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.