By Casey Hall
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's commerce ministry said on Tuesday it plans to select Martell & Co, Societe Jas Hennessy & Co and E. Remy Martin & Co as sample companies for an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union.
The companies did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The ministry launched the anti-dumping investigation in January in a move seen to be targeting France, which accounts for 99.8% of all EU brandy exports, according to Chinese customs data.
China's brandy probe is one of a number of trade disputes between Beijing and Brussels, with both sides exchanging accusations of unfair competition and protectionism.
The European Union, for its part, has opened investigations into new energy vehicles as well as biodiesel imported from China.
France's cognac industry association said in January it would fully cooperate with Chinese authorities but it believes the probe is linked to a broader trade row rather than the liquor market.
"We are confident that our products and commercial practices fully comply with Chinese and international regulations," the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) said in a statement to Reuters at the time.
If the sample companies selected by authorities are confirmed in the coming days, the cognac producers and BNIC members will "actively cooperate" with Chinese authorities, the BNIC said in a statement Tuesday.