Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 18 • 19th October 2007

EU Agrees One-Year Extension of Duties on Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs

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On 13 October, European foreign ministers rubber-stamped a one-year extension of anti-dumping duties on energy efficient light bulbs imported from China, as well as smaller producers such as Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Brussels has imposed the duties of up to 66 percent since 2001, claiming that “state intervention or other market distortions” meant that the Chinese bulbs were being sold in the EU “at less than their real value.” Consumer and environmental groups had been calling for the duties to go (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 7 September 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-09-07/inbrief.htm).

The retention of the duties for an additional year will give Osram GmbH, a unit of Siemens AG, more time to prepare for competition. The company could still ask for a lengthy review of the issue in 2008. other companies, such as Philips and IKEA had asked for the duties to be cut.

WWF estimates that a rapid switch from traditional incandescent bulbs to more efficient lamps could reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 0.5 percent. The Commission acknowledges that domestic production can account for only a quarter of the EU’s demand for energy-efficient light bulbs.

“EU Gives Green Light to Disputed China Bulb Duties,” REUTERS, 16 October 2006; “EU trade chief calls for aggressive action against China,” INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 17 October 2007.