Press Release: COTANCE Withdraws from A&F PEFCR Technical Secretariat, Warning: “Durability Metrics Penalise Natural Materials and send wrong signals in an ecodesign framework”
Brussels, 9 April 2025 - COTANCE officially announced its withdrawal from the Technical Secretariat (TS) of the Apparel and Footwear Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR).
Despite months of engagement with the TS —presenting fact-based arguments, proposing solutions, and forming a global coalition of natural material stakeholders—COTANCE regrets that no revision was permitted to the default durability values adopted in the Apparel & Footwear PEFCR. They disproportionately impact slow-fashion products made with natural materials—such as leather, wool, and cotton—ultimately encouraging brands to deselect them in favour of less sustainable alternatives.
The COTANCE Board has therefore decided to disengage the European leather industry from the A&F PEFCR.
Official Letter to the Chairman of the A&F PEFCR Technical Secretariat
While acknowledging the work made in other areas of the PEFCR, COTANCE considers the negative implications of the durability methodology to outweigh the benefits of the rulebook.
COTANCE also requests that any reference to the organisation or its representatives be removed from the updated PEFCR document, as continued mention could be misinterpreted as support for a methodology it no longer endorses.
Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano, Secretary-General of COTANCE: “We joined this process in good faith to build a fair and science-based environmental framework for fashion. Instead, we’ve witnessed a system that punishes durable, natural materials like leather—exactly the kind of products the circular economy should be encouraging. We cannot stand behind a methodology that promotes fast fashion over long-lasting quality. That said, we remain committed to dialogue and hope to convince the European Commission to review this aspect in the forthcoming revision of the PEFCR.”