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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2005 
Cheap Imitations Battering Artisans
 Wire services and El Universal
| | A foundation seeks to help artisans fight an influx of Chinese-made versions of traditional Mexican crafts. |
It is not just the nation's assembly plants and factories that are suffering from Chinese competition. Mexican craftspeople makers of baskets, dolls and ceramics are facing a flood of Chinese-made rip offs of traditional Mexican artisanship.
"We have information that the Chinese market is producing Mexican handicrafts such as basketry, ceramics and traditional shawls," the head of the government's National Foundation for the Promotion of Artisanal Crafts (Fonart), Leonardo Contreras, told EFE.
Contreras noted that little could be done to undercut the low price at which Chinese-made imitations which are often sold. The cut-rate goods can be found on the street as well as established business such as upscale department store Sanborns, said Contreras, adding that this threatens the livelihood of an estimated 9 to 10 million craftspeople.
"Fonart seeks to help the poorest artisans by teaching them to compete with the Chinese and protect craft standards," Contreras said during a lecture on the industry.
Fonart estimates that most people who make crafts are women who are left behind when husbands and children move to the United States in search of better working conditions. It funds various programs to support the artisans.
Fonart buys their products and later sells them at specialized shops, helping the artisans maintain a steady income.
In addition to the fair-price buying program, Contreras said the foundation also organizes job training for those interested in becoming artisans or expanding their trade and a system of microfinancing offering a 1 percent interest rate on loans of 2,000 to 10,000 pesos (roughly between US190 and US950) to individual artisans. Fonart also holds competitions, craft fairs and exhibitions.
Artisan sales have improved in the last year, reaching an estimated total of 34.5 million pesos (US3.2 million), a 50 percent increase over the previous year.
Despite the good news, Fonart is worried about the industry's future on concerns that China is not playing fairly.
The textile industry is also crying foul. In January, a Mexican textile industry leader accused China of unfair trade competition and urged President Vicente Fox to reduce electricity rates and fight smuggling to avert the industry's bankruptcy.
"China is an unfair competitor because its workers labor in subhuman conditions, seven days a week, more than eight hours a day. They sleep in the factories and have no medical services or pensions," said the president of the Mexican Textile Industry Chamber, Rosendo Valles Costas.
Valle Costas made the statement as Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong was on an official visit to Mexico on which he signed several trade accords and promised that Beijing would behave as an ally not a rival of Mexico.
China and Mexico are competing in several key sectors of the U.S. market, including electronics and textiles, although the Asian giant is taking the lead.
Last February, UNESCO representatives suggested measures to combat the flood of imitations. They included the use of more intricate workmanship, stamps of authenticity, increased copyright registration and stricter trade laws. |
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