Fast fashion has swept across the globe at an incredible pace, constantly innovating and stimulating consumer purchasing desires. However, behind this trend lies a worrying reality: mountains of discarded clothing and significant environmental pressure from the textile industry. From raw material acquisition to production, transportation, sales, and ultimately disposal, the entire lifecycle of textiles is closely intertwined with environmental issues.
Facing this serious challenge, we must ask: how can we leverage the customs coding system to effectively identify and promote trade in environmentally friendly textiles at borders? This concerns not only the future of the textile industry but also the health of our planet.
WCO's Green Initiative: Visualizing a Greener HS
To address this challenge, the World Customs Organization (WCO), with support from the European Union, held the third session of its "Visualizing a Greener HS to Support Environmentally Sustainable Trade" workshop series on November 8, 2022. Focusing on "The Textile Industry: Textiles and Their Interaction with the Environment," the workshop brought together representatives from international and regional organizations, private sector entities, civil society groups, and customs administrations to discuss the Harmonized System's (HS) role in identifying textiles with significant environmental policy implications.
Opening Remarks: Highlighting HS's Green Potential
Konstantinos Kaiopoulos, Director of WCO's Tariff and Trade Affairs (TTA), emphasized in his opening remarks that the textile workshop aimed to provide a platform for constructive debate. The primary goal was to share insights and experiences on making the HS greener and strengthening its support for environmental sustainability and protection. He noted that certain textiles adversely affect the environment through water consumption and pollution, pesticide use, CO2 emissions, and textile waste volume. However, identifying environmentally friendly versus unfriendly textiles presents a complex challenge requiring careful consideration of the HS's potential role.
The HS: A Key Tool for Implementing Green Policies at Borders
Gael Grooby, WCO's Deputy Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs, moderated the panel discussion and introduced the workshop's broader context. She outlined the HS's critical role in implementing various green policies at borders, including those managed by the UN Environment Programme. Grooby noted that participation from customs administrations, stakeholders, and HS users provided the HS Committee and WCO Secretariat with valuable opportunities to develop necessary dialogues for evolving the HS into an instrument that promotes trade in environmental goods and contributes to sustainable development.
Expert Insights: Multidimensional Perspectives on Textile Sustainability
The workshop featured experts from diverse fields sharing perspectives on textile sustainability across multiple dimensions including value chain traceability, industry strategy, environmental impact, international standards, and circular economy principles.
UNECE: Value Chain Traceability and Transparency
Maria Teresa Pisani, Chief of UNECE's Trade Facilitation Section, discussed the organization's commitment to enhancing transparency and traceability in sustainable value chains for apparel and footwear. She emphasized that access to reliable, verifiable information enables stakeholders to promote more circular and resource-efficient economies. Pisani highlighted blockchain applications and advocated for creating HS subheadings for recycled materials and garments.
EURATEX: Building Sustainable and Competitive Textile Industries
Dirk Vantyghem, Director General of EURATEX, presented on building sustainable and competitive textile industries, focusing on efforts to manage natural resources effectively and EU strategies in this domain. He urged participants to consider how the HS could better reflect industry trends and stimulate trade in environmentally friendly products.
EEA: Environmental Impact of European Textile Consumption
Lars Fogh Mortensen, EEA's Circular Economy Expert, analyzed textiles' disproportionate environmental footprint and presented EU strategies for sustainable textiles. He highlighted the need for more detailed HS codes to track used textile exports.
ISO: Standardization for Circular Economy
Catherine Chevauché, Chair of ISO Technical Committee 323, discussed standardization activities supporting circular economy implementation, including terminology, principles, and guidance frameworks within ISO standards.
ITMF: HS Relevance for Transparent Green Supply Chains
Dr. Christian P. Schindler, ITMF Director General, examined how the HS could support transparent green supply chains by incorporating technological innovations like recycling equipment and low-carbon footprint materials.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Designing for Circular Textile Economies
Valérie Boiten, Senior Policy Officer, concluded with a case study demonstrating circular economy applications in jeans manufacturing, illustrating sustainable approaches to inputs, processes, and end-use.
Discussion and Reflection: The Path Forward for the HS
Following expert presentations, participants engaged in robust discussions about practical HS review cycle considerations, including challenges in classifying textile waste and used clothing, current certification methods for eco-friendly textiles, and potential sustainability criteria for textile identification.
Closing Remarks: Toward a Greener HS
In her concluding remarks, Gael Grooby noted that shared perspectives reinforced the need to adapt HS textile provisions to account for environmental factors and policy requirements. She highlighted industry progress as a foundation for developing proposals to identify textile products through a circular economy lens and invited participants to explore approaches for creating a greener HS. The WCO Secretariat committed to reporting workshop outcomes to the HS Committee for consideration in current and future review cycles.
How Customs Codes Can Drive Green Transformation: Key Mechanisms
The workshop clarified several ways customs codes can advance textile sustainability:
- Identifying eco-friendly textiles: Detailed coding for organic cotton, recycled fibers, or sustainable dyes facilitates trade in environmentally preferable products.
- Restricting unsustainable textiles: Strict coding and monitoring of textiles using hazardous chemicals or water-intensive processes can reduce environmental harm.
- Promoting textile waste recycling: Specialized codes for different waste streams enable better tracking and management of recycling processes.
- Supporting circular models: Coding recyclable, reusable, or biodegradable textiles helps identify and incentivize circular economy applications.
- Enhancing value chain transparency: Coding production stages from raw materials to manufacturing improves traceability and compliance monitoring.
Challenges and Future Prospects
While customs coding holds significant potential for driving textile sustainability, several challenges remain:
- Coding complexity: The textile sector's product diversity and complex manufacturing processes complicate classification efforts.
- Standardization needs: Divergent national standards for eco-textiles require international harmonization for effective implementation.
- Enforcement difficulties: Preventing misclassification of unsustainable textiles demands robust compliance mechanisms.
- Stakeholder coordination: Balancing interests across producers, traders, and consumers necessitates careful policy design.
Despite these challenges, technological advancements and growing environmental awareness suggest customs coding will play an increasingly important role in textile sustainability.
Conclusion: Collaborating for a Sustainable Textile Future
The textile industry's green transformation requires sustained, collaborative efforts from governments, businesses, consumers, and international organizations. Strengthening customs coding systems can significantly contribute by:
- Establishing unified international standards for eco-textiles
- Developing more granular product classifications
- Enhancing coding transparency and accessibility
- Strengthening enforcement against non-compliant products
- Supporting consumer education and sustainable purchasing
- Fostering technological innovation and international cooperation
Through these collective efforts, the customs coding system can become a powerful instrument for building a more sustainable global textile industry that safeguards our planet's future.