Labourers at Dong An Economic Investment and Development Company in Ha Noi's Dan Phuong District work to produce shoes for export. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declared partially invalid an anti-dumping regulation on certain leather footwear imports in the EU from China and Viet Nam.

It said the Council of the EU and EU Commission did not comply with certain procedural rules when the regulation was adopted.

On October 5, 2006, the Council of the EU adopted a regulation imposing an anti-dumping duty on certain leather footwear imported from China and Viet Nam into the EU. The rate of the anti-dumping duty was set at 16.5 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in China (with the exception of the company Golden Step, whose anti-dumping duty was set at 9.7 per cent) and at 10 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in Viet Nam.

In 2010 and 2012, Puma, a German sports goods company, requested from the Principal Customs Office, Nuremberg in Germany repayment of the anti-dumping duty with respect to importation of the same goods, again on the basis that the regulation was invalid. The sum concerned amounted to approximately 5.1 million euros ($5.6 million). When its request was rejected, Puma brought an action before the Finance Court, Munich.

Both national courts had doubts as to the regulation's validity and therefore decided to seek a ruling from the Court of Justice. — VNS