São Paulo – The Brazilian Footwear Industry Association (Abicalçados) will hold the seventh edition of the BFShow trade fair in São Paulo from November 10 to 12, buoyed by lower import tariffs under the Mercosur-European Union trade agreement. The event will attract international buyers, particularly from Europe. Two companies from the United Arab Emirates will also attend.
According to Abicalçados, the Mercosur-EU trade agreement, in force since May, has already lowered average EU import tariffs on Brazilian footwear from 10.7% to 9.3%. As planned, the average rate will fall to 8.2% in January.
“From May to September, the period during which the trade agreement was in force, exports to Europe totaled 2.8 million pairs worth USD 29.6 million, up 7% in volume and 17.5% in revenue from the same period last year,” Abicalçados CEO Haroldo Ferreira said in a statement. “The agreement may have brought trading partners closer and initiated a gradual market recovery,” he said.
According to Abicalçados, one of the foreign buyers invited to BFShow is Vishal Sonwane, CEO of Germany-based DigiKraft GmbH and UAE-based Herzo Kraft. Both companies distribute products from international manufacturers. Sonwane told Abicalçados he would attend the fair to seek “interesting proposals” for the Middle Eastern and German markets.
Abicalçados invited 200 importers from 45 countries to the event’s buyer program in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). BFShow is expected to attract 10,500 buyers, approximately 10% of them from abroad.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
