MORE than 200 Teesside chemicals jobs are in jeopardy unless the Government clamps down on illegal international trading, a union organiser has said.

Underhand tactics used by Chinese, Pakistani and Australian plastics makers must be stamped out before they kill vital industry in the region, said Peter Booth, Transport and General Workers Union national organiser for manufacturing.

He has written an open letter to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt outlining his concerns.

He wants the Government to act against a practice known as dumping, in which foreign chemical firms flood European markets with products priced lower than they cost to produce in an attempt to destroy the competition.

European polyester producer DuPontSA, based in Wilton, near Redcar, east Cleveland, is one company under threat.

It manufactures polyethylene terephthalate (Pet), under the trade name Melinor, which is used to make transparent plastic drinking bottles.

Its prices have come under pressure, and the company has warned as many as 225 jobs are under threat.

Rob Crawshaw, marketing and business development manager at DuPontSA, said: "They have undermined the price in the European market to the extent that our profitability has suffered quite a lot.

"This is not a question of free trade, it is whether the companies are following international legal obligations for trade."

Ms Hewitt has the chance to work in the interest of the company by voting in favour of European Community proposals to implement tariffs to stop the illegal trading.

All 15 member states will vote on Thursday on whether to impose anti-dumping tariffs on foreign producers to stop the illegal practice.

Mr Booth, who estimates up to 450 jobs could be lost on Teesside and at Voridian, in Workington, wrote in his letter: "UK Pet manufacturers have suffered very seriously from the impact of dumping.

"They are being forced to sell at prices below market value, and are experiencing unsustainable financial losses.

"We want the UK Government's full support for any provisional duty proposals made by the European Community following the in-depth investigations.

"This is not an issue of trade protectionism on the part of our union.

"Dumping is clearly against international trade law and World Trade Organisation rules, and directly threatens high-value UK jobs."