Shortage of Raw Materials for EU Tanners
COTANCE Presidency calls for official monitoring of the critical shortage of hides & skins on the EU market that drives prices to unsustainable levels
The COTANCE Presidency met on April 3, 2013 in Bologna under the chairmanship of Mr Rino Mastrotto (Rino Mastrotto Group, Italy) on the sidelines of the Lineapelle Fair, Europe’s largest Leather Fair. They expressed high concern on the developments on the raw materials market. Availability of certain essential raw materials is vanishing at an increasing speed due to rising extra-EU export levels of hides and skins and prices that are reaching unprecedented levels. Those most affected are the hides and skins to be destined for the World’s top fashion and high-end industries, the brands that make the prestige of Europe. They depend on the quality leathers that are the speciality of EU tanners.
European tanners, already enduring the credit crunch in the Euro zone, witness the proliferation of export restrictions on raw materials in most resource-rich countries and the drain of Europe’s own raw materials. They find it intolerable that public authorities continue to ignore the gravity of the situation. It is high time for taking the necessary measures capable of redressing this situation that is taking hostage a leading industrial sector in Europe. Failure to do so could compromise seriously the competitiveness of Europe’s leather sector, the cradle of the creation of wealth and employment in the leather value chain.
Access to Finance
COTANCE calls on the European Commission to look into the worsening of the market conditions for EU Tanners’ hides & skins supplies and access to finance
The COTANCE Council met on February 18, 2013 in Brussels under the chairmanship of President Rino Mastrotto (Rino Mastrotto Group, IT). The review of the state of trade in Europe’s leather industry reveals some positive features in certain sub-sectors such as top fashion and automotive while others are still struggling with the reduction in the overall demand for leather, such as furniture. The most recurrent complaint among all delegates was the worsening of the market conditions for the supply of the industry’s raw materials and the consequent price peaks in certain types of hides and skins. Paradoxically, calfskins have become more expensive than meat.
European Tanners regret the lack of action of European authorities in addressing the adverse economic effects of the progressing critical shortage of raw materials on open markets that drive prices to unsustainable levels. The shortage of raw materials on the European market is due to export restrictions set up by major producing third countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, India or Pakistan, and the exponential increase in the exports of EU hides and skins resources to competitors. The issue is well known to European authorities as it has been evidenced and documented in the relevant DG Trade Leather sector Market Access Committee. The recent Commission Staff Working Document on POLICY OPTIONS FOR THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN FASHION INDUSTRIES — ‘WHERE MANUFACTURING MEETS CREATIVITY’ (SWD(2012) 284 final/2) adopted on October 5, 2012 says: “… Today, more than ever, global competition for raw materials is increasing. … Prices of hides and skins are at their highest level in nearly a decade, with demand greatly exceeding the shrinking supply. ... Consequently, action at EU level will be developed to secure undistorted access at fair prices to the raw materials the fashion industries need. …
Labelling of leather
COTANCE calls on the European Commission not to delay the procedures for regulating at EU level the use of leather terms and the labelling including origin of leather products within the current legislature
The COTANCE Council met on February 18, 2013 in Brussels under the chairmanship of President Rino Mastrotto (Rino Mastrotto Group, IT) reviewing among others progress on one of its priority policies: the legal protection of the term Leather against abuse and mis-descriptions. This is a matter on which the international leather community is looking for authoritative solutions coming from Europe.
In this respect COTANCE has engaged in an ICT supported Campaign aiming at regulating at EU level the lawful use of the term leather and the uniform composition labelling of leather products on the model of the EU Footwear Labelling Directive. Last 30 July 2012, COTANCE President Mastrotto with his colleagues in the Presidency received from Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani assurances on the taking up of this objective.
As a result, the Commission Staff Working Document on POLICY OPTIONS FOR THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN FASHION INDUSTRIES — ‘WHERE MANUFACTURING MEETS CREATIVITY’ (SWD(2012) 284 final/2) adopted on October 5, 2012 states that “… while the labelling of textiles and footwear (including leather footwear) is regulated at EU level, no EU legislation covers the labelling of leather and leather products as such.”, and indicates that “The Commission will therefore explore the need for and feasibility of labelling in the field of leather and leather products at EU level.”
Eco-Footprinting of Leather
COTANCE welcomes the results of the UNIDO Leather Panel Meeting in Shanghai on Eco-Footprinting of Leather
At its Autumn Council meeting held in Bucharest on 26 September 2012, COTANCE delegates from Italy (UNIC), Spain (ACEXPIEL), France (FFTM), Germany (VDL), United Kingdom (UKLF), Netherlands (FNL), Sweden (SG) and Romania (APPBR) expressed their satisfaction on the results of the debate on Eco-Footprinting of Leather at the Shanghai UNIDO Leather Panel meeting of last 3 and 4 of September.
UNIDO Leather Panel members made up from renowned experts in the sector reviewed a Technical Report presented at an advanced state of completion providing the methodological key for sustaining the Leather sector’s claim to exclude from the LCA system boundaries of the leather value chain the burden of the livestock industry. The methodology is called “System expansion” and was developed in Denmark in the late 1990s for addressing the case of natural resources generating by-products and co-products.
The experts in Shanghai expressed clearly their view that the system boundaries of the leather value chain start at the slaughterhouse with the generation of the hide or skin as a by-product free from the environmental burden of meat and milk production, the actual drivers of their production.
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