The leather supply chain, similar to cotton, is truly globalized. Typically, the supply networks of leading brands and retailers comprise multiple tiers across numerous continents. The complexity of these supply chains contributes to difficulties in quality assurance, sourcing and logistics management, and is further exacerbated by the vast networks of independent suppliers, manufacturers and raw material sources across the leather sector.
 

The leather-making process potentially encompasses a myriad of environmentally and socially sensitive aspects, including animal welfare, labor compliance and environmental pollution. It is also important to note the increasing scope of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) activity across the leather supply chain. The industry continues to experience increasing scrutiny in relation to deforestation, effluent discharge, use of hazardous chemicals and animal welfare. Inevitably, this critical examination of the industry will grow, as will the NGO’s influence on government policy and public opinion. A concerning development is the adversarial approach of certain NGOs in response to perceived failure or inertia on the part of the brands and retailers in enacting change.

 

The leather industry is also subject to a suite of national and international regulatory controls, specifically concerning upstream processes. Failure to comply with such controls can manifest in dangerous or defective products, presenting a considerable risk to every party in the supply chain, including the end-user. Moreover, the significant threat posed by environmental and social risks to brand value ensures that such challenges are increasing. Failure to adequately address supply chain challenges could leave companies exposed to undue risk and scrutiny, which may include trade issues and associated prosecution.

 

These factors serve to emphasize the strategic importance of a thorough supply chain management system. Consequently, traceability is absolutely fundamental in identifying and understanding networks of supply and, ultimately, will deliver robust oversight and management of supply chain challenges.

 

Traceability of split leather is a particular challenge to the leather industry. This is because split leather is traded as a commodity and as such, is mixed from multiple sources. Any upstream sustainability credits such as Leather Working Group (LWG) ratings or chemical management verification (via a ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) system or similar) is effectively lost during the split leather trading process. There is ongoing work within the LWG to develop better systems of traceability but these are still largely paper-based or require basic physical stamping systems, which may be open to fraud. The use of SigNature DNA for split leather traceability could provide a stepwise change for brands allowing them to fully demonstrate the provenance of their product, which is fundamental to managing risk in leather supply chains.

 

Products and materials are assigned a secure identity via molecular tagging and other visually identifiable or machine-readable features. Tagging can be implemented anywhere during the lifecycle or supply chain (source, manufacturing, branding). Raw materials, components, finished goods and packaging can be tagged using techniques that verify provenance, integrity and authenticity. Custom molecular tags are optimized for the use case it’s being applied to with minimum disruption to existing manufacturing processes. Signature DNA tags verify source, authentication and provenance.

 

The aims of the research project were to apply and recover SigNature DNA tags throughout the following key processing stages in the leather supply chain:

 

We used two different DNA tags as part of this process.  

 

We are pleased to announce the research project was successful in every aspect, achieving all the stated objectives. The project was completed on schedule and proved the technical feasibility of DNA marking throughout the leather supply chain using SigNature DNA.