

NEW DELHI: The United States has extended the anti-dumping duty on Indian preserved mushrooms for another five years. The move would impact domestic exporters as the US is a major export destination for India. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir are the major states which are producing the commodity. Solan in Himachal Pradesh is popular as 'Mushroom City of India'.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has "determined that revoking the existing anti-dumping duty orders on preserved mushrooms from Chile, China, India, and Indonesia are likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

"As a result of the Commission's affirmative determinations, the existing orders on imports of this product from Chile, China, India, and Indonesia will remain in place". An official here has also confirmed that the restrictive duty has been extended on the Indian commodity for five years.

In 2014-15, India exported mushrooms worth $16.08 million and during April-May this fiscal the exports aggregated at $1.63 million. India's mushroom exports to the US declined to $0.11 million in 2014-15 from $24.76 million in 2011-12. According to a report, the global mushroom production in 2009 was 2.4 million tonnes. China is a leading player in terms of production.

As per estimates, India produced 40,600 tonnes of mushroom in 2009-10. Major export destinations for Indian mushroom are the US, UAE, Russia and Israel. 'Preserved mushrooms' refer to mushrooms that have been prepared or preserved by cleaning, blanching, and sometimes slicing and cutting.

Mushrooms are very nutritious, rich in proteins, fibre and have folic acid content that is uncommon in vegetables and amino acids which are usually absent in cereals. At present, the per capita consumption of mushroom in India is a dismal 40-50 gm as compared to 2-3 kg in the US and Europe.

Anti-dumping duties vary from product to product and from country to country. Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.

