Two press briefings were held in Hanoi on February 24 after the EU proposed to impose anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese and Chinese leather-capped shoes.

At the press briefing organised by the EU, Mr Wiesner announced that according to the EC's preliminary decision, it will impose an initial duty of 4 percent beginning April 7, 2006, on Vietnamese leather shoes and the duty will rise progressively in the next six months to 16.8 percent. Mr Wiesner added that a duty would add just over 1.5 euros on average to the wholesale prices of 8.5 euros for a pair of leather shoes that retail between 30-100 euros.

"We are well aware of the importance of this case for Vietnam from both economic and social points of view. The commission has made efforts to minimise the impact of our measures on Vietnam," the EC official assured the press.

At another press briefing held by the Ministry of Trade, Dinh Thi My Loan, Director General of the Competition Administration Department affirmed that Vietnamese footwear enterprises do not dump their shoes on the EU market. The EU’s preliminary imposition of anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes is not fair. Vietnamese footwear enterprises operate in keeping with the rules of the market economy to compete freely and equally and the Government does not subsidy them.