Chinese Shoe Companies Face EU Anti-Dumping Review

Reporters yesterday learned from the China Leather Industry Association that the Ministry of Commerce and the fair trade and import Bureau received the official letter from the European Commission on anti-dumping duties on Chinese leather shoes last weekend, and the letter released the "sunset review" sampling list of leather shoes anti-dumping.

Reporters also learned that, as an important part of the EU's "sunset review" work, a number of associations such as China Leather Industry Association will join hands in making no damage defense.

The results of the European Union correspondence show that 7 shoe companies from China, including AOKANG, Jian Yue, Yuyuan, Panyu Chuangxin, Huajian, Tong Jia and Nanhai Jin Lu, were selected and entered the written defense procedure.

AOKANG Group Import and export company yesterday confirmed that the company had received an email from the European Commission, "an anti-dumping questionnaire on the production of specific leather shoes in People's Republic of China and Vietnam", thereby confirming that AOKANG was drawn into the written defense procedure.

According to the introduction, the questionnaire is as large as 80 pages, covering almost all aspects of the company's export to the European Union, and the sampling company must submit the form before December 8th.

Reporter yesterday learned from the China Leather Industry Association, according to the relevant deployment of the Ministry of Commerce, the EU's "sunset review" work is divided into two parts: first, the enterprises actively participate in the respondent in the prescribed time to show the cooperative attitude of Chinese enterprises to the survey; two, the China Leather Industry Association, the China Light Industry Chamber of Commerce, and the three shoe industry organizations of Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, including the Wenzhou shoe leather association and the Guangdong anti dumping alliance, join together to represent the Chinese shoe enterprises to carry out the industry's no harm defense and attack the European Union's "sunset review".

It is understood that in addition to the senior anti-dumping lawyer Pu Ling Chen as the Chinese attorney, the collective defense has also hired two European law firms to complete the defense work together.

The director of China Leather Industry Association said that the defense is of great significance, which will not only affect the healthy development of our footwear industry and the future world status, but also will affect other countries' imposition of the EU's various forms of trade barriers.

The "sunset review" of anti-dumping refers to the administrative review of the anti-dumping measures to be expired. It will decide whether anti-dumping is going to continue to take effect, extend or raise the tax rate or terminate.

In October 3rd this year, the European Commission announced that it would "sunset review" on anti-dumping measures for leather shoes in China and Vietnam.

The results of the review will determine whether the EU's anti-dumping duty on leather shoes from Vietnam and China will be extended for 12 to 15 months from 2006.