RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – H&M, the second-largest fashion retailer in the world, announced on Thursday, September 5th, that it suspended the purchase of leather from Brazil due to environmental concerns related to fires in the Amazon.
“Due to the serious fires in the Brazilian part of the Amazon Forest and the connections with the cattle production, we decided to temporarily forbid the sale of Brazilian hide,” informed the company in a statement sent to Broadcast Agro, on the morning of Friday, September 6th.
The company also said that the ban will remain in force until there are “reliable guarantee systems to verify if the leather does not contribute to environmental damages in the Amazon”. According to H&M, most of the leather used by the company comes from Europe. “Only a very small part comes from Brazil”, observes the company.
Last week, VF Corporation, another Brazilian leather importing group, also informed having interrupted the supply of the product from Brazilian tanneries. At the time, the company said that the suspension would be in force “until there is a guarantee that the materials used in our products do not contribute to the environmental damage”. The company is responsible for 18 international brands such as Timberland, The North Face, Kipling, and Vans.