FAIR

Tens of thousands of jobs and the interests of European customers fall victim to protectionist tendencies

Brussels – With an extremely close vote the Council of Ministers of the EU Member States today adopted the proposal of the European Commission to impose anti-dumping customs duties on footwear imports from China and Vietnam. “We will not accept this decision”, Paul Verrips, president of the Footwear Association of Importers and Retailchains (FAIR), declares. “It is directed against the interests of European customers and will lead to a loss of tens of thousands of jobs within the industry.” For footwear imports from China customs duties will amount to 16.5 percent, and shoes from Vietnam will be charged with 10 percent. “Extra expenses of this dimension cannot be absorbed, as the EU Commission has repeatedly claimed. The margins within our strongly competitive market are too small. The duties will inevitably lead to rising consumer prices”, Verrips continues.

The association considers legal measures against the anti-dumping duties. “Not only is this decision, but the entire investigation is characterised by heavy methodological errors. We have consistently pointed this out. Currently, we are checking for possibilities to appeal”, says Paul Verrips.

For months, the Member States have rejected the introduction of anti-dumping duties. “The majority of the Member States realised that these measures are neither reasonable, nor do they comply with the basic principles of the EU”, Verrips emphasises. “Massive political pressure on the part of southern European states helped the proposal to its arguable victory. Interestingly, the majority of EU states still reject the new regulations. 12 Member States disapprove of the anti-dumping customs duties and a mere nine states voted in favour of them. It is only a dubious particularity within the EU anti-dumping voting process that made it possible for the controversial duties to be introduced. Abstentions from voting are counted as “yes” votes, rather than abstentions from a position. Furthermore, the so-called compromise proposal plays another important role in the introduction of the duties. It proposes measures for two years instead of the initially intended five years, followed by a reassessment. “This so-called compromise, however, does not bring us any improvement”, Verrips stresses. The level of duties stays the same, and due to the subsequent review investigation, Member States and the Commission will only have to invest more money and time. This is an incredible waste of public funds. In fact, this so-called compromise only holds disadvantages.”

FAIR Footwear Association of Importers and Retailchains:

The association represents the interests of more than 100 footwear importers and retailers. Members are companies such as Columbia (France, USA), Clarks (United Kingdom), Deichmann (Germany), Wortmann (Germany), Leder & Schuh (Austria), Skechers (USA) und Vivarte (France), with a total of approximately 90.000 employees, which represent approximately 50 per cent of the import volume in the EU.

Filed under: Uncategorized on October 6th, 2006