The European Commission has finally confirmed that its anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam will not be renewed after March 31, posting a notice in its official journal on March 16. Without requesting an import registration or licensing scheme, the Commission also confirmed the establishment of a surveillance system, which may trigger a reimposition of provisional duties in case of a surge in imports of these products.
As we have reported before, the phase-out of the anti-dumping duties and the institution of import monitoring have been expected since the beginning of this year, when the European Shoe Industry Federation (CEC) said that it was not going to request a new anti-dumping investigation, after pressure from the Commission.
On the other hand, Vito Artioli, president of CEC and of the Italian Shoe Industry Association (Anci), insisted at a press conference during the Micam shoe show in Milan earlier this month on the institution of mandatory labels of imports for shoes imported from outside the European Union. He pointed out that the new Hungarian presidency of the European Council had agreed to place the matter on its agenda, in response to an overwhelming vote in favor of the labels of origin by the European Parliament last year. Artioli noted that the French government had joined Italy in supporting this new measure.
Meanwhile, the removal of the anti-dumping duties got a warm welcome from the European Footwear Alliance (EFA), a lobbying group of which the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) has been an active member. It said in a public statement that the action will help offset recent cost increases stemming from higher labor costs in Asia and more expensive transportation.
Noting that Italy's shoe exports increased by nearly 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, especially in emerging markets, EFA's statement concluded that future jobs and economic growth lie in those parts of the supply chain where Europe is most competitive. In the footwear sector, it said, they lie in brand building, design, R&D, production technologies, logistics, retail and marketing, as well as the manufacture of top-fashion, high-end footwear.
Thus, the removal of the anti-dumping duties will provide “the right trade and regulatory environment to nurture all parts of the supply chain in which Europe is currently competitive,” said the EFA, benefiting also European consumers and retailers.
