EU's Commission Decision has carried out a review of the existing criteria for the community eco-label for footwear and decided to not only modify the definition of the product group but also to establish new criteria.
The new Decision shall be valid for four years. Applications for the ecolabel for footwear which are submitted as from the adoption of the new Commission Decision until 31 March 2010 may be based either on the earlier criteria or on the new criteria. The earlier criteria (of Decision 2002/231/EC) will be repealed.
The new Decision emphasises that the product group "footwear" comprises all articles of clothing designed to protect or cover the foot, with a fixed outer sole which comes into contact with the ground. Moreover, in order to fall within this product group, footwear shall not contain any electric or electronic components. In order to be awarded the Community ecolabel, footwear must comply with the criteria set out in the Annex to the new Decision.
The Annex points out that the criteria aim, especially, at limiting the levels of toxic residues and the emissions of volatile organic compounds, and at promoting a more durable product. Thus, for example, for shoes made of leather, Hong Kong suppliers will have to ensure that there is no Chromium VI in the final product, providing a test report using test method EN ISO 17075 (detection limit 3 parts per million, "ppm"), to demonstrate this. There must also be no arsenic, cadmium and lead in materials used for the product assembly or the final product, with testing carried out accordingly. Likewise, for textile components of footwear, the amount of free and hydrolysed formaldehyde must be non-detectable, while for leather components this may be no more than 150 ppm. For the tanning of hides and skins, there are limits laid down to water consumption.
As for the use of hazardous substances (up until purchase), the Decision does not allow pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol to be used, and no azo dyes may be used that may cleave to any of a list of 22 aromatic amines. A number of N-Nitrosamines must, also, not be detected in rubber.
The Decision furthermore contains requirements for the packaging of the final product. Thus, where cardboard boxes are used, they must be made of 100% recyclable materials, while where plastic bags are used, they must be made of at least 75% recyclable material or they must be biodegradable or compostable. Information needs to be supplied with the product, both on how better to safeguard the environment, as well as on how to receive more information on the EU Ecolabel.
