EUDR: policymakers must listen to the evidence, industry says
Key points that leather industry representatives raised on a workshop on deforestation on June 3 included the insistence that the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is likely to have a severe impact on the sector in Europe.
In parallel, the industry insisted that there is no direct link between leather and deforestation.
The workshop took place at the European Parliament in Brussels, with COTANCE, UNIC, the Leather and Hide Council of America and the International Council of Tanners among the organisations representing the leather industry.
They said hardly any country outside the EU is in a position to implement EUDR's mandatory traceability requirements. And as 40% of the raw materials that leather manufacturers in the EU need comes from outside the EU, losing access to the hides and skins they can supply could severely disrupt the supply chain, the participants warned.
They added: “Leather businesses in the EU are in a critical situation, which risks significant job losses across the industry’s value chain.”
In the course of the workshop, industry representatives also warned that short-circuiting the European leather industry and replacing leather with synthetic alternatives such as polyurethane could increase environmental damage, in terms of higher emissions and resource use.
Finally, they warned officials from the EU institutions who were present that diverting cattle hides to landfills or to countries with weaker environmental standards would undermine the ambitious environmental goals that the European Union has set itself.
Based on this, COTANCE secretary-general, Gustavo González-Quijano called on EU policymakers to acknowledge the evidence and listen to the voice of the leather industry. He said: “Stakeholders across Europe and from third countries emphasise that complying with EUDR is not in their hands. Supply chains outside the EU will not set up costly cattle traceability systems just for a residue of meat production. Is the EU really expecting a handful of EU tanners to drive EUDR-type cattle traceability at global scale?”
Image shows (left to right): member of the European Parliament Salvatore De Meo; Gustavo González-Quijano (COTANCE); Kerry Senior (International Council of Tanners) and Luca Boltri (UNIC) at the workshop.
