Leather Exports Encounter European High Threshold

< p > the European Commission amended the annex 17 of the REACH regulations, limiting the six valent chromium () content of imported leather products to 3ppm, or three parts per million.

The new regulation came into effect in May 1, 2015.

Prior to this, only Germany in the European Union had banned the six valence chromium content of clothing, watch bands, bags, chairs, sofa, neck bags and leather toys, which were not more than 3ppm, while the other EU Member States currently control the demand of six valent chromium at 1000ppm, and the difference between the two was more than 333 times.

The EU is an important export market for China's leather products. The EU's six price chromium ban will have an impact on China's leather products exported to Europe. The enterprises involved need to attach great importance to it and take the initiative to do well in coping with it.

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In the interview with our reporter, he Lu, a P technology company, said that the EU will not issue a lower limit than 3ppm in the future.

More importantly, in the 2014 edition of the eco textile standard Oeko-Tex100, the requirement of six valent chromium for Eco textiles is < /p >.

< p > < strong > new and old < a href= > http://www.91se91.com/news/index_c.asp > > index > /a > difference is about 333 times < /strong > < /p >.

< p > reporter learned in the interview that chromium ions are quite toxic, and the six valence chromium ions are 100 times more toxic than trivalent chromium ions. More than 10mg/kg of six valent chromium has a lethal effect on aquatic organisms, and drinking water contaminated by six valent chromium has carcinogenic potential.

As many leather products are directly exposed to the human body, free chromium ions are easily absorbed into the body with sweat, and can also be absorbed through the respiratory tract, causing skin damage, allergies, various diseases and even cancer.

Some clinical data in Europe showed that the incidence of chromium allergic dermatitis in Denmark was 2.3% in 2005, and the incidence of chromium allergic dermatitis was 6.1% in 2007.

Experts have predicted that the data may grow at the moment, especially in southern Europe.

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< p > < < a href= > http://www.91se91.com/news/index_c.asp > EU < /a > limiting its content to 3ppm. What is the reason? < /p >

< p > for this purpose, he Lu told our reporter that RAC is not unwilling to set a lower limit, but is currently testing methods for six valent chromium in leather. Internationally recognized and effective standard is only ENISO17075. The detection limit of this standard is 3ppm, which is a last resort.

Therefore, as technology advances, the EU will not exclude the EU from revising the limit so as to protect consumers' health and safety.

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< p > < strong > small and medium enterprises are trapped in < a href= "http://www.91se91.com/news/index_c.asp > technical cost < /a > pressure < /strong > /p >

"P > ho Lu told an interview with our reporter that RAC experts made an economic analysis on the basis of relevant data in Germany and believed that the restriction would bring about 0.4% of the price of imported leather products.

As most tanning companies in the EU have relatively mature tanning technology, the impact of this restriction on the EU is significantly less than that of their imports.

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The statistics of Rapex in the first quarter of 2014 showed that 13 of the leather products exported to the EU were over priced due to the six valent chromium content. The products included baby shoes, women's shoes and leather gloves.

Once the implementation of the new regulations, the control of six valent chromium will be more stringent, so domestic related European enterprises should take countermeasures.

He Lu said that in order to avoid six valent chromium completely, manufacturers should almost redesign their entire production and storage technology, and the increase of their production cost is inevitable.

According to professionals, the production cost will increase by 15%~20%.

"Regardless of whether the small enterprises have enough funds to improve the production process, the cost of small businesses will lose the advantage of low price competition, and now mature technology and large enterprises with stable customers will gradually take the lead in the EU leather market."

He Lu said.

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< p > < strong > cautiously cope with compliance production < /strong > /p >

< p > according to the reporter, the leather products exported to the EU before are only limited to six valent chromium in some countries. At present, as long as the leather products exported to the EU Member States must meet the six valent chromium restriction instructions.

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< p > coping with the production of six valent chromium is a condition for most tanning enterprises to survive.

"The requirement of six valent chromium content is less than 3mg/kg, which is a difficult level for domestic leather manufacturing enterprises, and the negative impact can not be ignored."

He Lu said.

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< p >, aiming at the present situation, he Lu suggested that enterprises should grasp the source, deal with the chrome trioxide used for tanning, carry out six valence chromium test, control the production process, and adjust the leather making process, such as the use of plant retanning agents, the use of reductive neutralization reagents and retanning agents, the use of antioxidants as fatliquoring aids when leather fatliquoring, so as to ensure that there is no excessive six valent chromium in the production process.

It is worth noting that the final check of products is the most intuitive and important. Enterprises should effectively and effectively detect products and further confirm the compliance of products, so as to prevent unnecessary losses.

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