New Delhi: Government today (Feb 19, 2004) said it will fight out the US trade panel's decision giving preliminary approval for imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of shrimp from India.

"We will fight it out...We are all geared up to fight the case and industry has already hired lawyers for this," Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, S N Menon, told reporters in New Delhi.

Observing that New Delhi had a very strong case, Menon said India was mainly exporting "tiger shrimps" which are not found there and that too in unprocessed frozen form.

In fact, 80 per cent of shrimps consumption in US is met through imports, he said adding imports of unprocessed Indian shrimps generated about one million jobs in food processing industry there. "This move will affect their processing industry," he said.

The US International Trade Commission had given its preliminary approval for imposition of anti-dumping duties on shrimp imports from India.

The six-member quasi-judicial International Trade Commission said there was a "reasonable indication" that imported crustaceans from India and five other countries were allegedly being dumped into US at unfair prices and could harm and threaten the local industry.

The ruling will be sent to Department of Commerce which will take a final view and determine if imports were being sold at unfairly low prices in domestic markets as US shrimpers charge.

US imports of shrimp (excluding canned shrimp) in 2003 through October, according to the US Census Bureau, included 83 million pounds from India valued at $ 342 million.