The fact that the River Palar in Tamil Nadu, India, has not flowed for three years is of great concern to the tanners of Vaniyambadi. They are concerned because the river not flowing means that the total dissolved solids in their effluent is higher than the limits imposed by the regional government.

Hexavalent chromium formation caused by ageing has been widely investigated with many papers concentrating on how to solve the problem by eliminating or reducing the likelihood of oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI)^1-7.

Scattered throughout the chaotic fume-filled streets of Addis Ababa are hundreds of small enterprises fighting against difficult trading conditions and strict government regulation. One such company is the Ethiopian Sung Bin Leather Garment Factory which is situated near the centre of the capital.

The Ethiopian economy is predominantly agrarian. 95% of the population relies on agriculture with cattle breeding playing a significant part. FAO figures show that Ethiopia ranks first in Africa and tenth in the world in bovine population. The slaughter rate is 6.8% for bovines, 33.19% for sheep and 37% for goats.

It would be a cliché to begin this article talking of political corruption, poverty and war. To most people these are the images that Ethiopia conjures up in their minds. Yet, Ethiopia has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and is believed to be the place from which human civilisation began. But when you talk about the country's tanning industry it becomes evident that the clichés play a part in the way the country operates.

Scattered throughout the chaotic fume-filled streets of Addis Ababa are hundreds of small enterprises fighting against difficult trading conditions and strict government regulation. One such company is the Ethiopian Sung Bin Leather Garment Factory which is situated near the centre of the capital.

The problems of hide collection in Africa have been documented in a number of articles in leather.

At PAL, Amadeo Fernandes, vice-president of CICB, the Brazilian Association of Tanners, said his country's imposition of an export tax on Brazilian wet-blue was in retaliation for import taxes applied in Europe to Brazilian goods.

Universal Leather and Footwear Industries have applied for voluntary de-listing from the Karachi Stock Exchange. The company claim that the current provision of income tax law for taking the reserves in excess of 50% of the paid-up capital of a public company, unless at least 40% of the annual profit is distributed as a cash dividend, has become a bottleneck for the company's future plans.

Cotance president Herman Hulshof invited Turgut Kosar, president of TLIA, to the recent Brussels council meeting where he applied for associate membership for the Turkish Leather Industry Association.

TFL, the worldwide company exclusively serving the leather industry, have produced their new fashion colours forecast for autumn-winter 2002/03.

Through the establishment of model demonstration chrome recovery and tannery effluent treatment plants in Birgunj, where 10 out of 16 tannery units are located, environmental degradation caused by the tanning industry has been minimised without undue economic burden. The establishment of these plants is unique, as the country had no legislation dealing with environmental protection.

The International Footwear and Shoetech Fair 2001 (Shenzhen Footwear 2001) and the China International Leather & Bags Fair 2001 (Shenzhen Leather 2001) will take place from March 23-26, 2001, at the China Hi-Tech Exhibition in Shenzhen.

Sadesa will add to their current production at Sadesa Thailand, the supply of finished leather from Pan Asia Leather, a tannery established in 1993 and located in Kabinburi, Prachinburi province, which is part of the Bangkok Rubber Group.

SIC Group, Paris, have bought the PMF fair which normally takes place at Le Bouget and will stage an enhanced show at the Porte de Versailles, Hall 6, from October 5-7. The new fair will be called Le Cuir a Paris and will be staged at the same time as Premiere Vision at Villepinte to take advantage of the synergy between the two events.

An insolvent tannery, Krasnyi Gigant, based in the Klintsy, in the Briansk region of Russia, resumed work in mid-January having been purchased by the Italian Rino Mastrotto group last summer. This is the first case of direct investment made by a large Western company into a Russian tannery.

LeatherXchange have launched their new 'Inspection Service' to coincide with the Panamerican Leather Fair, held in Miami, January 21-23, 2001.

After years of waiting Chennai now has its own purpose-built exhibition centre and the 16th India International Leather Fair had a double inauguration at the end of January, both for the show and for the centre.

Beginning in 2001 Global Leather moves to Las Vegas where it will present its two day show from August 4-5 at Caesar's Palace. 'Moving Global Leather to Las Vegas enables us to provide the convenience both our exhibitors and visitors have been asking for', says Fawn Evenson, president, FIA. 'Having a supplier show at the same time and the same place as the footwear industry's largest shoe show in the US makes a lot of sense. All of our visitors are already there.'

The organisers of the Fenac and Fimec footwear and leather exhibitions in Brazil unveiled the architect's concept designs for the new extension to the showground in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul. Once the plans, submitted by Brazilian architect Livia Bortoncello, have been approved construction is expected to begin immediately.

Edendale Tannery, Pietermaritzburg, closed at the end of last year due to the potential cost of upgrading the effluent treatment system. The tannery, founded in 1928, was the only dedicated vegetable tannery in the country.

The issue

Our industry has been confronted over the years with a large variety of problems, many of which have moral aspects like pollution control, use of certain chemicals, animal mistreatment and the use of skins as a byproduct or as a main reason for which an animal is being killed.

Ihave just returned from the India International Leather Fair in Chennai. Understandably, due to the devastating earthquake in Gujarat, India is a very sad place at the moment.