The 1st International Congress of Flax and Linen Professionals was held in Brussels on 19 October. With over 250 participants [leaders in the industry] and the presence of three official delegations from China, Japan and India, this event – organized on the occasion of the 63rd Congress of the European Flax and Hemp Confederation (CELC) – brought together 80% of the world's flax industry, even attracting Egyptian and South African firms. This was a strategic tribune and key forum, coinciding with the launch of EUROPEAN FLAX, the new quality seal for all European flax markets, which has chosen geographic growth as a natural route for its development.
EUROPEAN FLAXrelies on the Charter signed at the Congress by all European flax producers. In a globalized market context, it promotes a 100% European ecological plant fibre, certified GM-, irrigation- and waste-free. EUROPEAN FLAX is a seal that certifies every stage of the production process, from seed to fibre, guaranteeing traceability that ensures transparency and security.
Marie-Emmanuelle BELZUNG, Director of CELC, believes that, on a global scale, EUROPEAN FLAX will enable final consumers to identify a product manufactured with European Flax, using the environmentally sound practices advocated by the "Cradle to Cradle" label. In and of itself this commitment reflects a spirit of partnership with European and extra-European economic players in the textile industry and technology, to meet the demands of informed consumers.
EUROPEAN FLAX is thus the first Flax MANIFESTO. It has laid down the conditions for the use of flax, protecting it in an increasingly competitive plant fibre market and ensuring the sustainability of an agricultural exception and related know-how.
EUROPEAN FLAX is a flexible signature that can be personalised in every country, designed to restore its letters of nobility to flax of European origin, enhance its image in Japan, support it in India, and promote it in China, a country which by 2017 will rank second in the global luxury market. It is a global seal that reflects the CBLFTA's formal demand to the CELC and supports Chinese economic players' local visibility.
As the IFM study on the flax market in China (July 2012 for the CELC) pointed out, the potential is real, and a global signature will position flax as an avant-garde fibre. As Alain Blosseville, Chairman of the promotion campaign pointed out: "EUROPEAN FLAX is set to become the global signature of the promotion of flax".
The CLUB MASTERS OF LINEN's Haute Coutureis the new textile seal that provides a European reference and traceability at each processing stage: an economic and creative showcase being exported throughout the world, from the most beautiful palaces to the most elegant wardrobes.
