PV modules produced by 22 China-based makers have been seized by customs authorities at several seaports in Europe in investigations of alleged violation of floor import pricing and annual import quota agreed between the EU and China, according to a media report.
Some of the seized PV modules were transshipped from Malaysia and Taiwan where they were allegedly relabled to falsify country of origin documentation, the PV Magazine reported.
The magazine cited executives at REC Solar as having suspected such alleged violations for some time., questioning why module shipment to Europe from Taiwan have soared.
In response to the report, some Taiwan-based PV module makers said they have sent evidence to the European customs authorities to prove that they are innocent. They said Taiwan exported 350MWp of PV modules to Europe in 2014, taking up only 15.22% of Taiwan's annual production capacity of 2.3GWp.
The EU and China settled an antitrust dispute over China-made PV modules by agreeing a floor import pricing and annual import quota in 2013, with the EU lowering the floor import price to EUR0.53/W in 2014.
The EU will review the floor import price on April 1, 2015 and is likely to hike it possibly due to devaluation of EUR, according to the magazine.
In related news, the EU has said that China-based CSI, ET Solar and Yuhui Solar Energy Source have violated the EU-China agreement by offering extra benefits equivalent to reducing nominal prices for Europe-based clients, according to China-based tech.sina.com.
