China's Ministry of Commerce has said it will impose anti-dumping duties on potato starch imports from the European Union (EU) from today.

The duty rates will depend on the dumping margin, or the difference between the average value in the product's country of origin and the export price, the ministry said in an interim review ruling.

Netherlands' AVEBE has a dumping margin of 12.6 percent, and France's Roquette Freres S.A. and other EU companies have a margin of 56.7 percent, said the ministry.

The announcement of the new rates follows a mid-term review of the anti-dumping duties on imports of potato starch from the European Union that started a year ago.

This review was requested by the China Starch Industry Association's Potato Starch Specialty Council, because the dumping rate of EU producers "has surpassed the rate of the tariffs."

For AVEBE the original duty as of February 2008 was 17% or 18% depending on origin, so the new rate of 12.6% is a reduction.

However, for other European potato starch manufactures the top rate imposed as of 2008 of 35% now increases to 56.7%.