More trouble in store for Indian jute sector

EU directive seeks to blacklist suppliers failing to comply with eco-labelling norms.

A European Commission (EC) directive on packaging and packaging waste has sought to blacklist jute bag supplying countries such as India if they fail to eco-label their products and conform to supply-disposal norms laid down in EU countries.

This may land the already beleaguered Indian jute industry into further troubles as its materials are yet to be globally 'eco-labelled' in tune with the EC formulated Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Amendment ) of 2008.

The EC directive has asked the Indian jute goods producers, who are obligated for supplies of over 500 tonnes under the Producer Responsibility Obligation Regulations to submit an operational plan which would detail the scheme and intention of future discharge of their responsibility.

If a producer fails to submit the operational plan and keep up to responsibility obligations, it will be immediately blacklisted and the consignment banned from European Union (EU) nations.

The deadline for providing the plan will be January 31 of each year. Any small producer choosing the allocation route, however, will not be required to produce an operational plan, regardless of the size of its obligation.

"We are in a fix over the EC's latest directive pertaining to 'eco-labelling' of jute products and adhering to the supply disposal norms. We have been urging the government for long on the eco-labelling of jute products for smooth entry into EU countries," said Sanjay Kajaria, chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association ( IJMA), the organised platform of the India jute industry.

Meanwhile, the UK-based companies have already started sending feelers to its world-wide suppliers, especially Indian firms, for an immediate furnishing of total packaging figures for delivered materials broken down into six key elements other than jute and hessian including paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium, steel, plastic and timber pallets.

According to instructions issued by the health and safety advisory divisions of these UK companies, every packaging material re-used and recycled will have to be notified about the quantity and percentage sent. The department of food and rural affairs (DeFra) of the UK government has also listed the notification in its website.