Exporters of leather-upper shoes face new obstacles to accessing theEuropean market, ever though the EU lifted its anti-dumping tariff onApril 1, said Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) generalsecretary Nguyen Thi Tong at a recent workshop in Hanoi.

The end of the 10-per-cent tariff, which had been imposed for fouryears, promised to make Vietnamese-made shoes more competitive withrival producers like India , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Thailand andCambodia , which had not been slapped with anti-dumping tariffs andmay have even enjoyed tariff preferences, Tong said.

Nevertheless, the EU has announced a programme under which it willcontinue to monitor leather-upper shoes exported to the EU fromVietnam for one year, according to a representative of theMultilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP III).

If themonitors find that the quantity of shoes imported into the EU fromVietnam has increased a great deal while prices have decreased, the EUmight view it as evidence of "continuation or repetition of dumping" byVietnamese exporters and would re-impose the tariff without any furtherinvestigation.

Therefore, exporters should report toLefaso and the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) to avoid thereimposition of anti-dumping duties, said Vu Ba Phu, deputy director ofVietnam Competition Authority (VCA) under the Ministry of Industry andTrade. Reports should include the quantity and value of productsexported to the EU and reflect reasonable increases in monthly exportvalue, Phu said.

Exporters should also seek contracts toproduce high-quality, high-value products rather than target a massiveincrease in export volume to the EU, he said.

They shouldfocus on building trademarks and diversifying designs to meet marketdemand, and they should familiarise themselves with regulations andmarket developments in the EU to avoid sudden spurts in exports to thatmarket, experts said at the workshop.

Other dangersremained, Phu said, since the EU has not yet lifted the 16.5-per-centanti-dumping duty imposed on leather-upper shoes from China . Thislarge gap in tariffs could result in the illegal transportation ofChinese shoes to Vietnam which would then be exported to the EUunder the lower tariffs applied to shoes of Vietnamese origin.

According to Phu, there has been a shift of contracts from Chinese toVietnamese companies because of higher production costs in China , apromising sign for local businesses.

But he cautioned them to remain alert to trade barriers.

He said the number of investigations into emerging markets' adherence to WTO regulations would increase.

He warned that the EU would focus more on anti-dumping and anti-subsidyinvestigations and would impose more short-term anti-dumping andanti-subsidies policies.

Vietnam 's footwear exportsgrew 20 percent overall in the first eight months of this year, reachinga value of 4.2 billion USD, according to Lefaso. Export value to the EUreached a record high of 1.9 billion USD during the period. The USmarket followed, with export value of 1.2 billion USD.

The sector had exported 495 million pairs of shoes and 115 million leather items the last eight months of the year, Tong said.

Exports to the EU accounted for 45 percent of the total, while exportsto the US and Japan were 29.3 percent and 4.1 percent,respectively.

The exports resulted in a stable income for 685,000 staff and workers employed in registered businesses.

However, she noted that certain challenges lay ahead, including alabour shortage and increases in production costs because ofinflationary pressure and dependence on imported materials./.