Anti-Dumping Policy to be Adopted

The work on an Anti-Dumping Policy Bill is now complete. The Bill has been agreed on with the government as well as in Parliament. At this stage the Ministry of Economy is calculating the risks of the new law. The Bill is expected to be adopted fully by Parliament by the end of 2015.

Anti-dumping laws prohibit importers from imposing sharply lower prices on products compared to the domestic market prices, since the purpose of such action is often to sink local companies. The purpose of the law is to protect the local industry from unfair competition.

Temur Maisuradze, Deputy Chairman of the Economy and Economic Policy Committee, stated that some businessmen are against the anti-dumping policy. And while a number of small and medium businesses accept the adoption of the law quickly, the same cannot be said of large businesses, many of whom claim that adopting the law this year will hurt their businesses.

Importing company GD Holding board member Uta Maziashvili told business publication Commersant that if the Government adopts the anti-dumping law it will be a very bad precedent for the free market and will result in an increase of prices on imported as well as local products, leaving the country ‘doomed to have a permanent place on the list of poor countries.’

“This will have negative effects in every respect,” said Maziashvili. “Prices on imported products which are of good quality and are available for consumers, will rise. Respectively, if there is a local product, it will also become more expensive. When competition is limited, it always leads to a price increase.”

Temur Maisuradze stated that it is possible that importers are against the anti-dumping law, however, exporting Georgian businesses can’t be against it because the law protects them.

“If foreigners come with dumping prices, it doesn’t mean they always work with dumping prices. They just enter with lowered prices, destroy competitors and then they sell their products at higher prices again. Therefore, we shouldn’t give them the opportunity to sink our companies with artificial prices. In this regard, there should be a regulatory law in our country,” Maisuradze stated.

Ana Akhalaia