In April this year a 19.4 per cent duty was imposed on leather shoes imported into the EU from China and Vietnam for an initial period of six months.
European Member States will decide in July on the duty levels to be applied until 2011 and whether they will be extended to children's shoes. Members including Italy, Portugal, Spain and Poland want to protect domestic shoe producers from foreign competition.
Commerce operates on low net margins, generally in the region of 5%. Import duties wipe out margins either forcing cuts in variable costs (labour) or increases in retail prices. There is no evidence that duties increase sales for European manufacturers.
In 2004/2005 £1,009,610,000 (just over a billion pounds) was spent on children's footwear in the UK.
An average family will buy 10 – 15 pairs of children's shoes over a five year period.
An average child aged between 0 and 11 is bought 5.42 pairs of new footwear a year costing a total of £99.28
Plastic bags, furniture, home-wares, bathroom accessories and jeans are also future targets for EU import duties.
Members of the Children's Shoe Coalition include: Retail Ireland, Danish Commerce & Services, Platform, Detailhandel Nederland, Independent Footwear Retailers Association (UK), FEDIS (Belgium), FCJT (France), EuroCommerce, British Retail Consortium
IFRA aims are to raise the standards of professionalism within the retail footwear industry and ensure the public receive a good deal and we undertake to resolve - as far as is possible -any problems that may arise between our member retailer and their customer.
British Retail Consortium
marketing@alchempro.com
