Porto, 16 May 2018
Representatives of footwear national associations and industry chambers of five continents signed a
joint declaration in support of free and fair trade during the third International Footwear Forum held
in Porto on the 16th May
On the occasion of a successful 20th UITIC International Technical Footwear Congress’s week organised
by APICCAPS, the Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods Manufacturers’ Association and
CTCP, the Portuguese Footwear Technology Centre, high representatives from national footwear
associations and chambers from all over the world convened in Porto under the International
Footwear Forum, focused in this third edition on International Trade.
Launched by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC) in 2015, the Forum acts as a
platform to exchange information, consider common initiatives and address emerging challenges by
possibly finding collaborative solutions to work on.
In this view, and in light of the increase of protectionist measures across the world during the last
years, the participants have approved a joint declaration committing themselves to cooperating for
free and fair trade in the footwear sector.
They recognise that protectionism reduces consumption, investment and employment opportunities,
consequently slowing down the competitiveness and growth of footwear companies. Therefore, the
signatories firmly state their opposition to every sort of tariff and/or non-tariff barrier and call for
policy makers to work towards the establishment of a level playing field for and open and fair global
market with no dumping and counterfeiting practices. They express their commitment to support the
achievement of this goal by sharing information with and transmitting their position to their respective
national governments.
Cleto Sagripanti, President of CEC, commented after the Forum: “On a medium-long term,
protectionist regimes can only contribute to make their companies more fragile. In a fast-evolving
global economy and society, governed by consumers, national associations and policy makers should
instead be working on joint initiatives to ensure that our companies can benefit from the trade
opportunities of an open and fair market. Today is an important day for our global footwear industry
as I believe it is the beginning of a transparent and open collaboration between five continents’
representatives for a fair and free trade.”
Read the “Joint Declaration” on CEC website.
Confédération Européenne de la Chaussure
European Footwear Confederation
Rue de la Science nº14b- 1040 Bruxelles
Tel. +32.2.808.44.52- www.cec-footwearindustry.eu
