US group says Turkey dumping flour

MANILA, Philippines - The US Wheat Associates (USW) maintained that unfair trade policies by the Turkish government are responsible for the dumping of Turkish flour in the Republic of the Philippines to the detriment of the local milling industry and the many Filipinos they employ.

The US Wheat Associates is the marketing arms of American wheat farmers. It is based in Washington DC and maintains offices in various parts of the world including Manila.

Reacting to a statement issued by the Turkish Flour Yeast and ingredients Promotions Group (TFYIP) dismissing the dumping allegations, Joseph Sowers, assistant regional director for South Asia, Manila  said the “Turkish government employs a complex inward processing scheme that creates disruptive incentives to its milling industry to export flour regardless of price. The fact that the cheapest Turkish flour is much more expensive in Turkey than similar flour Turkey exports to the Philippines, that such export clearly constitutes dumping and that these facts offer strong justification for the Philippine government to impose a reasonable anti dumping duty on Turkish flour imports.” 

Perhaps the TFYIP and the Turkish government can be forgiven for failing to understand USW’s role in the Philippine milling and baking industries, Sowers said. After all, Turkey has been involved in the Philippine flour market for less than six years, its representatives may not be aware of the fact that USW has proudly served a productive partnership with flour millers and the entire baking industry in the Philippines for more than 50 years, he added.

He emphasized that USWA’s partnership has always been focused on helping provide practical technical skills bakers have used to expand product variety and improve upon traditional Filipino products such as pan de sal, monay, siopao and many others that for decades have been baked and sold at reasonable prices with flour milled from US wheat by the people of the Philippines. Over the years, millers and bakers have capitalized on USW-sponsored training programs, mobile baking laboratories and consumer education campaigns that promoted those products and new wheat foods throughout the country.  The Philippine consumer has benefitted from these programs through greater product choice and higher quality baked goods.  

USW has long been a valued source of transparent market information that has been freely offered to help increase the value of imported US wheat to Philippine millers, bakers and consumers. Customers in the Philippines have come to value USW market, quality and trade policy analysis as critical business information. We believe USW has earned the right to comment on the flour dumping issue.

USW also wishes to repeat that it has no desire to restrain trade. We support trade environments with fair, open competition, Sowers concluded.