(VOVworld)- According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the US Department of Commerce, DOC, has reached a preliminary decision on anti-dumping duties as they apply to Vietnamese shrimp exported to the US from February 1, 2011, to January 31, 2012.  Under the decision, two mandatory defendants, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation and Nha Trang Seafoods and other voluntary defendants will enjoy a zero percent tax rate for the period. The decision is the first time in the history of DOC deliberations that the DOC has officially acknowledged that Vietnamese shrimp exporters are not engaged in dumping activities. However, Mr Tran Thien Hai, President of VASEP, says that the tax rate of 0% is just a preliminary decision for the 7th administrative review of the lawsuit. The final tax rate will be released later this year. Mr Hai said: “Administrative review is carried out every year in the US. This is the 7^th year of the lawsuit.  They have provisionally decided that two Vietnamese exporters are not engaged in dumping. They will visit Vietnam to review all the files and in June they will make a final decision on the anti-dumping tax rate for Vietnamese shrimp. If the final decision is to cut the rate to 0%, this tax rate will be applied to all Vietnamese exporters for the  year, but not for all the years of the lawsuit.”

The US , after Japan , was Vietnam 's second largest shrimp importer last year, generating revenues of 454 million USD.