There is all of a sudden a likelihood that the European Union will stop on Oct. 6 the anti-dumping duties that it set two years ago on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes. A spokesman for the European Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, indicated that he will probably take a decision on this sometime next week, with or without the advice of the European Commission.

The duties don’t apply to technical sports shoes, but they apply to many leisure shoes marketed by the sports brands. Following a decision made two years ago, the Commission proposed to initiate their review in order to decide whether they should be extended for at least three more years. In such a case, the duties would remain in place during the investigation, which could last between 12 and 15 months.

In a surprising non-binding decision last week, 15 out of the 24 governments represented at a meeting of the EU anti-dumping committee voted against a proposal to launch a lengthy investigation to justify their extension. It was the first time in 13 years that the committee voted against the trade commissioner’s proposal. Cyprus and Malta, which had abstained on the issue of the duties two years ago, recommended lifting the duties without an investigation.

The European Confederation of the Shoe Industry (CEC) immediately reacted by sending letters to each commissioner, urging that they should all participate in the decision. In a move that could delay the reactions of the market to this unexpected development, CEC said it reserved the right to proceed legally against a decision by the Commission, charging that it may be committing irregularities. Returning from a trip to Beijing, Mandelson said today through his spokesman that he was quite conscious of his legal obligations.

Finnced by the powerful Italian Shoe Industry association (ANCI), CEC placed a full-page advertisement worth €60,000 in the Financial Times where it pleased the cause of the European shoe industry, claiming that dumping has been proven and that two years have not been sufficient for the industry to recover.

European footwear importers reacted by forming earlier this week the European Footwear Alliance in Brussels, grouping the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), the European Outdoor Group (EOG), the European Branded Footwear Coalition (EBFC) and the Federation of the German Footwear Industry (HDS).

The new Alliance urged the European Commission to put an end to the duties, respecting the calls by a majority of the EU member states, consumers, importers and retailers. It pointed out that the Alliance represents some 2,000 companies across the EU that employ directly or indirectly over 1.5 million EU citizens.

The EBFC is an informal group comprising major shoe companies including Camper, DC Company, Diesel, ECCO, Timberland, Rockport, Wolverine World Wide and Deckers Corporation. HDS does not belong to CEC since many years (more in SHOE INTELLIGENCE).