FILK MEMBER OF THE OEKO-TEX® COMMUNITY AS OF 2017

From January 2017, producers and suppliers of leather goods will be able to have their products tested for harmful substances by the International OEKO-TEX® Association and certified accordingly. The basis is the new LEATHER STANDARD by OEKO-TEX®, which was adopted at the annual meeting of OEKO-TEX® institute directors at the beginning of November 2016. In its 25th anniversary year in 2017, the OEKO-TEX® Association, which has been in existence since 1992, is thus once again expanding its comprehensive testing and certification system, which previously existed for textile products and accessory materials, to include the leather segment and is responding to current developments in the textile, leather goods and footwear markets.

With the introduction of the new certification for leather and leather products, the Research Institute for Leather and Synthetic Materials (FILK), as an established materials research and testing institute for the tanning and leather industry, will become a member of the OEKO-TEX® community and will offer testing and certification according to the LEATHER STANDARD by OEKO-TEX® with immediate effect.

With the new LEATHER STANDARD product label, the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology (OEKO-TEX®) will in future award leather articles that meet the strict requirements of the LEATHER STANDARD criteria catalog. In many cases, the test criteria and limit values go far beyond nationally and internationally applicable specifications. From the consumer's point of view, the LEATHER STANDARD by OEKO-TEX® thus contributes to a high and effective level of product safety, and manufacturers of leather goods at all stages of production are able to label their articles that have been tested for harmful substances in order to offer consumers in the trade a reliable decision-making aid when purchasing leather products.