Leather Associations lobby Chinese plastics industry
3 June 2011In a meeting arranged by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) on April 2, immediately after the APLF, Su Chaoying (Vice President and General Secretary, CLIA), Paul Pearson (Secretary, ICT) and Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano (Secretary General, Cotance), met the representatives of the China Plastics Industry to discuss terminology and the inappropriateness of terms such as ‘synthetic’ or ‘artificial’ leather for man-made materials.
The leather industry representatives explained that in many countries, and especially in the major markets in Europe and the Americas, law or standards protect the term leather and that their inappropriate use could lead to heavy sanctions.
Chen Jiaqi, Secretary General of the China Plastic Products Standardisation Administration, Feng Shujun, Vice Secretary General of the Plastics Association of China and Liu Shu, Director of the Membership Department of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association explained that the terms for leather and its synthetic substitutes differ in Chinese language and do not cause any confusion, asserting that the problem comes from their translation into other languages. They understand that the translation of Chinese Standards on such products requires attention and agreed to jointly look at ways to solve the problem.
The timing of the encounter was felt as highly opportune as the concerned standards were up for review and that relevant terminological indications could possibly help avoid misdescriptions.
It was agreed to exchange all relevant information and to reconvene a meeting possibly at the occasion of an upcoming Plastics Congress in Shanghai.
