REACH compliance among COMESA footwear tanners and SMEs Beneficiary country The beneficiary of this project is the COMESA Leather and Leather Products Institute (CLLPI), based in Addis Ababa – Ethiopia, whose 9 members are Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Project activities will be carried out in Ethiopia and Sudan; however the lessons learnt will be shared through a regional workshop, which will attract participation of other remaining countries. Contracting Authority The ACP-EU TBT programme will be the Contracting Authority on behalf of the Regional Authorising Officer for the European Development Project REG/FED/022-667. Overall objective The project will contribute to the achievement of the following overall objective. To Promote COMESA LLPI Member States’ intraregional and international trade in the field of footwear Purpose The project will aim at achieving the following purpose. To support selected tanneries and SMEs of Ethiopia and Sudan in their compliance with EU REACH Directive Results to be achieved by the Contractor Result 1 - COMESA regional Footwear standards are harmonised and in line with international standards Result 2 -The use of chemicals in Tanneries of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan is assessed and a detailed capacity building programme for Tanneries and selected SMEs is drafted. Result 3 - Selected SMEs and Tanneries are supported in achieving EU REACH certification on the basis of a training of trainers approach Result 4 - The accreditation process of selected Laboratories active in testing services to the leather sector is supported Result 5 - Project results and good practices are shared in a final seminar
REACH GUIDANCE Leather and Leather goods suppliers who are exporting products into the European Union (and the European Economic area) will need to ensure that the products comply with the requirements of the European Regulation on chemicals – REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals). Whilst this wide-ranging legislation covers the whole chemical supply chain there are specific impacts for the leather and footwear sectors. Guidance is available for the key issues for the leather sector and the footwear sector. In addition there is a generic restricted substances list which breaks down both mandatory and brand specific requirements for a range of materials commonly used in footwear and other leather goods.