What happened this week: The market this week started with a sort of ‘big bang’ with the news of an outbreak of ‘Blue Tongue’ disease in Holland and the border regions of Belgium and Germany. Since the leather business has become pretty sensitive to any outbreak of disease there was a great deal of excitement over this.  However, in the end, the panic cooled down very quickly and by the end of the week, it was hardly an issue worthy of discussing. The critical question, however, still remains unanswered… How are the authorities in the export markets going to react to certificates issued from Europe? These authorities can no longer sign health certificates stating that the exporting country has been free of Blue Tongue disease for the last two years. However, the disease is pretty widespread in Africa and Asia, and is harmless to humans. As it can only be transferred from and to live animals by mosquitoes, there is little reason to restrict the movement of hide and skins, and, so far, no authority in any country has restricted or banned the import of Northern European hides.

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