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GENERAL AGREEMENT ON »°- I S TARIFFS AND TRADE ««& 1954
CONTRACTING PARTIES Original: French
SCHEDULE XXV - GREECE
Request to renegotiate four items
The following communication from the Government of Greece, advising its desire to renegotiate four items in Schedule XXV, was received by the Executive Secretary on 13 October. The letter invokes the provisions of Article XVIII and XIX as well as the procedures adopted at the Eighth Session for obtaining authority to renegotiate bound rates of duty. This request will be included in the agenda for the Intersessions! Committee on 26 October.
Communication from the Greek Government, dated 10 October 1954
The tariff concessions granted by Greece in Schedule XXV annexed to the General Agreement include the reduction of duties on processed hides and skins mentioned under items:
Ex 37d Ex 37f Ex 37f/l.bis
37g
Because of the extremely low rates of these duties, there has been an excessive increase in the importation into Greece of the goods in question. Were this increase to continue, the Greek industries established during the postwar period would suffer heavy losses. If this is to be avoided, it is essential to raise the rate of duty on the articles in question so as to enable the domestic industries to hold their own against foreign competitors who, it should be added, are in a position to produce at much lower costs than the Greek producer.
Detailed information is given below to show reason for resort to the provisions of Article XVIII of the General Agreement, which are designed to protect the development of new industries.
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In order to promote the evolution and the development.of. the branch of the industry concerned, the State must grant assistance whichî to-be effective, must take the form of higher import duties. The facts mentioned also show that resort could be had to the provisions of Article XIX. In fact, as a result of the reduction of duties on skins for footwear uppers, the latter are being imported into'Greece in such increased quantities as to cause serious injury to the domestic producers of like or directly competitive products.
General considerations
The tanning trade is one of the oldest industries in Greece. Until 1949 it was mainly concerned with the production of leather for soles. Subsequently, the branch of industry producing leather for footwear uppers began to develop. There are today 80 tanneries employing 1,500 workers | and 200 salaried employees. The value of the plant producing footwear , uppers amounts to 150 million drachmae (about $5 million).
The factories making leather for uppers produce the following goods: 1) box-calf; 2) kipskin; 3) black, white and coloured velvety (veloutée) calfskin; 4) patent leather; 5) goatskin and kidskin; 6) leather for the manufacture of gloves, and 7) leather for the manufacture of travel goods.
Annual output
The annual output of leather for uppers mentioned in tariff items Ex 37d, Ex 37f, Ex 37/l.bis and 37g for the period 1949-1952 is shown in the following tables
Year
1949 1950 1951 1952
Output in sq. ft.
4,000,000 6,000,000 4,230,000 6,300,000
Output (in tons)
307 461 430 480
Value in millions of old drachmae
44,000-78,000 59,220 91,350
Output index (1949 = 100)
100 150 140 159
As may be seen from the above table, the output of the types of leather in question has increased year by year since 1950, because of the development undergone by the industry curing recent years.
•
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Importation of leather for uppers
The importation of leather for uppers during the period 1950-1954 is shown in the following table:
Year Annual Imports
(in tons)
61.8 4-9.3 32.6
53
63.5
Value in millions of old drachmae
3,726 8,916 4,214
13,882
13,703
1950 1951 1952 1953 (1st half7year: 6.4)
(2nd half-year: 46.6) 1954 (1st half-year)
This table shows the extent by which imports have increased from the second half-year of 1953, when import restrictions were abolished. The amount imported during that half-year exceeded the total import figure for 1952 by 14,000 kg., while the tonnage for the first half of 1954 was twice as large as that for 1952.
As a result of this increase in imports, the national production has naturally fallen, and this in turn has led to increased output costs. The ultimate result might well be the closing down of the factories concerned.
Factors contributing to the development of the leather footwear uppers industry
As stated previously the plant owned by the factories is worth $5 million. That figure includes $1 million spent in plant renewals. On the other hand, $25 million have been allocated to the establishment of new industries. A part of this capital - $590,450 - was supplied in the form of United States assistance to Greece.
The modernization and extension of this leather footwear industry was considered necessary as part of the economic reconstruction of Greece for several reasons, but mainly because:
(1) the leather industry had an old industrial tradition, with experienced manufacturers and skilled workers;
(2) the major part of the raw materials used by the industry were of Greek origin. In particular, the domestic production of small raw hides and skins covers the requirements of the whole country. The output in large skins covers only 40 per cent of the requirements, but the development of stock-farming should result in an increased domestic output;
(3) the development of the tanning industry automatically leads to the growth of other industries producing raw materials for the tanneries as, for example, industries manufacuring tanning extracts, dyes for leather, special soaps etc. All these industries are entirely domestic and the raw materials used are, for the most part, found in Greece;
(4-) the leather industries (including those producing raw materials for tanneries) employ more than 4,000 workers and salaried employees.
During the negotiations which took place at Annecy, Greece granted the United States of America reduced duties on leather and prepared hides and skins, mentioned in Schedule XXY (Greece.) as follows:
Sreek Tariff No.
