Small footwear makers Sunday urged the government to impose 300 per cent supplementary duty on imported shoes and sandal so that the local manufacturers can survive the competition. They also urged the government to slap only 3.0 per cent import duty by withdrawing all the existing duties on imported footwear accessories for the local entrepreneurs, including different parts of footwear, necessary fabrics, base metal-buckle, adhesive glue and gurn latex. They made the call at a press conference organised by Bangladesh Leather and Rexine Footwear Manufacturers Association at the National Press Club in the city. Speaking at the programme, president of the association Sohel Ahmed said some of the traders, giving false declaration to the customs, import shoe and sandal showing lower price on paper, which is throwing the local manufacturers into unfair competition. The government should fix the price of imported shoes and sandals to prevent import of substandard footwear, he added. The association recommends price range of different types of shoes-children shoes US$ 4.0, toilet sandals US$ 6.0, sandals (men) US$ 10, party shoes (men) US$ 20, and official shoes (women) US$ 10. General secretary of the association Mir Mahbub Rony, senior vice president Shahriar Shamim and organising secretary Ahad Bappi were also present at the programme.
