The European Commission has started a probe into imported Chinese plastic bags suspected of entering Europe via a Chinese company to avoid high anti-dumping tariffs.

The commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), said in its official journal over the weekend that preliminary evidence suggested some Chinese plastic bag producers had tried to export their products to EU through Xiamen Xingxia Ploymers Co., Ltd, a plastic producer in China's southern province of Fujian.

The EU officially launched five-year anti-dumping measures against imports of China-made plastic bags since 2006.

According to the measures, some Chinese plastic bag makers had to face anti-dumping duty as high as 28.8 percent, while hundreds of others including Xingxia were subjected to a relatively low level tariff of 8.4 percent.

EU retailers strongly opposed these measures, fearing they would have to deal with both rising plastic bag prices and packing costs.

The commission has nine months to conclude its probe and decide whether to apply higher duty against Xingxia.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2010)