Download article in original language : IT0403102NIT.DOC
In January 2004, trade unions and employers’ organisations in the Italian textiles and garments sector presented a joint platform of demands to the European Commission, proposing measures aimed at ensuring the future of the industry in the EU, in the face of increasing competition.
About 16% of Italian manufacturing companies are found in textiles, garments and related industries. The sector employs about 981,341 workers, 555,000 of who are women. The high presence of women is a feature that distinguishes the textiles and garments sector from all the other manufacturing industries, where less than 40% of the workforce are women. Women make up a particularly high share of the workforce in the clothes manufacturing subsectors (76%). During the last few years, the rapid increase in low-cost products from the Far East has damaged the sector, leading to a situation of crisis. There are diverging data about how far employment has fallen, but even the less pessimistic estimates point to 10,000 jobs lost every year.
Trade unions and employers’ associations in the sector have decided to cooperate in order to tackle the crisis. They have thus adopted a joint strategy aimed at developing the textiles and garments sector by improving the quality of products and making the origin of products more transparent to consumers. The social partners have produced a joint set of demands to the European Commission, setting out the actions that the EU authorities should take in order to sustain competitiveness and employment in the European textiles and garments sector. This document was presented at a public hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee on 23 January 2004
The main demands in the Italian social partners' joint platform include the following.
- Reciprocal access to third countries’ markets. The EU, which levies low import duties on far eastern products, should call on these countries (such as India) to reduce their own duties on EU exports. Custom duty reductions should be exclusively limited to less developed countries and to small-scale manufacturing countries.
- Introduction of a 'Made in' label. The current 'Made in the EU' label should be changed, with the introduction of the name of the specific country of origin, eg 'Made in Italy/EU'. This label would guarantee to consumers: transparency (regarding the country of origin of the product); equal information (this type of information is already available for the USA, Japan, China etc); price fairness (in relation to the intrinsic quality of the product); and health protection (it is said to be proven that the majority of skin problems are due to low-quality fabrics). The label should indicate the origin of the product and of the main semi-manufactured products it contains.
- Fake products. Controls on fake products should be strengthened in order to fight this growing problem and to impose more severe sanctions.
- Support for research and innovation. The social partners believe that technological development should be encouraged, as well as the development of the creativity which is a main feature of the European textiles sector. In order to achieve this objective, the current EU regulations concerning public aid for research and development should be amended, by equating stylistic qualitative innovation with technological innovation.
- Sustainable development. A 'social clause' should be included in international trade agreements negotiated at EU level. In particular, the EU should be committed to fighting 'social dumping', and promoting environmental best practices in developing countries. The respect of international environmental regulations and International Labour Organisation standards should be verified through certification procedures which could be included in the product label. Moreover, the EU's proposed new Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals Regulation (REACH) (EU0312202N) should be reviewed, as it is difficult to apply for Italian textiles companies, which are mainly small and medium-sized.
- Regional policy. The EU structural funds should include allocations not only for new Member States but also for the areas where there is a high concertation of textiles and garments companies.