The China Association of Lighting Industry (CALI) on Friday warned members against being over optimistic that the European Commission (EC) will scrap the six-year-old anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made energy-efficient light bulbs in September.

 

"It's not accurate to say that the European Union (EU) has decided to lift the duties in October," warned CALI director-general Chen Yansheng, referring to the date when the tariffs are due to expire.

 

The EU imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 59.6 percent on energy-efficient light bulbs imported from eight Chinese manufacturers in 2001, and other Chinese producers were hit with duties up to 66.1 percent.

 

The duties were set to be in effect from July 2001 to July 2006, but the EU launched an anti-dumping investigation into the Chinese-made light bulbs when they expired in 2006 as some European lighting producers said the Chinese products were being sold below cost in the European market.

 

"Discussions on the proposal began at the beginning of the year with voices from both sides. More have been calling for lifting of the duties recently, but the opponents are standing their ground," Chen said.

 

Chen said China produced 80 percent of the world's energy-saving light bulbs, and exported light bulbs worth 1.5 billion US dollars in 2006.

 

Many Chinese manufacturers had given up on the European market with the heavy anti-dumping duties in place, but some had said they would explore the European market again if the duties were lifted.

 

However, Chen warned Chinese manufacturers against over optimism even if the EU scrapped the duties, and urged them to improve the quality of their products in order to meet technological standards set by the EU.

 

EU commissioner Peter Mandelson, who recommended the proposal, and other supporters want to lift the punitive tariffs out of concern over environmental protection, energy efficiency and consumer demand.

 

The EC said the duties had resulted in European customers paying 60 percent more for their light bulbs.

 

The environmental group Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said energy-saving light bulbs used only 20 percent of the energy consumed by traditional bulbs, which would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The EU has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020. The use of power for domestic lighting would fall by 60 percent if energy-efficient bulbs replaced traditional lights, according to the EC.

 

The WWF called on the EU in June to live up to its environmental reputation by scrapping duties on Chinese made energy-saving light bulbs.

 

In the discussion held at the end of July, the majority of the EU member countries indicated they would support the proposal.

 

Analysts said the opposition from Germany, home to Osram, the biggest maker of energy-saving light bulbs in the EU, however, could bring some weak-minded smaller member countries to change their position.

 

Osram, part of the Siemens group, had sought to prolong the duties, claiming below-cost Chinese imports were unfair to European manufacturers and hundreds of jobs were at risk.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)