False UNITED KINGDOM Land of Leather secures funding U K furniture retailer Land of Leather has agreed a rescue package that should allow it raise £ 15 million pounds by selling new shares, but said trading was still difficult, with like- for- like sales falling by 35% in the six weeks to June 6. Observers have said the furniture market is suffering particularly badly in the current economic slow- down because families are paying so much for food and energy bills that they are putting off larger purchases such as sofas. Some commentators in the City of London have advised investors against taking up Land of Leather's offer of almost 30 million new shares, priced at only £ 0.05 each. Mould treatment caused leather sofa complaints M edia across the United Kingdom have again reported high levels of consumer complaints over leather sofas imported from China by major retailers including Argos and Land of Leather. The situation first came to light last autumn and was reported in leatherbiz. com at the time, but media interest became intense again when a news agency reported the case of a baby who suffered serious skin complaints after coming into contact with one of the sofas. One of the retailers involved, Argos, has told World Leatherthat it has apologised to affected customers and ceased dealing with the supplier the furniture came from, Chinese manufacturer Linkwise. When it became aware that some customers were experiencing a skin reaction after coming into direct contact with the upholstery, Argos withdrew potentially affected items from sale voluntarily. It offered customers a refund or an appropriate alternative product. “ We have been conducting a detailed investigation into this issue since we were first made aware of it,” the company added. “ We have now been informed by the expert consultant dermatologist, whom we appointed to advise us, that the likely cause was sachets found within the sofas containing an anti- mould agent called Dimethyl Fumarate. This is a chemical with preservative qualities that diminishes over time. Chances of re- exposure should be minimal and therefore people should not experience any further problems.” FRANCE eBay loses leather court case: more to follow O nline auction site eBay was convicted by a French court on June 4 of selling counterfeit Hermès leather bags and was ordered to pay the luxury goods brand € 20,000 in compensation. The court ruling, which marks a first in France, found eBay directly responsible for the sale on its website of three Hermès bags ( for € 3,000) including two fakes. The US auction site was ordered to pay damages jointly with the woman who put the bags up for sale. “ By selling Hermès bags and branded accessories on the eBay. fr site, and by failing to act within their powers to prevent reprehensible use of the site, [ the user and eBay] committed acts of counterfeiting and imitation of French brand names ... to the detriment of Hermès international,” said the ruling. The court also ordered eBay to publish the ruling on its French homepage for three months. “ We are satisfied that they should be considered counterfeiters,” said Hermès' lawyer, Emmanuel Colomes, who had been seeking € 30,000 in damages for complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods. The French union of manufacturers UNIFAB welcomed the ruling as an important step in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. Luxury fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Dior Couture have also taken legal action against eBay before the Paris commercial court, respectively seeking € 20 million and € 17 million in damages. Both brands accuse eBay of complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods by allowing buyers and sellers to transact without imposing any controls. Also in France, the auction industry took legal action against the online giant last December, accusing it of encouraging trade in pirated and stolen goods. The argument eBay has always used to counter this is that it is merely providing a marketplace online and cannot control what users decide to buy or sell there. At the Hermès trial in the city of Troyes in April, Mr Colomes had argued that eBay was more than a mere host for the counterfeit items. He said: “ It is an active player in the transaction because not only The World of News WORLD LEATHERJUNE/ JULY 20083

False does it offer a number of services to improve the sale, but when it does not work well enough or fast enough, it intervenes with the client. It is perfectly informed of the transactions since it takes a percentage cut.” SPAIN Island aid L eather, leathergoods, footwear and fur are all among the industry sectors to benefit from a special compensation plan that the Spanish government has in place to help manufacturing companies in the Balearic Islands. The largest island in the group, Mallorca, has a long tradition of working with leather, especially in footwear; famous brands from there include international names such as Camper and newer ones such as Alcover, which makes men's shoes under the Bay brand name. In total, the government has made available € 4.3 million to compensate Balearic companies for the high transportation costs they face when shipping their products. Companies are free to apply for a share of the fund. This year, a record number of firms, 658, has applied. ITALY Leather disappoints O fficial statistics from Italy show an increase in exports for the month of April but shipments of leather and leather goods were down. Most of the main sectors of the Italian economy contributed to a rise in exports of 2.7 % compared to the previous month with the leather industry as the most notible exception. Overall, exports for the month reached € 6.1 billion euro. Imports for April totalled € 6.97 billion. TURKEY Turkey could set up its own leather research centre T urkey could soon have its first fully accredited leather research and development centre if a plan proposed by the University of Usak can win government approval. The new facility would support the work of local tanneries and footwear and leathergoods manufacturers, and would also work in collaboration with leather research centres in other countries. Professor Deniz Çelik, who already teaches a leather course at the university, has said that one of the new centre's first objectives would be to encourage more women to enter the leather industry and set up their own companies. He said the facility would also play an important role in helping the industry in Turkey keep its quality standards high. ETHIOPIA Turkish talks to attract investment T urkish and African business figures have held bilateral talks at a summit entitled Turkey- Africa Foreign Trade Bridge. The event took place in Istanbul. Business leaders from 45 African countries attended the summit and the organisers estimated that as many as 40,000 meetings on boosting two- way trade between Turkey and Africa would take place. Reports suggest that Ethiopia in particular is keen to encourage Turkish investment in the country, with leather, along with textiles and construction materials, one of the main sectors providing hope. RWANDA East African boost R wanda played host to an investment conference to encourage business developments in the East African Council ( EAC), with leathergoods one of the sectors the organisers believe will prove attractive to investors. The EAC is a trading bloc, which has Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda as its members. The organisers said they were hoping to attract 700 potential investors around the world to the event, which took place in the capital, Kigali, on June 26. Export target in Pakistan's sights P akistan's leather industry is progressing well and will beat its export target of $ 1.1 billion for the year ending on June 2008. The chairman of the Pakistan Tanners Association ( PTA), Mr S. M. Naseem has expressed satisfaction over the trend of exports of leather and leather goods that has shown up in official figures from the Federal Bureau of Statistics ( FBS). The figures show that the country's leather sector had registered exports of approximately $ 1 billion by the end of April, compared to a figure of $ 795 million for the same period a year ago. This means that 24% more has been exported this year across all leather sectors. This led Mr Naseem to suggest that the industry in Pakistan was now in a position to hit an export target of $ 1.5 billion by 2010. He urged the government to offer the leather sector incentives to make sure it could meet this higher target. BANGLADESH Livestock population shows increase T he livestock population of Bangladesh reached 47.5 million head in 2006- 07 compared with 46.5 million in the previous financial year, showing growth of 2.24%. The breakdown showed that cattle numbers stood at 22.9 million head, goats at 20.75 million, sheep at 2.7 million and buffalo at 1.2 million. The totals in each case are slightly up on a year ago. INDIA India to push for closer ties with South America I ndia's Council for Leather Exports is to take its tour of the global leather industry to South America. Having visited a number of key European countries in the spring, a delegation will travel to Brazil and Argentina next month. The delegation's objective is to promote business collaboration between India and the two South American countries. The Indian organisation has a consultant working with it in Brazil, whom it will use– along with the country's embassy in Argentina– to arrange meetings with interested parties from the two nations. VIETNAM Export growth goes on I n spite of anti- dumping measures from the European Union and ongoing The World of News 4WORLD LEATHERJUNE/ JULY 2008