EU bloc majority favours duty removal on Vietnamese leather shoes

21 Jul '09

2 min read

The Vietnamese footwear sector will sigh with relief on hearing the news of most countries of the European Union not in favour of extension of anti-dumping duties on imports of leather shoes from Vietnam.

The European Commission is expected to take a final decision in September on the same. The imposition of anti-dumping duties was extended last October at the rate of 10 percent on imports from Vietnam and 16.5 percent for those from China.

Most of the countries in the EU like Britain, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden favour termination.

With the majority of countries favouring termination of anti-dumping duties, the same could be withdrawn by the European Commission. The countries not in favour are shoe producing countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.

Since the beginning of 2009, the footwear sector in Vietnam is facing a period of acute crisis, with exports falling drastically in the first five months of the year and if this duty is scrapped, it could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

In 2008, the European Union imported US $2.5 billion worth of leather footwear and is the second biggest exporter to this region after China.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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