China starts to impose temporary anti-dumping measures as from Monday against imports of a chemical catechol made in the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) has announced.

Catechol, or pyrocatechol, is a kind of white, crystalline phenol, now usually produced synthetically for use as an antiseptic, or a photographic developer among other uses.

The MOFTEC broke the news following a preliminary judgment at the conclusion of an anti-dumping investigation initiated on March1, 2002.

The investigation revealed the dumping of catechol that is listed under "2907.2910" in the tariffs of China's General Administration of Customs, and State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) proved that imports caused substantial damage to industries in China, according to the MOFTEC announcement.

The announcement noted that the importers should pay cash deposits from Monday to the customs of the People's Republic of China in accordance with the judgment.

Meanwhile, MOFTEC and the SETC are to make further investigations on this case before the final judgment is reached. This is the first case since China's entry into the World Trade Organization, in which a preliminary judgment has been made on the basis of the country's newly-approved anti-dumping regulations that went into effect on January 1, 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2002)