WTO decides in favour of Chinese footwear against EU duty

07 Nov '11

2 min read

The World Trade Organization (WTO) had decided in favour of Chinese footwear against the imposition of anti-dumping measures by the European Union (EU).

A panel report issued by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO says EU's Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation was inconsistent with its WTO obligations.

The report supports China's claim that the current WTO rules mandate that an anti-dumping duty be specified for each individual exporter and not for the supplying country as a whole.

The EU's anti-dumping duty on footwear expired on April 1 this year. But a year earlier, that is, in April 2010, China had requested the WTO to establish a panel on the issue as its consultations with the EU failed to resolve the dispute. The Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO took 18 months to come out with a report.

For five years until April 1, 2011, the EU levied a uniform 16.5 anti-dumping duty on Chinese footwear, including leather shoes. As a result, the price of a pair of 'Made in China' shoes was on an average 1.6 pounds more in UK than the price of the same shoes in other countries.

Thus, the anti-dumping duty kept the orders of Chinese shoes away from the EU market. However, it was removed on April 1, 2011 following pressure from the Chinese Government as well as Chinese footwear companies.

Welcoming the WTO's ruling, Shen Danyang, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, urged the EU to remove its legislation inconsistent with WTO rules and discriminatory practices as soon as possible, to fairly treat Chinese export companies and to continue normal trading activities between China and the EU.

The latest WTO ruling has proved that China is able to correct unreasonable trade rules, a decade after its becoming a member of the WTO.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - China

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