BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Companies from the European Union, the United States and Japan have been dumping photographic paper into China's market and will be forced to pay duties at Chinese Customs, China's commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

The initial ruling was the result of an investigation announced last December into suspected dumping of the light sensitive paper and paper board used for art, advertising, aviation and national defence purposes, the ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mofcom.gov.cn).

"The initial ruling of the investigative body found that during this period, dumping of the investigated goods occurred, and China's domestic photographic paper industry suffered substantial harm due to that dumping," the statement said.

Starting on Wednesday, importers of photographic paper and paper board from the three sources must pay a cash deposit at Chinese Customs, it said.

Companies from the EU and the United States, including Kodak Ltd , FujiFilm Manufacturing Europe B.V. , and FujiFilm Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc., are required to pay tariffs from 17.6 percent to 28.8 percent, the statement said.

All Japanese goods will be subject to duties of 28.8 percent.

China has been swapping dumping claims with the United States and Europe in recent months, with EU officials saying last week that they would impose trade barriers on bicycles and ceramic tiles from China.

In May, Washington slapped China with anti-dumping duties of up to nearly 83 percent on over $100 million of wood flooring from China to offset what it called unfair pricing practices.