The News:
- Recently, the Finance Ministry has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
Important Terms:
Dumping: Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market.
Anti-Dumping Duty: An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are being dumped in their national market, undercutting local businesses and markets.
About Saccharine
- Saccharin is an artificial sweetener used in place of sugar because it has no calories and does not increase blood sugar.
- It was the first artificial sweetener, originally synthesized in 1879.
- It does not break down in our body i.e. during digestion. Saccharin passes through the body unchanged and provides no calories in the process.
- Saccharin is about 200-700 times sweeter than sugar. With a sweetness so high, only a small amount of saccharin is needed to deliver the same level of sweetness as sugar.
- It can be used in both hot and cold foods.
Note: Artificial Sweeteners and other sugar substitutes:
- Acesulfame potassium
- Aspartame
- Cyclamate
- Lead acetate
- Mogrosides
- Stevia
- Sucralose
- Sugar alcohols
Saccharine imports in India from Indonesia
- In 2017-18, India imported $4.36 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, which is 43% of the total imports of the sugar-substitute compound.
Decline in Imports
- In the April 2018 to February 2019 period, India imported only $1.48 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, about 20% of its total imports from around the world.
Why anti- dumping duty imposed on Indonesian Saccharine?
- The Saccharine has been exported to India from Indonesia below their normal price and consequently, the domestic industry of India has suffered material injury.
- Thus, anti-dumping duty was imposed to protect the domestic market.
