The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industries (FESI) has urged EU member states to agree on a solution for anti-dumping measures on footwear during a meeting of the Anti-dumping Committee to re-establish certainty for economic operators and allow for continued growth of EU trade with China and Vietnam. The meeting will be held in Brussels this week.

The European Commission is currently proposing a deferred duty system (DDS) for leather footwear imports from China and Vietnam. The DDS would provide a set quantity of shoes to enter the EU before the anti-dumping duty would apply. The ad valorem duty for shoes outside the allowance would be set at 23% for China and 29.5% for Vietnam.

According to the statement from FESI, a deferred duties system, if carefully designed in agreement with the two Asian governments, could mean a fairer deal for consumers, for the European footwear industry and for retailers, unlike the current punitive duties. However, FESI stressed that such a system must be administered transparently and ensure predictability, basing anti-dumping duty-free import volumes on historical trade flows of individual operators and allowing for substantial annual growth of these volumes during the lifetime of the measures.

FESI stated that it is deeply concerned that the proposed duties are considerably higher than under the previous proposal, especially in the case of Vietnam. This runs counter to any development policy logic: Vietnam, which saw its footwear exports to the EU decline and prices rise in 2005, will be capped to a lower export level and face substantially higher duties than China.