LSA enters antidumping battle against SSA petition!

In a stunning development, The Louisiana Shrimp Association has come out against the present shrimp petition filed by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, and has asked to enter the proceedings as an interested party,·in a letter to the Secretary of Commerce delivered Friday, January 16, 2004.

The gist of the LSA position is that fresh shrimp must be included in the petition as well as canned and frozen since past DOC rulings have found that freezing is not a sufficient transformation to differentiate a product. The significance of this is that if the anti-dumping order doesn't include fresh shrimp, then harvesters who land fresh shrimp will not be eligible for any relief under the Byrd Amendment.

In order to seek relief under current legislation, the company seeking relief must produce a product covered by the anti-dumping order. According to LSA, the SSA is disenfranchising all shrimp harvesters, and preventing them from being eligible for financial relief by excluding fresh shrimp from the petition.

by
Ken Coons

seafood.com