The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty on imported mosquito coils from Indonesia.

In a Feb. 15, 2010 order which was published only last March 22, then DTI Secretary Peter B. Favila imposed the additional duty in the form of a $0.40 per kilogram cash bond on mosquito coils from PT Johnson Home Hygiene Products.
The extra impost represents a 40 percent dumping margin on the export price.

The Tariff Commission will conduct a formal investigation to determine whether or not there is a need to impose a definitive anti-dumping duty.

The provisional anti-dumping duty will last four months. The order takes effect upon the issuance of a memorandum order by the Bureau of Customs or 15 days after the publication of the order, whichever comes first. It was not immediately known if the BOC has already issued the order.

The DTI was acting on a petition of the Philippine mosquito coil industry represented by Green Coil Industries Inc. against mosquito coils from Indonesia.

The period of investigation for dumping or price difference on Green Coil’s petition covered import from January to December 2008. However, for the injury determination, the period of investigation considered relevant information for three years, from 2006 to 2008.

Green Coil, the biggest player in the industry, said PT Jonhson’s Baygon Super and Baygon Lavender brands of mosquito killers were being sold in the country at a much lower price than in Indonesia.

Green Coil manufactures Lion Tiger junior size mosquito killer, Lion Katol mosquito killer, Tiger Katol mosquito killer.

Other players are Bendyson International Corp., maker of Dinosaurs mosquito killer, and Philippine Valiant Chemical Products with its Royal mosquito killer.

This is the first time that the industry has experienced dumping, probably because of the huge demand in the local market due to the prevalence of mosquito-carried diseases like dengue and malaria.

The local content of mosquito coils is almost 100 percent. Among the ingredients are coconut shell flour, pyrethrum marc, potato starch and natural pyrethrum, an extract from chrysanthemums.