After months of intensive discussions related to the rise in Chinese textile imports since the ending of WTO quotas at the beginning of the year, it seems that the European footwear industry is now predicting a similar situation in its own industry. European manufacturers are now calling for safeguards in order to protect the European industry.

At the Annual Assembly of European Footwear Manufacturers, which recently took place in Elche, Spain, Rossano Soldini, ANCI President said, “The time has come for the European Commission to listen to the arguments of the footwear industry.

“An historical decision was made today,” said Rossano Soldini, president of the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers. “As proposed by ANCI, the 15 national footwear federations of Europe voted unanimously to stage a demonstration in Brussels at E.U. headquarters. On June 15 we will symbolically hand over the keys to our companies to the EU Commissioner.

“We believe the time has come for the EU to listen to the arguments of the footwear industry, which is in crisis throughout Europe primarily due to the invasion of Chinese products, and to take urgent measures necessary to defend an important part of industry not only in Italy, but also in Europe.”

The European Commission has said that for the first four months of this year six categories of shoe imports from China into the EU increased by an average of 700%. However, in response to this the Chinese Customs Leather Association has claimed that the true increase is 2.8% in terms of volume and 30.8% in terms of value.

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