Reino Unido – Agência Reuters – 01/05/2009
MIAMI, April 30 (Reuters) – Florida Citrus Mutual filed a petition with the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday accusing Brazilian firm Citrovita of violating trade laws by dumping orange juice at below-production costs on the U.S. market, the growers group said.
Florida Citrus Mutual alleged in the petition that the Sao Paulo-based firm had violated an existing anti-dumping order beginning in 2008.
“Florida Citrus Mutual continually monitors trade data to determine whether orange juice exporters are playing by the rules and we believe that Citrovita’s exports need to be investigated,” Michael W. Sparks, chief executive of Florida Citrus Mutual, said in a news release.
“The Florida citrus grower deserves to operate in a fair marketplace and that isn’t the case when Brazilian juice processors dump product into the United States. We won’t stand for it.”
The growers group, the largest in Florida’s $9.3 billion citrus industry, asked the Commerce Department to add Citrovita to an existing anti-dumping order against four other Brazilian firms.
That order, issued in March 2006, subjected those exporters to increased scrutiny and required them to pay an annual deposit that can only be refunded if they do not dump product.
The anti-dumping order is estimated to have increased the on-tree value of Florida orange crops by 4 to 6 percent, or $85 to $125 million, over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, the growers group said.
Commerce Department rules give the agency 45 days to decide whether to initiate a review of Citrovita. It would then have 270 days to make a determination on Florida Citrus Mutual’s claims.
Florida accounts for about three-fourths of the United States’ orange production, most of which is processed for juice.
