Made in Europe - What does it actually mean?
In this episode of D Sustainability Issue Dessie is on a quest to find out what "Made in Europe" and "Made in EU" tags actually mean, especially since her home country Bulgaria is a large garment producer for some of the world's most luxurious brands.
The fast fashion industry relies on cheap labour countries to keep production costs for its 52 seasons of clothes a year low. This is why most of our clothes are nowadays being produced in Asia or Africa. Nevertheless, the growing number of conscious consumers are looking for more local alternatives, and this is where the "Made in Europe" label comes in. The problem with it is that it doesn't tell the whole story. According to law, the label states the country where the last "substantial transformation" of the piece has been made. It leaves out the processes before sewing a piece together, such as harvesting the cotton etc. completely out of the labelling, which is misleading. What is more, with the current fashion system and labelling laws, it is very easy to find legal loopholes through e.g. sub-contracting between factories.
What can we do about this? Listen to the whole episode to find out.
Pretty Progressive article: 20 best podcasts about ethical sustainability of 2021
Resources
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-balkans-clothing-idUSTRE55H0DT20090618
https://www.tekstilrevolutionen.dk/project/why-the-made-in-the-eu-label-can-be-misleading/
https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/made-europe_en
Music credit
Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
