On July 20, 2005, Massimo Donda, president of CEDDEC, the European Confederation of the Shoe Retailer Associations and president of Federcalzature (Italy), Peter Mangione president of FDRA, the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (USA), Antonio Miguel Espolador Neto, president of ABLAC, the Brazilian Shoe retailers Association (Brazil), and Bill Boettge (delegate absent) president of NSRA -National Shoe Retailers Association (USA), decided to build, subject to modification by their respective boards, the World Shoe Trade Organization - WSTO in San Paolo, Brazil. The reasons leading to the creation of such body are the same ones that many years ago led to the creation of CEDDEC on the part of its founding fathers, among which Papillon (France) and Forkert (Germany). Then the European Community had just dawned, now the 'global village' is unfolding. The underlying reasons for the creation of the new organisation are the same ones: operators feel, as they once did, the urge to know each other, to build relations, to meet, discuss and face each other, at all levels, to tackle all the existing problems concerning the footwear sector.
