EU drops dumping charges on RI shoes

EU drops dumping charges on RI shoes

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The European Commission has dropped dumping charges on
Indonesia's footwear products, a move that will allow Indonesia
to increase its exports to the countries of the European Union
(EU).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement on
Friday that the Commission had imposed dumping duties of 4
percent to 14.1 percent on shoes produced by several Indonesian
firms on Nov. 1, 1997. The companies are PT Dragon, PT Emperor
Footwear Indonesia, PT Sindoll Pratama and PT Bosaeng Jaya.

Under the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Anti-
Dumping Agreement of 1994, dumping charges were valid for only
five years.

The commission issued the notice on the expiry of the
antidumping measures in its official journal on Oct.23, 2002.

The ministry warned Indonesian exporters to be aware of future
potential dumping accusations.

"The EU market is big enough and is also a gateway for
Indonesian exports to other European countries outside the 15 EU
members.

"Thus, we need to realize that any dumping accusation, if not
prevented, could cause a domino effect that would hurt Indonesian
exports," the ministry said.

The EU absorbs 33 percent of Indonesian footwear exports,
which reached US$1.6 billion last year.