The big picture: The European Commission announced today, May 4, 2026, that it will exempt leather, hides, and skins from its anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR). This marks a massive geopolitical victory for our industry following sustained, aggressive lobbying by the LHCA, COTANCE, and international government partners—including heavy diplomatic pressure from the current US administration.
Why it matters: The EUDR, taking effect in late 2026 for large enterprises, requires companies selling commodities like beef, soy, and palm oil into the EU to prove their products did not contribute to forest destruction. Transgressors face steep fines and potential market bans. By removing leather, the Commission's new April 2026 Simplification Package shields our supply chain from a regulatory bottleneck that would have distorted the global market.
The hard facts: The LHCA and allied groups presented international market data and extensive academic research to establish a biological and economic reality: the hide is a low-value byproduct of the meat industry. Therefore, it cannot physically be the driver of deforestation. As European Commission officials and the Italian trade press at LaConceria noted today, tanneries lack the economic leverage to influence the red meat industry. While beef imports remain strictly covered by the law, our raw material does not.
How we did it: Industry groups engaged directly with EU lawmakers and Commission officials over recent years. This included making our definitive, data-backed case at a critical European Parliament event in early April, alongside the US government and non-EU allies. The Financial Times correctly highlighted today that this was a heavily campaigned, coordinated effort by the leather and tanning industry to demonstrate the physical impossibility of tracing every hide back to the plot of land.
What we are up against: We are fighting a heavily entrenched narrative. Environmental groups objected fiercely to our exemption. NGOs like WWF and Earthsight are already publicly attacking the decision, claiming the exclusion "undermines the regulation's credibility" and was driven by politics rather than evidence.
The bottom line: Europe's tanning industry is a critical leather supplier, and raw hide user and an export destination for 10% of US exports. This exemption protects our supply chain from crippling compliance costs that wouldn't address real deforestation problems.