...figures show that Guatemala imports from the EU have slightly increased in the first quarter 2014.
Alberto Paccanelli, President of Euratex tells about the current scenario of EU markets as he converses with Fibre2Fashion Correspondent Manushi Gandhi.
Synopsis
The European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex) is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Its main objective is to promote the interests of its members while taking into account the European Union's institutional framework and its international obligations.
Alberto Paccanelli is the President of Euratex since January 1, 2011. Prior to this, he was appointed as the CEO of Martinelli Ginetto Group in the year 2007. In the year 2000 he was the CEO of the Linificio and Canapificio Group. He graduated in economics from the University of Bergamo, Italy. Mr. Paccanelli will be succeeded by Mr. Serge Piolat on January 1, 2015.
Excerpts:
Earlier this year Euratex had started a campaign to pursue energy efficiency in T&C sector. What have been the outcomes of this campaign?
Since the launch of the Energy Made-to-Measure campaign at the end February 2014, more than 250 participants have already joined our public meetings promoted in different EU countries. At these events participants were 'taken by hand’ and explained in their national language how to use results of different projects for Energy Efficiency in the Textile & Clothing (T&C) industry. In addition, in April a brand new project started under EURATEX coordination - “Saving Energy in Textile SMEs”. This will 'feed’ the campaign for the next couple of years and it shall create new cooperation opportunities for the sector stakeholders across Europe.
The Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have voted in favour of making 'made-in’ labelling mandatory for non-food products sold on the single market. Do you think this would benefit the textile and apparel industry in any way?
A mandatory indication of country of origin is favoured by the EU T&C industry provided that this is 'bearable’ for companies in terms of compliance cost and red-tape in the overall context of the Consumer Product Safety Regulation. If member states finally adopt this regulation it will help to harmonize existing marking rules within the internal market, increase transparency for consumers. But at the same time depending on company’s business model, indication of country of origin could be seen as unnecessary burden as the new Regulation will provide already enough information to facilitate the task of market surveillance authorities in tracing the product to safeguard end-consumer. Overall, I believe it is an important step forward for our industry to have a Regulation that will bring the EU labelling more in line with existing legislation across the world.
The trade barriers between the European Union and Guatemala had been lifted on December 1, 2013. Has this helped the textile and apparel sector in any way?
Guatemala was the last Central American country to ratify the Association Agreement with the EU and we are happy that trade barriers with these countries are reduced. It is too early to register significant move forward, however figures show that Guatemala imports from the EU have slightly increased in the first quarter 2014. This example shows that EU trade policies are crucial for the T&C industry. We were able to assess it lately with the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea that entered into force in 2011. Trade facilitation with targeted partners helps our companies, in particular SME’s, to export and find opportunities in new fast growing markets.
Trademark counterfeiting is a global, pervasive and serious hindrance to growth and jobs, and often a threat to citizen health and safety. What should be done on the part of manufacturers to tackle this issue?
The type of solutions varies depending on the size of the company and markets they serve (products and countries). Big brands facing important counterfeiting have already elaborated a quite effective, but increasingly costly integrated strategy(ies) against trademark counterfeiting. Unfortunately, the problem is even more important for the bulk of the companies that are SMEs. Very often, SMEs managers are not aware of the Intellectual Property Rights and how they can protect themselves. Authorities should be more active in helping making IP Rights protection and fight against counterfeiting as easy and tangible as possible. European and member states’ authorities should be inspired by the examples of countries like Italy and others that make more visible the results of the customs control and competent authorities’ initiatives against trademark counterfeiters and non-respect of design and IP rights.
What was the position of import and exports of textiles and apparels in Europe for the year 2013-2014?
After a drop in 2012, EU T&C imports reached 92 billion Euros (+1,1%) with textiles growing quicker (+3.3%). Imports of T&C products from China, representing 1/3rd of EU28 textiles imports and almost half of clothing imports, continued to fall (-2.5%) after their 2011 record. Thanks to the upturn in world trade, EU exports confirmed their revival by reaching 42,4 billion Euros, the highest level since the start of this century. 2013 was the fourth year in a row of growth in value terms. EU T&C exports succeeded in gaining further market shares in 2013 (+2.1%), thanks to the apparel industry (+4.3%). During the first quarter 2014, Extra-EU imports were more dynamic (+6.3%) than Extra-EU exports that went up by +3% as compared to the same period of 2013.
How you see the growth in small textile studios and fashion workshops based in Europe?
The characteristic of the European T&C industry is the small size of its 173.000 companies. With 10 employees on average, the EU industry is used to work with regional, national or even European very flexible and complementary networks. The trends of production re-shoring to better serve a growingly fragmented EU market will be beneficial for those networks. However, the scale of the increase might not be sufficiently big due to the long lasting 'credit-crunch’ impacting small companies especially active in industries like T&C.
Sustainability in the industry is a major issue these days. What do you see as the key components of sustainability for textiles in fashion?
From the point of view of an industrialist that wants to show how sustainable is its production, it is difficult to bear the cost of so diverse and competing standards existing in the sector. Hence EURATEX sees an ever increasing need to define sustainability in the EU T&C sector for a long-term vision in which economic growth, social cohesion and environmental protection are mutually supporting. We suggest the approach should focus on long term goals like:
• Rapid shift to a low-carbon and low input economy based on energy and resource-efficiency and sustainable transport.
• Environmental efforts for the protection of water and natural resources
• Promoting social inclusion
• Strengthening of the international dimension of sustainable development in an effort to achieve a level playing field.
• Promoting re-use, recycling, life cycle and eco-design thinking
• Encouraging sustainable production
How do you foresee the growth in European textile and apparel market?
Speaking about the EU household consumption, the forecast for 2014 is more optimistic than it was. In 2013, family spending for clothing and interior textiles had a feeble impact on EU-28 T&C retail sales (+0,1%). 2014 performance is closely linked to the 'household confidence’ that is still low across number of EU member states despite signals of a slight improvement driven by Eastern European countries performances. This confidence will hopefully translate into positive developments in 2014.
The growth of technical textile end markets is linked to the general economic growth in the more established end markets such as automotive, construction, protective equipment and other industrial applications. It is also connected to the innovation and technological breakthroughs that enable new applications of fibres and textiles in new markets. For example, light-weight composites are now used for aerospace and other transport systems, textile materials are applied for medical implants and devices or wearable electronics, textile-reinforced concrete is a promising new construction material.
What are the latest reforms undertaken by the European Union to facilitate the growth in textile and apparel industry?
In the EU T&C industry challenges are similar to those of other manufacturing industries. EURATEX managed to attract attention of the European Institutions to the importance of maintaining the competitive T&C value chains in Europe. Since 2012 the European Commission dedicated several political communications to creative industries and favoured the development of a "2020 Fashion and High-end industries action plan”. This initiative aims to encourage greater Innovation, R&D and maintenance of skills; as well it favours coherent and more pro-active approaches in world markets opening (products and raw materials). It will streamline the internal market addressing access to energy and finance, improving market controls and sustainability.
Please tell us something about EURATEX international textile and clothing conference held on 5 June 2014 in Brussels. What would be agenda of this conference?
The international T&C conference 'Free Trade and International Agreements’ hosted by Euratex was a success because it started an open debate on FTAs and international agreements’ influence on the world markets of the T&C sector. The conference brought together about 140 participants and 15 prominent speakers from different countries across the world to discuss the current challenges and opportunities for the national industries and international brands. The speakers from Turkish, Korean, African, Japanese, Indian, Brazilian and Taiwan textile and apparel industries contributed to an unprecedented discussion on the future of the T&C sector.
