FAIR against imposition of duties on footwear imports
06 Oct '06
2 min read
With an extremely close vote the Council of Ministers of the EU Member States 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 consumers and will lead to a loss of tens of thousands of jobs within the industry." For footwear imports from China the additional duties amount to 16.5 per cent and for shoes from Vietnam 10 per cent.
"Extra costs of this dimension cannot be absorbed, as we repeatedly claimed to the EU Commission. The margins within our highly 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 this decision but the entire investigation is characterised by a variety of procedural errors. We have consistently pointed this out. Currently we are checking into possibilities for legal action," says Paul Verrips.
For months the EU 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 part of southern European states brought the proposal to its arguable victory.
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