Shinetime China and its European subsidiary Shinetime Solar GmbH have been officially removed by the European Commission (EC) from the EU-China price undertaking for solar companies.
In a document published today by the EC and seen by pv magazine, Shinetime allegedy used an unrelated importer to supply solar components in the EU below an agreed price set via the Minimum Import Price (MIP) arrangement.
The MIP was introduced to enable Chinese solar companies to avoid paying anti-dumping tariffs when importing solar components to the EU. The agreement instead set a minimum price for such components to those companies that pre-agreed annual import quotas and pre-determined prices.
The list of transgressions allegedly committed by Shinetime Solar include the issuing of invoices not in conformity with the face value of the commercial invoice, and an allegation that the company shared for a while at least the same address as an unrelated importer to the EU.
Further evidence was found by the EC of Shinetime Solar paying below the MIP amount agreed to a Hong Kong-based account held by Shinetime Solar.
As a penalty, Shinetime will now be subject to anti-dumping tariffs which can vary wildly if they wish to continue supplying solar components into EU markets.
Shinetime is not the first Chinese solar firm to have been found guilty of such practices. Last year ET Solar, ReneSola, ZN Shine Solar, Chint Solar and Canadian Solar were all officially struck off from the deal, with Trina Solar withdrawing earlier this year.
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