EU PFOS Directive Approaching Slow Reaction Of Leather Enterprises In Zhejiang Province

China's textile export quota system, which was launched last year, has slowed down the pace of textile exports in Zhejiang.

Just after the end of the quota system at the end of 2007, a lot of small and medium-sized textile enterprises and other enterprises came to the end of the year. Recently, the bad news came out that the EU Directive on restricting the sale and use of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS directive) will come into effect in June 27th.

The directive stipulates that the content of PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonyl) compounds in the finished products sold on the European market should not exceed 0.005% of the total quality, which marks the EU's total ban on the use of PFOS in commodities.

After the implementation of the directive, the foreign trade enterprises that produce textile, leather and other products will be affected accordingly.

As a major export province of textiles and leather products, Zhejiang will face a "big exam".

It is understood that the EU PFOS directive is a "difficult problem" after the EU's restrictions on the content of azo dyes and heavy metals in textiles and leather products.

Experts said that foreign trade enterprises should not be too nervous. They should communicate with EU importers as soon as possible and take measures to deal with them.

According to the relevant professional, PFOS is especially widely used in the textile industry. It is the main active ingredient of antifouling agents for textiles and leather products. Large quantities of printing and dyeing and finishing textiles need to be washed by PFOS before treatment. In addition, the additives used for functional finishing such as UV and anti-bacterial also contain PFOS. But it is the most difficult organic pollutant to be degraded at present. It has high bioaccumulation and toxicity. It not only causes respiratory problems, but also leads to the death of new babies, and the global pollution caused by PFOS is attracting more and more attention.

It is understood that the EU Directive on the sale and use of perfluorooctane sulfonate was jointly issued by the European Parliament and the Council of ministers in December 27, 2006. They defined PFOS as a substance that persists in the environment, has biological savings and is harmful to human beings.

In accordance with the EU Council's regulations on assessing and controlling the risk of existing substances, the United Kingdom submitted the PFOS risk assessment report to the European Commission and its strategy for reducing its harm and its impact assessment. The European Commission conducted a scientific review of the report and confirmed the danger of PFOS.

In December 5, 2005, the European Commission put forward proposals and instructions on restricting the sale and use of PFOS, and assessed the cost, benefits, balance and legality of the proposal.

The EU's directive on the sale and use of perfluorooctane sulfonate was officially promulgated and entered into force on December 27, 2006.

The directive stipulates that in the EU market, substances that contain substances or elements with PFOS content or quality equal to or exceeding 0.005% shall not be sold and put into operation. No finished products, semi-finished products and parts with PFOS concentration or quality equal to or exceeding 0.1% shall be sold.

In order to phase out the use of PFOS, the limits of instructions should be evaluated when new situations or safety substitutes are present.

However, there are exceptions in some cases. There are no restrictions on products used and used in the market. Photo resist materials such as photographic lithographic coating and aviation hydraulic products are not applicable to environment and human beings. This directive is not applicable. In the PFOS coating industry, the most advanced technology in the current stage is used to minimize emissions.

Predicament - Zhejiang enterprises are generally slow to respond. This directive of the European Union is aimed at all manufacturers, including their Member States, that sell PFOS products in the EU market.

After the entry into force, the use and market delivery of PFOS products will be limited to a large extent, and the textile production enterprises are the first to bear the brunt.

For China, such a big exporter, there is no doubt that it will be very influential.

However, reporters in the interview learned that domestic enterprises responded relatively insipid. Reporters learned from the media that at present only Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Hebei and other enterprises react faster, and have issued relevant risk warning, some enterprises are also taking measures to deal with it.

Zhejiang is a major export province for textiles and leather products. Textiles, clothing and leather are among the main exports of Zhejiang, while the EU market accounts for a large share of the export market.

According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, Zhejiang's exports of textiles amounted to 4 billion 490 million US dollars, an increase of 38.1% over the same period last year, which is 19.4 percentage points higher than that of the same period in 2007 and 4 billion 360 million US dollars for export garments.

Among them, in the first quarter, Zhejiang exported 860 million dollars of textiles to Europe, an increase of 38%, and 1 billion 570 million euros of clothing exported to Europe, an increase of 37.2%.

The implementation of this directive will directly affect the export of textiles, leather, printing and dyeing auxiliaries and other products in our province.

What is the attitude of Zhejiang enterprises?

A telephone interview with a staff member of the Zhejiang textile import and Export Group Co., Ltd., the company's office, said that the company had not received any relevant notice and had no knowledge of the PFOS directive.

The reporter interviewed 6 enterprises randomly, of which 5 textile exporters said they knew nothing about it.

A company official also said that because of the previous textile exports did not detect PFOS, nor concerned about this information.

Reporters learned in the interview that Zhejiang enterprises were rather slow in response. Most export companies still don't know what the PFOS directive is, or even whether they contain PFOS components in their products.

Relatively speaking, Shaoxing responded more quickly.

On the 20 day of last month, the Shaoxing Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau issued an emergency risk warning. Most enterprises in Shaoxing have been alerted.

The EU PFOS directive is another "difficulty" after the EU's restrictions on the content of azo dyes and heavy metals in textiles and leather products. The impact on foreign trade of Zhejiang and even the whole country will be greater than the previous other green trade barriers and trade frictions.

According to the relevant staff of the Provincial Department of foreign trade and economic cooperation, at present, the foreign trade department has embarked on relevant measures.

The way out - no rain silk Miao can cope with green trade barriers, in response to the EU PFOS directive, the relevant professionals suggest that there are already more ideal substitutes in the world. However, China has not yet developed textile auxiliaries that can fully comply with EU's PFOS control standards.

Provincial related export enterprises should communicate with relevant European importers as soon as possible and intensify the selection, testing and application of alternative products, so as to reduce the losses caused by the implementation of the directive.

At the same time, export enterprises should make more efforts in information collection, production link management and related standards setting, establish corresponding technical standards, and adjust the production mode according to the latest information.

In the production process, we should not only pay attention to material selection, ensure product quality, but also enhance environmental protection and health awareness.

At present, printing and dyeing enterprises and garment enterprises do not use many foreign dyes, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. Because of the high price of foreign dyes and additives, the European Union's designated auxiliary and dye supplier products are even more.

Experts believe that there are two ways to deal with the problem, either directly buying the dyes and auxiliaries of the EU designated suppliers, or stepping up the selection, testing and R & D of products.

For printing and dyeing or garment enterprises, both will greatly increase the cost of export.

"Using imported dyes can greatly improve the color fastness, product grades and added value will be improved."

Li Guofu, general manager of Hangzhou hi tech import and Export Co., Ltd. thinks so.

For textile and clothing, the challenge of PFOS directive is mainly in organic intermediates such as dyes, pigments, auxiliaries and so on.

Although the new technology will increase the cost of export, it will speed up the adjustment of industry and product mix, and integrate with international advanced level as soon as possible.

Insiders pointed out that foreign trade export enterprises need not be too nervous.

As long as we plan ahead, we can deal with green trade barriers calmly.

We should fully understand the pros and cons of the PFOS directive to the industry, familiarity with the contents of the instructions as soon as possible, and actively use standard dyes or cloth for production of the relevant products in the standard regulations, so as to increase the grade of export fabrics and garments and obtain a higher selling price, so as to achieve stronger international competitiveness.