Traceability is a tool, not an objective
For Italian leather, traceability is a method for guaranteeing that raw hides come from ethically acceptable and sustainable sources, with particular reference to the issues of deforestation, animal welfare and the environmental impact of breeding.
The raw hides used by our industry originate almost entirely (over 99.5% of the total) from the slaughter of cows, sheep and goats, which are bred and killed for food purposes.
The reference supply chain is therefore considerably complex, with various actors present and very particular supply chain dynamics. The nature of raw hides as a by-product, linked to its nature as meat waste and its consequent limited value, leads to two effects that affect the traceability of leather:
To this must be added the difficulty of combining the needs for traceability, which typically come from downstream in the supply chain (or from other stakeholders, even of an institutional nature), with the more than understandable confidentiality of the information requested, often considered strategic by the operators from whom it is requested.
However, some elements can currently be used to obtain relevant information for supply chain traceability.
For example, the regulatory framework currently in force in the EU to guarantee health and food safety obliges the slaughterhouse to transfer the animal’s information (country of breeding, country of slaughter, etc.) with regards to meat and products intended for human consumption, but not to associate this information with other by-products, including hides.
Another important element for supply chain traceability is the mandatory commercial documents in Europe and the health certificates for raw hides imported into the EU, which accompany the animal by-products. These allow to trace the location in which the animal was slaughtered for each individual batch of raw hides.
Supplier involvement is the key aspect of this important challenge in the leather supply chain. This involvement has always been problematic, precisely due to the low value the raw hides have at the slaughterhouse, but it has been improving in recent years. The recent European anti-deforestation legislation (EU Regulation no. 1115/2023 EUDR) will probably force supply chain operators to radically change their previous traceability dynamics, with the aim of obtaining extremely ambitious traceability of the entire supply chain up to the farm where the cattle was born.
The tanning sector is therefore focused on the continuous awareness of suppliers as regards information needs on the one hand and on participation in both national and international supply chain projects on the other, aimed at increasing the ability to efficiently transmit tracking information, both in the upstream part of the supply chain and within the tannery itself. It is also important to note that there may be multiple tanneries in the supply chain working on different phases of the tanning production cycle, with a consequent increase in tracking difficulty.
Over the last 20 years, UNIC has monitored and tested various traceability systems and tools: paper/electronic documents, tags, labels and other marks on the raw hide surface, RFID, laser, DNA, chemical tracers, UV, isotopes. When evaluating the efficiency of these systems/tools, it is necessary to consider:
It is obviously not easy to develop and implement a single traceability system/tool that is completely efficient in light of the aforementioned needs.
In summary, traceability cannot be developed in the leather supply chain without:
Italian tanneries source hides or semi-finished leather from around 120 countries every year, and this aspect has led them to be at the forefront in the procurement and management of traceability information.
Guidelines, Standards and Certifications
Traceability systems are more valuable if they are implemented using relevant norms and standards, including for the data to be collected and exchanged.
Therefore, implementation should be based on available and recognized norms and standards for traceability data, implementation and certification in order to promote harmonization of concepts, approaches and terms and interoperability of systems.
The Industry has equipped itself with a number of tools, such as standards, guidelines and certifications, to develop traceability systems and ensure high levels of compliance to stakeholders on the issue. One of the most widely used of these tools is ICEC TS 410 and 412 certification.
A proliferation of different and diverse approaches on traceability risks leading to an impasse of mutually unrecognized certifications, increased unproductive costs for operators forced by clients to follow different schemes.
To avoid this risk, the European confederation of tanners, COTANCE, has offered certification bodies and other stakeholders a meeting point, the “Leather Traceability Cluster,” within the CEN TC 289 working group (aimed at creating EU standards in leather production). The goal is to establish, on a pre-competitive basis, common principles and rules, methodologies and homogeneous system boundaries for all parties interested in developing standards and certifications for traceability in the leather supply chain.
There are also other useful tools to support the development of traceability in international leather fashion supply chains.
One is the “Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment & Footwear Sector,” prepared by the OECD (Organization for European Cooperation and Development). Recommendations are provided on how to implement proper traceability in one’s fashion company and related supply chains.
Another tool comes from the United Nations Economic Cooperation for Europe (UNECE). It is “Recommendation No. 46: Improve traceability and transparency of sustainable value chains in the apparel and footwear sector” and related working papers.