Recently, the International Leather Council, together with global industry organizations in the meat, raw hide, and leather sectors, submitted a joint letter to the European Commission, focusing on the impact of the EU Zero Forest Deforestation Act (EUDR) on international trade in cowhide and leather. The CLEIA has actively responded to this industry-wide joint action.
The core demands of this joint letter are: to remove all cowhide, raw hide, and leather products under the Customs HS41 category from the Annex 1 control list of the EU Zero Forest Deforestation Act; and to request that the EU not add any new sheepskin, goatskin, and related leather products to the list.
The global leather industry unanimously argues that there is currently no scientific evidence to prove a direct link between raw hide and leather production and deforestation. Forcibly including leather products in the control list will not achieve the goal of preventing deforestation and will instead create unreasonable technical barriers to trade.
The European leather industry is highly dependent on imported raw materials, and the Act's stringent geographical requirements and full-chain traceability requirements are difficult for most global suppliers to implement. High compliance costs will drive up tanning production costs in the EU, weaken industry competitiveness, and even lead to factory closures and job losses.
Furthermore, excessive regulation will force a large amount of high-quality raw hides to be discarded or inefficiently processed, exacerbating carbon emissions and forcing the market to use highly polluting petrochemical synthetic materials, completely contradicting the EU's original intention of a circular economy and green development.
The global leather goods industry is calling on the EU to reassess the policy's impact objectively, remove unreasonable restrictions on leather raw materials, and ensure the stable, compliant, and sustainable trade development of the global leather supply chain.
