Deborah Taylor, Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation, will introduce the new EU standard around leather traceability at the upcoming ‘Leather Supply Chain Conference 2026 – The Great Leather Reset’, which is taking place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) ahead of the APLF in Hong Kong on March 11.

Traceability as a key enabler of sustainability reporting is now an essential requirement for business. Recognising this, in 2023, Cotance convened industry certification bodies to agree on minimum essential requirements for traceability, which led to the development of a formal standard that provides a systematic approach for stakeholders to meet the requirements of certification and regulation around traceability. Deborah Taylor’s presentation will introduce prEN 18199:2026: Leather. Essential requirements for leather traceability and how this new standard can support traceability and alleviate duplication of effort for companies in the leather industry. Attendees will also learn about the results of an e-traceability system pilot in Bangladesh and receive an easy-to-digest review of all the latest simplification measures of the EUDR.

Deborah Taylor is the Founder and Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF), a not-for-profit Foundation, set up in July 2020, to support the leather industry to become more sustainable. The Foundation created the A.I.M. Approach for sustainable improvement – Accessible, Inclusive and Modular. It works through the innovative SLF Transparency Dashboard, the first of its kind in the leather industry.

Since April 2020, Taylor has also worked as the leather value chain expert for the UNECE. A practitioner member of the Chartered Quality Institute and a certified SA8000 lead auditor, Taylor is the President for the Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists (SLTC) and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers.

How to register to attend this key event?

International Leather Maker (ILM) and APLF Ltd will host the half-day conference on March 11, 2026 (the day before the start of the APLF). It will feature six oral presentations as well as a panel discussion, focussing on the future trends and direction of the global leather supply chain. The conference will once again take place at the HKCEC, which is the same venue as the show. The APLF show takes place March 12-14, 2026. More information about the provisional conference programme and timings can be found here.

Click here to register.

The ‘Leather Supply Chain 2026 – The Great Leather Reset’ conference is co-organised by ILM and APLF Ltd. The lead sponsors are Mindhive Global and Bureau Veritas. The coffee break is sponsored by National Beef Packing Co. ILM and APLF will post more information about the final conference programme in the coming weeks as the final speakers and topics are confirmed.