Anti-Dumping Duties Bill laid in National Assembly

Islamabad: The Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the National Assembly on Thursday, aiming to update the country's existing legislation to align with global best practices and enhance the enforcement of duties on unfair imports. The bill's statement explains that the 2015 Anti-Dumping Duties Act laid the groundwork for safeguarding domestic businesses from cheap foreign goods.

However, several procedural and substantive improvements are necessary to streamline the appellate process and protect government revenues. The proposed amendments target provisions concerning provisional measures, duty collection, refunds, and appellate procedures. Under the amendment to Section 45, the National Tariff Commission could extend provisional measures from six to nine months when assessing the lesser duty rule, helping protect domestic industries from injury.

Section 51 amendments would clarify duty recovery procedures, detailing security requirements for temporary court injunctions, such as bank guarantees or pay orders, and stipulate their release upon duty confirmation. The bill would also simplify determining residual duty rates for unknown exporters and producers by linking them to rates used for cooperating exporters analyzed during investigations.

Amendments to Sections 52, 55, and 60 aim to restrict refunds of duty deposits after negative final decisions or new entrant reviews where the duty impact has already been passed on to end-users. The bill would also prevent premature litigation by prohibiting appeals against mere investigation initiation and limiting initial-stage appeals to preliminary decisions.

The proposed changes would reduce the appeal limitation period from 45 days to 30 days and grant the appellate tribunal the power to issue interim instructions related to duty collection or suspension during trial proceedings. The statement asserts that these amendments aim to bring the law in line with international trade regulations while enhancing the administration of anti-dumping duties and shielding public revenues.