PrimeAsia goes further on hide traceability
Leather manufacturing group PrimeAsia is increasing its commitment to transparency and traceability.
In 2019 PrimeAsia launched its Responsibly Raised Initiative aimed at building up collaboration with stakeholders in the supply chain, all the way to farm level, to promote the responsible use and conservation of natural resources, fair labour conditions and sound animal welfare.
As a result, it already has in place a system in which all wet blue hides it sources are physically stamped to give traceability back to the slaughterhouse they came from. It has now announced that it will take this further.
By 2030, the tanning group will extend this programme to put in place for all the hides it sources from South America 100% traceability, all the way back to the farms where the cattle were born. It has called this new initiative its Augmented Sourcing Policy.
The new policy, which has been reviewed by non-profit group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as part of a collaboration with PrimeAsia that it initiated in 2021, covers other aspects of hide origin and leather production, including climate change, labour conditions, chemical management and animal welfare. The policy also includes specific requirements for areas of higher risk of deforestation, such as the Amazon and Chaco biomes.
PrimeAsia said the policy would be an important tool in further engaging the upstream supply chain. “We believe it is important to set high standards for our entire global supply chain,” PrimeAsia’s vice-president for procurement, Ian Scher, explained. “The new policy sets additional steps to address the most pressing issues linked to leather supply chains. By taking these measures, we believe that not only we can avoid environmental degradation in high-risk areas, we can also promote positive engagements that will lead to more sustainable development.”
Chief executive, Jon Clark, said the policy and collaboration with WWF were two important steps towards PrimeAsia’s ambition to make 100% of its supply chain part of its Responsibly Raised Initiative. “We have learned that collaboration and engagement are key ingredients in building supply chain approaches to stimulate land stewardship practices that will result in the responsible use and the conservation of natural resources,” he said.
