(Seychelles News Agency) - The Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday approved a phased introduction of Seychelles' trade remedies legislation that will serve to protect the country from illegal dumping.  

In a Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, Vice President Ahmed Afif told reporters, "We have a policy that protects our local industry but the way to do it properly and since we became a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2015, we protected certain industries but the way to protect them even more is through legislation."

Afif said that when there is legislation that is in accord with the conventions Seychelles has signed as a member of the WTO, "we can, for example, stop certain products being brought to Seychelles at a low price, which is called dumping, simply to kill the local market that produces the same thing and then raise their prices."

He said this is a technique that certain foreign distributors use. They see someone producing something in Seychelles and want to destroy the market to bring in their product, so they lower the prices and bring them all to Seychelles. As the local market cannot produce the same it collapses. When this happens, the distributors raise the prices.

"If we don't have legislation, it is difficult to stop certain products from coming in because most things that come to Seychelles do not need permits. We cannot just refuse entry, there must be a basis, and legislation will allow the government to stop a company or products coming in because it is against our legislation," added the Vice President.

The legal trade remedies framework will allow Seychelles to take full advantage of the available measures to protect national food security, threats to infant industries, and other overriding national interests. This will be done in a way that is consistent with the island nation's international trade obligations.

He added that legislation will also help protect local producers such as the producers of beers, soft drinks, certain snacks, and other alcoholic drinks.  

Afif said that this will have to be balanced if there is an advantage in the prices for consumers.

"These will be areas that experts in the field will look at and through the legislation establish the criteria," said the Vice President.