A win for Aussie tomatoes

In a resounding victory for Australian agriculture, the Anti-Dumping Commission has ruled that all exporters of Italian tinned tomatoes are guilty of dumping into the Australian market.

We’ve all known it for years. Italian tomato importers have been “dumping” product onto the Australian market in an attempt to destroy or undermine the Australian tinned tomato industry. The main player in  that market – Australia’s SPC-Ardmona – has protested for years that they are being subjected to unfair competition and it turns out that they were right. Thankfully, SPC-Ardmona had the strength to fight the good fight, but nearly went to the wall in the process.

In economics, “dumping” is a kind of predatory pricing, especially in the context of international trade. It occurs when manufacturers export a product to another country at a price either below the price charged in its home market or below its cost of production. It’s a pernicious practice that is illegal, but in Europe where government subsidies are common, it goes unchecked.

Australian agriculture relies on a vibrant domestic food processing industry to package product for export, but domestic sales are also an important part of the mix. Sales of Australian tomatoes have been in decline in recent years as a flood of Italian product has appeared on the shelf, including that branded by the two major supermarkets.

Following the Anti-Dumping Commission’s findings, corrective action will be taken.

Feber and La Doria are the two biggest importers of Italian tinned tomatoes. The Commission is recommending that preliminary dumping duties be imposed at margins of 7.5% of the value of Feger’s produce and 5.1% of La Doria’s produce. This will have the effect of cancelling out any benefit that comes from dumping and EU subsidies and ensure that Australian and Italian producers compete in the Australian market on equal terms.

SPC-Ardmona, and no doubt many Australian farmers, welcome the ruling. In a statement, SPC-Ardmona said:

The future of Australia’s food processing sector, horticulture industry and the livelihood of Australian farmers is being undermined as more and more cheap imports flood the market and find their way onto supermarket shelves.

We need a level playing field to succeed, and today’s statement gives (us) confidence that SPC can continue to produce the quality clean, green Australian products that our consumers love and we are famous for.

SPC-Ardmona, 4 September 2015

I hope to see a switch back to Australian tomatoes in our supermarkets. After all, why would anyone buy imported tomato product when we produce so much excellent product here?

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