Bags / Shoes & Accessories

Earlier this year, Portugal became the fifth EU country to enact a leather law to protect consumers.

The law establishes mandatory leather authenticity clauses and imposes strict requirements on the use of the word "leather". Its terms clearly state that material manufacturers, brands, retailers and other related businesses may not use the word "leather" with modifiers, prefixes or suffixes that would contradict natural leather.

In Portugal, the use of the prefixes "vegan", "cactus", "mushroom", "synthetic", "artificial" and "PU" before the word leather will now be considered deceptive and subject to laws including fines and criminal prosecution as a result of.

The EU leather industry representative body, costance, said the legislation aims to protect consumers by ensuring that the products they buy match the information they see and help them make informed choices.

"The government recognizes the strategic importance of the leather industry to the Portuguese economy and ensures that the leather industry is not harmed by deceptive business practices," said Nuno Carvalho, president of the Portuguese National Association of the Leather Industry (APIC).

Manuel Ríos, president of the European Union of Tanning Industry Associations, said he was very happy to hear the news. For years, the leather industry has expected the European Commission to "harmonize EU-wide rules for the use of the word leather". However, the EU has failed to unify legislation on the use of the word leather, resulting in national governments implementing leather laws within their own countries.

Portugal has followed Belgium, France, Spain and Italy in enacting laws to protect the leather industry and consumers, a goal that Hungary and other EU countries are already working towards.