(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-30 15:23

Chinese energy-saving light bulbs may face anti-dumping measures from the European Union (EU) for one more year as the European Commission made a compromised proposal on Wednesday.

The EU's executive body agreed to the one-year extension of the six-year-old duties when its commissioners held their first meeting after the summer break. As a compromise, the anti-dumping measures will end automatically after the extension.

"Following discussions within the commission and with member states the commission will recommend that it is in the community's interest to discontinue these measures in the next year," the commission said in a press release.

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The proposal, which had to be approved by EU member states, was put forward in accordance with the overall interests of the EU, commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told reporters at a daily news briefing.

"There are grounds to leave the possibility of continuing these anti-dumping measures for another year, mainly to allow for a soft transition in a changing market reality" for the European industry, he said.

Stephen Adams, the press officer for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, confirmed with Xinhua that the one-year extension was meant to provide a transition period, after which the anti-dumping duties will be dropped automatically without the need for further review.

The one-year extension is started once the approval of member states is made, probably within one month, said Adams.

The EU has imposed an anti-dumping tariff of up to 66 percent on energy-saving light bulbs from China since 2001, which was due to expire in July 2006.

However, the EU later conducted an expiration review amid requests by industry to determine whether to prolong the tariffs for another five years.

During the review period, which lasts 15 months after the expiration and is set to end this October, the anti-dumping measures remain in force.

Whether to extend the anti-dumping duties against Chinese energy-saving bulbs has led to heated debate within the EU.

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