Govt to provide legal assistance to sea food exporters

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday said it would provide legal assistance to sea food exporters who have filed a suit with the WTO against dumping duties in the US on their exports.

"The matter has been referred to the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO. Government has also approved engaging an advocate for this purpose," Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

The Sea Food Exporters Association of India has filed suits against anti-dumping order of the US government and enhanced customs bond.

Additional customs bonds were imposed on Indian shrimp imports into the US Exporters from six countries - India, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Ecuador and Brazil - have to execute customs bonds over and above the anti-dumping/countervailing duty to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the US for their shrimp export operations.