There are about 10 days left until the end of the European Commission’s public consultation on the proposal to exclude bovine leather at every stage of processing from the EUDR. As we’ve reported, following the publication of the proposed amendment to Annex I of the Anti-Deforestation Regulation, Brussels has given citizens, associations, and businesses the opportunity to comment and contribute to the debate. This means you have until June 1 to express your support for excluding leather: you can do so online, and we’ll explain how below.
Participating in the public consultation
As we mentioned, the public consultation is on an online portal: participating is very simple.
The first step is to create an account on the EU’s online system at this link: you’ll need to provide your first name, last name, and an email address;
Then, at this link, you can access the consultation and submit your comment.
Good reasons
There is no shortage of good reasons for excluding bovine leather from the EUDR regulation. First and foremost, because leather isn’t a driver of deforestation, as scientifically demonstrated by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. But that’s not all: because leather is a byproduct of the food industry that tanning transforms into a high-quality material, representing one of the oldest and most enduring examples of the circular economy. Meanwhile, the EUDR, as initially drafted, jeopardized the competitiveness of the EU supply chain to the benefit of non-EU ones, without saving a single tree worldwide.
Read also:
- EUDR: the Commission has launched a public consultation
- The European Commission excludes bovine leather from the EUDR
- Cotance’s future: “Supply chain synergies to have greater impact”
