The Czech Shoemakers’ Association (COA) has announced its readiness to file litigation against the state for failing to protect the market against a flood of illegal imports from Asia. Legal but cheap imports are just as large a threat. Last year more than 44 million pairs of shoes were imported to the Czech Republic, with 32 million originating form China.

Vlasta Mayerova, COA secretary, blamed government’s lenient approach for a drastic slump in local shoe production. “We’ve been appealing to the government for about 10 years and the situation is going from bad to worse. As a result, we’re putting together an appeal to the Anti-Monopoly Office and we’re considering initiating court action too.”

As the average price of a pair of Chinese-made shoes is 50Kc ($1.50), the local industry has been suffering a steady decline, an entire 80% drop in the last decade. In 2003 only 6.5 million pairs of shoes were made by domestic producers, a 20% drop on the previous year. In 1993 the Czech Republic turned out 32.3 million pairs of shoes and employed 27 thousand people in the sector. Since then an estimated 20 thousands have left, according to COA. Today there are 65 footwear companies with more than 20 employees.

Domestic production currently accounts for a mere 5-10% of the market, Asia takes 70% and Italy, Slovakia, Brazil and Portugal the rest. While Chinese imports account for the majority of the market, they represent only 28% of the overall import volume.

The country’s industry has been partly protected by EU regulations since May 2004. As of January 1 2005, however, the EU will remove quotas on Chinese footwear to meet WTO regulations. COA, therefore, plans to join European shoemakers in an attempt to reduce the impact of cheap imports.

Share this story: