some members said.
Muhammad Qaroob, from the administration and systems committee, said: “This law is a must and there is no running away from it.”
He cited a recent example of how the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Company (SABIC) was forced to pay a surcharge to an Arab country for allowing its product to enter the country. Such a law would protect Saudi products in such cases, he said.
“The law is a must. But the question remains how to place the appropriate principles and regulations and determine which products need protection so that our hands do not remain tied,” he added.
Dr. Bandar Al-Eiban, deputy head of the economy committee, said Saudi Arabia needed this particular law to become part of the global market. “Any decision taken by Saudi Arabia without this law would be understood by other countries as a political decision that has political interests, and not as an economic decision.”
Muhammad Al-Shareef, deputy head of the finance committee urged the Council to re-examine the law before passing it. He said Saudi Arabia was full of dumped products. One of the conditions that Saudi Arabia will sign to on joining the World Trade Organization is that all trade barriers are eradicated to allow free flow of imports. “Passing this law would put negotiators in a very embarrassing situation. I urge the committee to re-examine the law,” he said.
Abdul Rahman Al-Jaafari, head of the Finance Committee, said the law “came at the right time.” He said there were regulations in the World Trade Organization Committee about dumping and that the Ministry of Industry and Trade also examined the American, European and Egyptian systems for combating dumping. “We are no longer outcasts if we pass this law,” he stated, adding that he was in favor of the idea, especially since Saudi Arabia does not have a current law to protect its national products.
“The Kingdom can’t impose fines on any country for dumping its products here without passing this law,” said Dr. Muhammad ibn Hamad. He said passing the anti-dumping law would help Saudi Arabia join the WTO and that not passing it “would make our country’s national industries very vulnerable when products are being dumped in its markets.”
Section 4 of the law regulates fines for products if they are found to have been imported in excessive quantities. The law, under section 5, licenses “all necessary temporary compensatory measures whenever the public interest is affected and to prevent any harm,” as well as, under section 6, when increased imports have resulted in damage to the local industry.
