"It is an unfair decision and does not reflect the real conditions of Viet Nam’s footwear production," Nga said, adding that it contradicted with the EU’s trade liberalisation policy.

She said in the context of the global financial crisis, the decision would not only have a negative effect on developing export-oriented countries like Viet Nam, but also on the EU’s importers, distributors, retailers and consumers.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh said Viet Nam has reaffirmed many times that its footwear companies did not dump their products into the European market and opposed the decision.

Vinh added that the majority of Vietnamese footwear enterprises were small and medium-sized companies. Their market share in the European Community represented an insignificant proportion of less than 10 per cent of the market’s total import volume.

"Therefore, there is no possibility that the companies dumped their products to create market power as well as threaten the production and business activities of European footwear producers," he said.

He said the calculation of the dumping margin on Vietnamese exports had wrongly reflected the actual situation.

The European Commission used Brazil as the benchmark for the calculation. This led to erroneous results because Brazil’s conditions were different to Viet Nam’s.

"Besides, after three years of anti-dumping duties imposition, Viet Nam’s export turnover and market share in the EU have decreased sharply while the export price has increased," he added.

He also said the commission’s analysis of the review’s results showed that imports from Viet Nam had not caused any injury to the European footwear producers.

In addition, most European footwear manufacturers have outsourced their production to other countries.

Vinh said Viet Nam’s footwear industry, which provide more than 650,000 jobs for poor people, mostly female, has severely suffered from the impacts of the EU anti-dumping measures.

Along with the decision, the EU’s recent removal of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes has doubled the blow.

As a result, its export turnover of leather footwear has decreased sharply. Statistics from the ministry showed that in the first nine months of this year, total footwear export to the market only reached US$1.6 billion, a decline of 11.2 per cent against the same period last year.

These factors have affected production activities, exports and the jobs of more than half a million workers.

He said the decision did not benefit EU community interests. It would prevent European consumers from accessing high-quality products at a reasonable price.

"Moreover, it also lessens the effects of aid programmes for Viet Nam in hunger eradication and poverty reduction as well as conflicts with the opinions of major member states at the Meeting of the Anti-dumping Advisory Committee on November 19th," he said.

He said while Viet Nam was doing its best to build an attractive business environment for investors as well as improve and develop bilateral trade and economic relations with EU State members, the continuation of anti-dumping measures deeply concerned not only Vietnamese enterprises but also current European investors. It also negatively influences the development of relations between Viet Nam and the European Community.

On Tuesday, following the EC’s proposal, the European Council passed the proposal and issued the decision.

Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News