It has been reported that the European Commission on Thursday
refused to give 13 Chinese footwear manufacturers market economy
status (MES).
From January 10, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng
has been holding urgent negotiations with European Trade
Commissioner Peter Mandelson in Brussels, but no positive agreement
has been reached.
Without MES, Chinese footwear manufacturers are vulnerable to
anti-dumping charges in the European Union market and high
tariffs.
Meanwhile, Chinese exporters are also facing more possible
technical barriers.
An official surnamed Wang from the China Chamber of Commerce's
Division for the Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and
Arts-Crafts (CCCLA) said they had expected the result since the EU
governments were under great pressure from Italy and Spain, which
want to reduce imports from Asia.
"But it is still shocking that not a single one of the Chinese
companies is given the market economy treatment," Wang said. "The
EU absolutely ignored the fact that the industry in China is
operating free of government control or support."
On December 18, 2005, the Italian Health Ministry announced that
Italian customs conducted a spot check on imported footwear and
found harmful chemicals in some China-made shoes. Stocks were
impounded at Italian ports and authorities are investigating.
The quantity and brand of detained Chinese footwear are still
unknown. On January 6, CCCLA published some investigation results
of Italian government on its website.
Soana Leonardo, general manager of the National Association of
Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI), was quoted as saying that
the four EU decrees Italian authorities are relying on are
94/27/CE, 02/61/CE, 76/797/CE, 76/769/CE, and the four harmful
chemicals found are nickel, azo dyes, cadmium and
pentachlorophenol.
According to Leonardo, the nickel content found in some shoes
was four times higher than the EU standard.
ANCI has approximately 1,000 member companies, representing
about 70 percent of the overall Italian footwear production. The
association is a firm propeller of an EU block on Chinese
imports.
According to Leonardo, the Italian Health Ministry is prepared
to conduct official spot checks on all imported footwear later this
month.
Chinese footwear manufacturers have expressed their discontent
and urged for early settlement of the matter.
“Italian authorities never required China-made shoes to meet
such standards before. Their sudden decision to impound shoes at
the ports obviously violates trade rules,” Fan Shunjie, manager of
the International Trade Department of Zhejiang Saina Group Co.,
Ltd, told China Business News.
“According to international practice, they should first
publicize standards, and detain shoes only when these goods don’t
comply with standards,” Fan added.
Wang Guoqing from Wenzhou Taima Shoes Co., Ltd. noted that the
majority of EU member nations didn’t apply the standards contained
in these decrees and many EU importers didn’t set such
requirements.
Chinese quality inspection departments have investigated into
the impoundment and found excessive nickel in some products. Some
products of Zhejiang-based shoemaker Kangnai Group also failed to
reach the required nickel standards, but the company said that its
leather materials were imported from Italy.
“If Italian authority blocks Chinese shoes in the name of
excessive nickel, they should first guarantee the quality of their
leather materials instead of creating a trade barrier so suddenly.
As for the standard in question, both sides need to further
negotiate this,” Kangnai Group person said, who didn’t give his
name.
According to official statistics, about 91 million pairs of
shoes were exported to Italy from January to October last year.
Events in Review:
-- June 30, 2005
The European Commission initiates anti-dumping investigations
into over US$50 million worth of workplace shoes and over US$700
million worth of leather shoes imported from China. The case
involves over 1,200 Chinese footwear manufacturers and more than 1
million jobs.
-- September 16, 2004
A Chinese-owned shoe warehouse is set ablaze in Elche, Spain,
causing damage worth over 1 million euro. Demonstrations against
Chinese shoemakers are also staged in the region.
(China.org.cn by Tang Fuchun, January 14, 2006)