Vietnam Financial News Network

All northern European countries have agreed to lift the anti-dumping duties on leather shoes shipped from Viet Nam and China, according to the Fushionunited.com.

The anti dumping measure was introduced in order to protect shoe manufacturers within the EU from the growing supply of shoes coming from Asia.

Le Sy Giang, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Viet Nam Competition Authority, said the EU was expected to issue to a decision by the end of this month.

The EU has been imposing a 16.5 per cent charge on the import price of Chinese shoes and 10 per cent on Vietnamese shoes since 2006. The anti dumping measure was introduced in order to protect shoe manufacturers within the EU from the growing supply of shoes coming from Asia.

The regulation was due to end in 2008, but after European discussions were held, it was extended to late this year. According to a report of www.topnews.in, the EU is expected to extend its anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes by a further 15 months.

Countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal support the continuation of the tariffs. In contrast, the Benelux countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, are against the charge. Other nations opposing the duties include Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Finland and Ireland.

According to the Fashionunited.com, the Sector Organisation Mitex stated: "The Netherlands relies on this trade."

Fierce reaction

Dutch Retail Trade Board confirmed: "The measure limits the level of consumer choice; it pushes up the price of leather shoes and results in job losses."

"The German government is also fiercely against the measure; on the one hand because the country doesn't have a shoe industry and, on the other, because most retailers and the most important brands - Adidas and Puma - import their products from Asia."

Eurocommerce, the European sector organisation for shop owners and traders, also gathered in the opponents' camp recently: "Shoes can become cheaper if the EU import charge for leather shoes from China and Viet Nam disappears in January," according to Xavier Durieu, the organisation's secretary-general.

"Every extension of the import charge reduces purchasing power and will thereby limit Europe's economic recovery," he said.

"Ironically enough, the fate of the charge is not in the hands of countries with a clear position in the discussion. The decision will be made by the countries which are unsure of how to vote. If these countries don't opt for an abolishment of the charge, then this will count as a vote in favour of maintaining the regulation," the Fashionunited.com stated.

Swing countries included Austria, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, France and various eastern European nations.

Viet Nam's leather shoes exports to the EU fell 9 per cent in the first half of this year.