The Social Partners of the European Leather Industry (Cotance) addressed, in their Social Sectoral Dialogue Committee Meeting in December 15 in Brussels), the allegations made to the leather industry in general and to certain European tanneries and their customers in particular in the Greenpeace report released over internet on the deforestation of the Amazon.
They appreciate the gravity of the problem uncovered by Greenpeace and express upfront their solidarity with the objective of preserving the environment and notably the avoidance of irresponsible harm to the Amazon rainforest. The European Social Partners dissociate themselves from any form of unsustainable generation of hides and skins notably the one highlighted in the Greenpeace report.
However, Cotance and ETUF-TCL regret the distorted vision mentioned in the report between the deforestation issue and the leather industry that has been further conveyed in the general press, amplifying the damage caused to the image of the leather industry and to the reputation of the people who work in the leather value chain including European tanners and their customers.
