Cotance say that it denies the material ‘Leather’ the right to be called by its name! Describing leather by other than its name is likely to cause confusion and mislead and mis-educate consumers to the detriment of the sector’s cultural and industrial heritage.
Allergy sufferers – the alleged beneficiaries of the rule – are not specifically addressed while the adopted message associates a negative image to a number of products of animal origin that are legitimate, such as leather. Cotance are asking the EU why the affected industrial sectors have not been consulted and that the economic and social consequences to the leather supply chain has not been assessed.
Cotance expressed its objections to the EP amendments implementing this provision in a letter to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council Presidency in March 2010. Cotance said in a statement that it, ‘regrets that its views have been simply ignored and its concerns unanswered’.
Through Cotance, the European Leather industry calls on the EU institutions to reconsider the implementation of this particular labelling and develops the much-expected Regulation of Leather Terms and Labelling of Leather articles that the leather sector and European consumers deserve.
