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PRESS RELEASE – JUNE 2008
Press
Releases Archive...
Eco-labels will open
new vistas of opportunity, says EC official
New Delhi, June 24, 2008
“EU eco-labels would provide Indian textile
exporters new opportunities in the European
market”, said Robert Donkers, First
Counsellor of the European Commission (EC),
dealing with environmental issues while
addressing the two-day workshop on June
23-24, 2008, organised by the Consumer Unity
and Trust Society (CUTS) and the
Confederation of Indian Textiles Industries
(CITI), in collaboration with the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at
Country Inn and Suites, Jaipur. An eco-label
is a certificate of environmental quality
and the EU eco-label is one that is ratified
by the EC.
The event marked the first opportunity for
national stakeholders to get information on
eco-labelling opportunities and was a part
of a project entitled 'Enabling developing
countries to seize eco-label opportunities'
funded by the EU and the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development. The project aims at providing
technical assistance and building capacity
of a wide range of national stakeholders to
increase market access in developed
countries and promoting more sustainable
consumption and production patterns. In
India, it specifically aims at supporting
Indian industries in attaining the EU
Eco-label for their products.
The EU Eco-label also called the “EU Flower”
was introduced by the EU in 1992 with the
aim of providing more transparency and
information to consumers about
environmentally preferable products. It is a
broader strategy of the EU to stimulate
sustainable consumption and production. Till
date, there have been around 620 licensed
companies with approximately 4000 EU Flower
labelled products with a market value
approaching a billion Euros. The licences
are spread over a number of European as well
as developing countries, namely Thailand,
China, Indonesia and Egypt. The workshop
provided textile industry stakeholders with
knowledge of the EU Eco-label, the criteria
and procedures that underlie its award and
related market opportunities.
Addressing the workshop Shishir Jaipuria,
Vice Chairman, CITI, while pointing to the
mounting pressure on the textile sector to
adopt more “eco-friendly” manufacturing
processes, underlined the importance of
textile producers in India going in for such
environmental certifications to retain their
market position. He said that obtaining an
eco-label can also generate financial
savings through process optimization and
reduced consumption of raw materials and
improved environmental performance. Pradeep
S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS underlined
the opportunities created by eco-labels as
well as their potential misuse as non tariff
barriers.
The presentations at the workshop
highlighted that an increase in the market
for home textiles and apparel in the EU, US
and Japan is predicted due to the phasing
out of production capacities in spinning and
weaving in these countries. Since the EU
Flower label is recognised by all EU
countries, it makes market penetration
easier, especially to major markets like
Italy, UK, France, Germany and Spain. The
workshop brought together relevant
representatives of the textile industry and
designers, textile associations,
laboratories associated with textile
manufacture, consumer and environmental
organizations, EU and United Nations
officials linked to the eco-label scheme, as
well as academic experts and international
industry representatives.
For further
information please contact:
Simi T B,
stb@cuts.org,
+9194958 51079
Pramod Dev,
pd@cuts.org,
+9198680 61201
National Workshop on
Eco-labelling for the Indian Textile
Industry
Jaipur, June 22, 2008
CUTS and the
Confederation of Indian Textiles Industries (CITI),
in collaboration with the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) are organising a
National Workshop on Eco-labelling that will
take place at the Country Inn and Suites,
Jaipur on 23-24 June 2008.
It will
introduce a project titled “Enabling
developing countries to seize eco-label
opportunities” to the selected relevant
stakeholders in India. This 4-year project,
supported by the European Commission and the
German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development, aims to promote
eco-labelling in Brazil, China, India, Kenya,
Mexico and South Africa. Through technical
assistance and capacity building to a wide
range of national stakeholders, it would like
to promote a number of products export
markets, and at the same time to contribute
more to sustainable consumption and production
patterns. In India, it will particularly aim
at supporting Indian textile industry.
The workshop
will bring together relevant decision makers
from the Government of India, textile industry
and representatives from textile associations,
national laboratories associated with the
manufacturing of textiles, representatives of
the Indian Ecomark scheme and other
standardisation bodies, NGOs and consumer
organisations, representatives of the EU
eco-label scheme, experts on eco-labelling,
and sustainable consumption and production.
For further
information please contact:
Simi T B,
stb@cuts.org,
+9194958 51079
Pramod Dev,
pd@cuts.org,
+9198680 61201 |
