Brussels, August 8:

The European Union (EU) opened an investigation today into claims that cheap recordable compact disc imports from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia were hurting European industry.

The European Commission said it started an antidumping probe after receiving evidence from the European compact disc manufacturers group CECMA, which represents more than 60 per cent of the EU’s production of recordable CD’s or CD-Rs. “The complainant has provided evidence that import of the product concerned from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Malaysia have increased overall in absolute terms and in terms of market share,” the Commission said in a formal notice published in the EU’s online Official Journal. On Friday, it opened a similar probe into imports of recordable DVDs from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The antidumping probe can last as long as 15 months and EU officials can recommend provisional trade restrictions during the investigation. If confirmed, restrictions can last five years. The move marks yet another trade dispute with Beijing over the growing problem of cheap Chinese goods that the European Commission says are unfairly flooding the European market. The EU has already reached a deal with China over the import of textiles, after European textile makers demanded a curb in imports of T-shirts, sweaters and shoes.