The government has imposed anti-dumping duty on import of a chemical used in beauty products, from EU, Iran, Indonesia and Japan, up to USD 1,537 per tonne, reports media.

Saying it was being exported to India below cost price, the Revenue Department has imposed the duty on import of 'Melamine', following recommendations by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) in the Department of Commerce, it said.

Anti-dumping duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters resorting to dumping.

"The anti-dumping duty imposed...Shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, amended or superseded earlier)," the Revenue Department said in a notification.

Earlier, the DGAD had carried out a probe into the imports of the chemical.

The investigation found that the product was dumped into India below the normal price and thus caused "material injury" to the domestic industry.

Besides being used in innumerable products of beauty and utility, melamine is also used for laminates as it offers good hardness, resistance to scratch, stain, water and heat.

The notification said while the restrictive duty will be USD 1,446 per tonne on import of Melamine from Iran, the duty has been fixed at USD 1,537 from the other three destinations.

Anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country.

India initiated 275 anti-dumping investigations between 1992 and March, 2012, involving 42 countries.

The countries prominently figuring in anti-dumping investigations are China, Korea and Singapore and the major product categories on which anti-dumping duty has been levied are chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceutical, steel and consumer goods.