The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the Commerce Ministry, initiated the

investigations into alleged dumping of a chemical -Meta Phenylene Diamine from China on the basis of an application from the domestic industry. The chemical is mainly used in photography and medical applications. According to a notification by the Commerce Ministry, the DGAD has said there was sufficient evidence to

justify initiation of an anti-dumping investigation. The period of investigation is from October 2010 to December 2011. India has initiated 275 anti-dumping investigations between 1992 and March 2012, involving 42 countries.

The countries prominently figuring in anti-dumping investigations are China, Korea and Singapore and the major

product categories on which anti-dumping duty has been levied are chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical, steel and consumer goods.
AIR correspondent reports that countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime. Unlike the safeguard duty, which is levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country.