(Original Source: SGT) – Posted 4 July 08
03 July 2008
The Association of Footwear Producers of Italy as an EC member will likely ask the commission to extend the anti-dumping tariff deadline.
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s footwear industry, yet to relieve from the European Commission (EC) decision to strip it off the preferential tariffs, will likely face the added woes of extended anti-dumping tariff imposed on shoes with leather upper parts, an industry source said. 
Read further Story
The Association of Footwear Producers of Italy as an EC member will likely ask the commission to extend the anti-dumping tariff deadline, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association, or Lefaso.
Lefaso chairman Nguyen Duc Thuan said that the anti-dumping tariff had been applied since 2006, and would be automatically removed on October 7 in case the EC receives no appeal from any of its 27 members by July 7 this year. He said that the Italian was preparing a formal appeal.
If the appeal is submitted, it is possible that the EC will reinvestigate Vietnam’s leather footwear products for 15 more months. And if this unwanted case occurs, it means that the country’s leather and footwear industry will continue facing the anti-dumping tariff for at least 15, more months, Thuan told the Daily.
On June 13, the country’s leather and footwear enterprises received unwanted news when the EC decided to remove Vietnamese-made footwear from its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) which will probably be implemented since early next year.
The removal of GSP for Vietnam is said to cause difficulty and negative impacts on domestic leather and footwear enterprises as their products win have to compete harsher with items from other exporting countries.
However, Thuan expressed his optimism, saying that the anti-dumping tariff might not be extended and recommended enterprises to keep calm. He added that Lefaso and officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade have been in talks with EC officials to have the anti-dumping tariff removed as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, local makers are also seeking the Government’s approval for slashing import tariffs on shoe materials and accessories to as to bolster local enterprises’ competitiveness.
Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of HCMC Shoes and Leather Association, told the Daily that the association last week had sent a petition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ask for a reduction of the import tariff on finished leather materials to 5% from 10%.
If the petition to halve the tariff is approved, it will help the city’s leather and shoes enterprises to overcome the hardship, especially when the GSP is removed early next year and in case the anti-dumping tariff is extended, according to Kiet.
“The reduction of import tariff on leather materials will make the country’s footwear and leather industry more competitive with the rivals in the region as well as in the world in the future,” Kiet said.
At the moment, Vietnam’s footwear industry is heavily reliant on outside materials, as some 75% of its demand for material is imported from other countries.
Last year, the industry obtained total export revenue of some US$3.9 billion, with the European market along contributing some 54%.
The country expected to reach total export turnover of US$4.5 billion in 2008, an increase of 17% compared to last year, and also expected to attain an export turnover of some US$6.2 billion by 2010.
