The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday adopted a proposal to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes.

The duties proposed by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson were 16.5 percent for Chinese imports and 10 percent for Vietnamese products.

The measure was the same as that rejected by the member states in early August.

Member states in July rejected Mandelson's first proposed definitive measure by introducing a deferred duty system that would allow 80 percent of Chinese and Vietnamese shoes to enter the EU free of any anti-dumping duties, with shoes entering above that allowance being subject to higher tariffs.

Mandelson came up with the latest plan in late July, which was again rejected by member states.

The commission said Wednesday that it would try its luck as the proposal was rejected by a narrow margin in July at advisory level. "It will now return to member states for a legally-binding vote. Member States may be asked to explain the legal rationale for their votes."

It said it is confident in the legal merits of the current proposal.

The commission proposal is stuck between free market supporters such as Britain, Denmark, Germany and Sweden -- who strongly oppose the imposition of protectionist tariffs that would raise prices for consumers -- and shoe manufacturing countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Poland and Portugal.

The measure could last five years if approved. The proposal also includes children's shoes, which were excluded from provisional duties.

The exclusion of children's shoes in the provisional measures was on community interest grounds to prevent even small additional costs being passed on to parents of young families, explained the commission on Wednesday.

However, there is considerable evidence of very serious fraud by importers importing women's shoes as children's shoes. This makes the exclusion very difficult to implement in practice, said the commission.

Sport shoes remain excluded from the proposed definitive measure.

The commission introduced provisional anti-dumping duties against Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes in April. The provisional measure expires on Oct. 6. If member states cannot agree on a definitive measure, no punitive duties would be imposed on Chinese and Vietnamese shoes.

According to data released by the commission, Chinese-made shoes accounted for half of the overall shoe market in 2005: 1.25 billion pairs out of 2.5 billion pairs. About a third of the shoes sold in the EU market in 2005 were leather shoes while products covered by the proposed definitive measure would cover 11 percent of the total EU shoe market.

Source: Xinhua