The anti-dumping investigation carried out in 2005 by EU was followed by a recommendation of Italy, France, Spain and other countries to take measures against shoes exported by China and Vietnam.

It was in October 2006, that EU began to impose 16.5 and 10 percent anti-dumping tax on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes respectively.

This policy will expire soon in October 2008 but Italy has already urged EU to extend the anti-dumping measure.

Statistics from China Customs show that in 2007, the country exported around 180 million pairs of leather shoes to EU, which was a decline by 8.95 percent.

On the other hand, Vito Artioli, Chairman of Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (ANCI) said that in 2007, the export of the shoes made by China and Vietnam to Italy declined by 15.4 percent, while, at the same time, the export of the shoes made by Macao and Cambodia increased by 72.8 and 90.7 percent respectively.

The request made by Italy was essentially on grounds that most of the shoes from Macao and Cabodia are actually made in China and Vietnam.