Ex 37d
Ex--37f
Ex 37f/l.bis
37g
Description of Products
kipskin and calfskin,, coloured or otherwise prepared
goat and sheep skins, coloured or otherwise prepared, weighing more than 40 grammes per square foot
goat and sheep skins, coloured or otherwise prepared, weighing less than 40 grammes per square foot
Rate of Duty
ad valorem 9$
ad valorem 10$
ad valorem 12$
ad valorem 14$
To the above duties must be added a surtax of 75 per cent. These duties, which are extremely low for Greece, were granted during the Annecy negotiations because at that time the output capacity of the leather footwear uppers industry was very limited. Moreover, at that time it was essential to meet the increased and urgent requirements of national consumption, as the population, following enemy occupation during the war and the operations undertaken against communist aggression, was in a very impoverished state, and it would have been impracticable to levy heavy duties on leather and skins.
Circumstances have, however, undergone a great change since then, and the reasons mentioned above no longer exist. As stated above, a renewal of old plant has been carried out and new industries have been founded which require Government assistance if they are to be developed and established on a firm basis.
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Conclusion
From what has been said, Greece would seem to be entitled to invoke the provisions of Article XVTII of the General Agreement. The industry concerned is a young industry which has sprung up in recent years and now requires government assistance so that it may be established on a healthy basis and have the possibility of normal development in the future.
There are also good arguments in favour of recourse to the provisions of Article XIX for, as a result of tariff concessions and the imposition of reduced duty on leather for uppers, such products are being imported in excessively large quantities and in conditions causing serious injury to domestic producers.
The Greek Government, therefore, invokes the provisions of Articles XVIII and XIX of the General Agreement and the relative paragraphs of document G/54, and asks to be authorized to renegotiate the four above-mentioned tariff items.
The appended table shows the products for which renegotiation should be permitted, the names of the countries to which the original concessions were made and the statistical data relating to imports in 1938 and during the last four years.
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IMPORTATIONS PB CERTAINES QUALITES DE PEAUX ET OUIRS
(Quan t i t é s en kilogrammes)
GREECE; IMPORTS OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF HIDES OR SKINS MP LtliATflER
( Q u a n t i t i e s i n ki lograms)
Pays auxquels l e s concessions ont été accordées
Country towtoish concess ions
were g ran ted
E,U.A.
U.S.A.
E,U,A, Rep, Fédé ra l e d'Allemagne
U.S.A. German Federa l Republ ic
»
ii
P o s i t i o n du t a r i f
g rec
Greek tariff itemmmber
37D (339,394)
37F/ I (339a)
37F/ I (399b)
37G (402)
Dés igna t ion
Peaux de vaoheb-t e s e t de veaux
c o l o r é e s
Peaux de chèvre <et de mouton, c * l « r é e s ou a u
t rement préjjuruet̂ pesan t p l u s de 40gr.par pied c a r
r é e t c .
Peaux de chèvre e t 4 e m»uton, colorées pesant mjiins de 4 0 g r . pa r p i e d carréeto.
Cu i r s v e r n i s
Description
Kipsk ins and c a l f s k i n s
co loured
Kipsk ins and c a l f s k i n s , c o loured «ratiier-
wise p repared , weighing more than 40 g r s . persq.:fbot,etc.
Kipsk ins and c a l f s k i n s c o loured , weighing lessthan 40 g r s . pa? sq, fixjt,etc.
P a t e n t l e a t h e r
Année
Year
1938
1952
1953
1954*
1952
1953 1954 *
1952
1953
1 9 5 4 *
1938
1952
1953
1954 *
A u t r i che
Austria
9
-
1.489
3.609
-
—
—
~
-
-
-
-
B e l g i que
Belgium
39
664
.688
1.592
-
-*
"
-
117
100
-
-
*•*
France
France
42
1.762
396
422
'
271
351
444
18
187
-
49
«
42
A l l e magne
Germany
2.179
9,682
18.843
12.943
1,703
1.631
766
323
1,066
623
6,054
«
278
488
Royaume— Uni
United Kingdom
48
8,562
1,284
3.672
2,472
1,637
679
302
574
166
6
- •
-
*•
E.U.A.
U.S.A.
88
423
1,053
1.418
1,706
11.503
10,485
95
1.052
112
8.694
1,219
838
692
I t a l i e
I t a l y
51
-
832
-
28
- .
-
8
714
-
5
—
P a y s -Bas
N e t h e r l ands
1,065
1,405
2.849
65
285
-
26
127
13
_
50
29
255
Suède
Sweden
•
309
4.204
-
•"
-
-
-
—
' ~
47
848
Luxembourg
Luxemburg
.215
2,976
4 .652
-
103 —
—
-
-
_
-
-
—
Canada
Canada
' -
688
4 .383
-
-*
• -
-
—
_
-
325
247
Aut res Pays
Other countries
350
1,139
2.640
6.277
434
500
*~
204
250
10
734
100
289
T c t a l
T o t a l
2.755
23.563
31 .771
46.853
6 ,651
16,038 12.374
968
3 ,381
1.738
15,488
1.418
1.811
2 .572
1er semestre 1954
1 s t 6 months 1954
