French leather market ‘safest’ for consumers
The Conseil National du Cuir (French National Leather Council) has released a statement emphasising how safe it believes the French leather market is in response to reports in the press criticising the production methods used to manufacture leather items in certain countries.
Leather manufacturers, importers and distributers are required to conform to French, European and international regulations regarding the innocuousness of products. “These regulations are very strict and there is no equivalent anywhere else in the world,” said the council.
“The French authorities (Customs and Prevention of Fraud, DGCCRF) pay careful attention to products that are imported and commercialised in the country. Consequently, France is the only country in Europe to take samples from finished products and analyse them, making our market one of the safest for consumers.”
French leather, footwear and leathergoods industry have included a detection limit of 3mg/kg chromium VI in most leather manufacture or purchase specifications documents since 2009. “Companies dedicate large proportions of their budgets to the analysis of leather by independent laboratories, with the aim of identifying products that breach these limits.
“The chromium III used in the manufacture of leather and leathergoods is totally harmless. It should not be confused with chromium VI which can appear in certain finished products when the tanning process has been poorly managed. As this latter product has been recognised as an allergen for around four people in 100,000, the European Union will include in its REACH regulations of 2015, very low authorised levels for this product (3 mg/kilo).
“It should be noted that chromium VI can be toxic by inhalation or by ingestion, but these are not normal modes of usage for the leather products available on the market. The European Union, via its 'Risk Assessment Committee’, considers that the environmental risk related to the presence of chromium VI in leather is very low."
CTC, the national centre of expertise for leather, footwear and leathergoods, works with the European Commission, CEN and ISO to increase safety in the French and international markets.
“The French leather industry is the only one in the world to have worked for the last two years on its social responsibility, within the framework of the ISO 26000 standard on CSR, one aspect of which concerns the harmlessness of products,” said the council, adding that these undertakings will soon be made public.
