The Chinese Ministry of Commerce ruled on Friday that potato starch producers from the European Union (EU) are guilty of dumping on the Chinese market, damaging China's own industry.

The ruling, which is not final, demands that importers of potato starch from EU pay duties from August 18 to the customs authority.

The amount of the duty depends on the extent of the dumping by each producer but it will range from 35 percent to 57.1 percent.

The investigation was launched on February 2 this year following complaints from Chinese firms.

These are the first anti-dumping measures on farm produce to be carried out by the Ministry of Commerce.

Potato starch is widely used as a raw material in food, petrochemicals, papermaking, textiles, medicine and other industries.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2006)