Ask several cases of China enterprises encountering non-tariff barriers.

In February, 2003, Italian FODERPOINT SRL Company sued the Hongkong subsidiary of Far East Leather Group, the largest leather exporter in China, on the grounds that the chemical indexes of the traded products exceeded the standard, demanding compensation for all the losses of the previous transactions, and seized the latter's receivables through the court by using the special provisions of Italian law. With the assistance of relevant government departments and china leather Industry Association, Far East Leather Industry Group successfully won the first lawsuit, lifted the court's seal-up and recovered the payment. However, Ford Ponte refused to accept the verdict and appealed. In March 2004, Far East Company filed a lawsuit with Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court of Zhejiang Province, suing Italian Ford Ponte Company on the grounds that the latter was suspected of commercial fraud. At present, China and Italian local courts are hearing the case separately. For the Far East Leather Industry Group and even the whole china leather enterprises, this is not a simple trade dispute. Because if you lose the case, not only will the payment be recovered, but the current payment will also be unable to be repaid because of the huge amount of compensation, and any payment made by Far East Group into Italy will be detained to make up for the lack of compensation. This means that china leather's flagship enterprises will not be able to enter the world's top leather market, and at the same time, more china leather enterprises will be worried about this and wander outside the Italian non-tariff trade barriers. Far East Leather Industry Group is one of the top 500 private enterprises in China. After 10 years of development, it has become the largest pigskin production and sales enterprise in the world. The company produces and processes more than 9.5 million pigskins every year, and the products are sold to more than 60 countries and regions such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia and India. Far East Group began to explore the Italian market in 2000. Italy is the largest leather market in the world. If china leather enterprises want to become bigger and stronger and occupy a place in the world, they must go to Italy to expand their markets. Based on this belief, Far East Group has carried out a large number of high-starting business cooperation with Italian leather companies such as Ford Ponte. It is understood that the Far East Group established trade relations with Ford Ponte Company in 2000, and its business dealings have been relatively stable since then. However, in May 2002, customers' orders suddenly dropped sharply and almost stopped buying. By June 5438+00, after coordination and communication, the two sides started business contact again. At that time, Ford Ponte agreed to order a container, saying that it would wait until the goods arrived to see the quality before talking about new business. In order to show sincerity, the Far East Group made a big discount on the price, and the payment method was also set as 60-day usance letter of credit. For the cooperation between the two parties, Far East Company attaches great importance to this batch of goods and produces them in full accordance with customers' requirements. Before delivery, two skins will also be delivered to customers for acceptance. It was delivered to Italy in February, 65438. After that, everything went well, and the other bank promised to pay. However, just a few days before the payment deadline expired, the other bank sent a letter to the Far East Bank saying that the customer had applied to the local court for an injunction and the payment was seized by the court. Upon inquiry, the Far East Group learned that Fude Ponte Company filed a lawsuit against the goods received from the beginning of 2000 to May 2002 on the grounds that its chemical indicators exceeded the standard, requesting the court to detain the payment for this transaction as a fund for future compensation. Wang Min, chairman of Far East Leather Industry Group, questioned this, because according to the international common practice, the buyer should lodge a claim within 28 days at most after the goods arrive in Hong Kong, otherwise it will be regarded as acceptance. Ford Ponte's claim period has passed; At the same time, according to international practice, at least 80% of the goods should be preserved when filing a claim, but the company has sold out these goods; The most important thing is that the problem of excessive hexavalent chromium in leather of Far East Group, which was raised in Fude Ponte's lawsuit, is not established, because the European Union and even the whole world have not formulated the hexavalent chromium content standard in leather so far. Far East Group did not hesitate to fight back. They immediately contacted china leather Industry Association, reported the case, and studied the emergency treatment plan. With the help of china leather Industry Association, the company contacted the Legal Advisory Office of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Legal Department of China International Arbitration Commission in March, and entrusted the latter's lawyer as China's attorney in this case of Far East Group. At the same time, the company also entrusted a local lawyer in Italy as the agent of this case. On April 24th, the Italian District Court held its first hearing. In July, Far East Group collated and reported relevant information to the Ministry of Commerce. On September 12, the Italian District Court made a ruling. In court, the original defendant and the defendant's lawyer argued fiercely. After trial, the Italian local court officially declared the seizure order invalid, and the Far East Company successfully recovered the payment. However, things are not over. The losing company seems to have suffered an unprecedented defeat. 10, they appealed to the higher court and demanded to dismiss the original judgment. More importantly, whether the chemical index of leather products of Far East Group exceeds the standard has not been formally tried, and waiting for Far East Group may be a long litigation journey.