Every Filipino should fight dumping of Turkish flour

Allow us to correct some erroneous information in Neal Cruz’s Aug. 1 column.

1. The Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil) is not a cartel. It is composed of only seven of about 17 flour mills in the country. Pafmil members are the oldest flour mills in the country, most of which were established around 1959-1961. Another association, the Chamber of Philippine Flour Mills has four members. There are other flour mills which are not members of any organization. Two new flour mills are being put up.

Pafmil is obviously a minority in the flour business in the Philippines. We just get noticed a lot more because we fight, feistily, I should say, for our rights. One of these rights is the right to fair trade. This is why we have filed an antidumping petition against Turkish flour. The Department of Agriculture has found Turkey is dumping flour in the Philippines and imposed an antidumping duty ranging from 2.28 percent to 39.26 percent.

2. Turkish flour has taken nearly 10 percent of the Philippine flour market. Other exporters like Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam have taken another 4 percent. Turkey’s 10-percent market share displaces at least three local flour millers from the market.

It might interest Cruz to know that if we export flour to Turkey, the import duty is 103 percent. Turkey wants to sell its flour to the Philippine market but would not accept a single sack of flour from us. How is that for fair trade?

3. Turkey is also dumping flour in other countries. Other countries play fair. Turkey does not. It is violating World Trade Organization rules that govern international trade. Other flour exporters are not dumping flour in the Philippines. They play fair and we are happy to compete with them in a fair and open market.

In 2012, Indonesia slapped a 20-percent Safeguard Duty on Turkish flour. This year it is imposing an export quota to control Turkish dumping efforts.

4. Turkish flour is cheap because it is dumped. Turkish millers export flour at prices much lower than their domestic prices. In 2010, their domestic price was at $600 per metric ton. Their export price to the Philippines was only at $276 per metric ton. The same dumping continues to this day.

5. Should Filipinos buy Turkish flour because it is cheap? Then we should just import rice, corn, chicken, pork and other food stuff from China and other countries because these products are cheaper there. And let’s just forget our rice and corn farmers and poultry raisers and other domestic manufacturers, and let local businesses close down, and leave our laborers and farmers to become jobless.

6. Turkey is the world’s biggest flour exporter with 2.5 mmt  of flour exports in 2012-2013. Turkey is the Goliath of the world’s flour industry. Philippine flour millers are puny little Davids compared to Turkey.

7. Pafmil will continue to fight Turkish flour millers for dumping flour in the Philippines.

As should every Filipino.

—RIC M. PINCA,

executive director,

Philippine Association of Flour Millers,

[email protected]