Chairman Column

In my previous column, I had updated you about the proposed move of the European Union to remove cattle hides from the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

You may recall that under EUDR, cattle hides/ leathers under HSN 4101, 4104 and 4107 were included. This means that Indian suppliers were required to provide geo location of plots where cattle was born, reared, slaughtered etc., once the EUDR comes into force.

CLE had taken-up the request with the Government of India that the proposed EU deforestation regulation should be dropped for leathers under HSN 4101, 4104 and 4107 for India, considering that such leathers are not derived from deforestation and that India is also placed under “Low Risk” category.

We have now received an email dated 20.7.26 from the Indian Embassy in Brussels informing about adoption of the delegated act by EU, thereby removing certain products including cattle hides/ skins/leathers from EUDR. The delegated act states the following.

Hides, skins and leather are derived products from cattle. Considering the differentiation of the leather downstream value chain from the meat value chain, asymmetries in trade flows between meat and hides, and the relatively low economic value of cattle skins and hides compared to meat within the overall cattle production, economic operators in the Union have limited leverage to demand the information necessary to comply with Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 from their suppliers. In addition, the exclusion of downstream leather products from the scope of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 creates a fragmented and incoherent approach for the leather sector and for operators placing the relevant goods on the Union market and may result in the relocation rather than the elimination of the deforestation risk. For those reasons, HS Codes ‘ex 4101 Raw hides and skins of cattle (fresh, or salted, dried, limed, pickled or otherwise preserved, but not tanned, parchment-dressed or further prepared) whether or not dehaired or split’, ‘ex 4104 Tanned or crust hides and skins of cattle, without hair on, whether or not split, but not further prepared’, and ‘ex 4107 Leather of cattle, further prepared after tanning or crusting, including parchment-dressed leather, without hair on, whether or not split, other than leather of heading 4114’, should be deleted from Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2023/1115

Members may kindly note the above.

With best wishes

Ramesh Juneja
Chairman
COUNCIL FOR LEATHER EXPORTS