The European Outdoor Group is part of the European Footwear Alliance (in conjunction with FESI – Federation of European Sporting Goods Industries and the EBFC -European Brown Footwear Coalition), which is fighting Anti Dumping measures that currently add a punitive duty to footwear coming into the EU from China and Vietnam. The latest situation is an Expiry Review with a call from the un-named complainants for a continuation of the duty. The Review will be a ‘speeded up’ version as the Commission are keen to resolve this issue and we expect the preliminary findings to be published in June and then a final decision to be made in September. The European Outdoor Group presented its case at a Commission hearing in early April and as a back up measure are lobbying to re-classify outdoor footwear to fall within the exemption given to ‘Special Technical Athletic Footwear’, or STAF classification.

The European Outdoor Group started this action in defence of the principle of free trade, which was agreed by the Group in 2008. The result, irrespective of the outcome of this particular case, is that the outdoor industry and the European Outdoor Group are now recognised within the Commission as an important industry grouping and are now being consulted directly on other issues.