INDIAN SCENARIO

PRODUCT COVERAGE

FINAL CRITERIA FOR PRODUCTS AS ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY

ECOMARK CRITERIA FOR FINISHED LEATHER

(The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II-Section 3(i), No.58, Jan 27,2000)

1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

1.1 The manufacturers shall produce consent clearance as per the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, along with the authorisation for Hazardous Waste Management, if required under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, for seeking Ecomark certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards.

1.2 The product packaging shall display in brief the criteria based on which the product has been labelled environment friendly.

1.3 The material used for product packaging shall be recyclable or reusable or biodegradable. 

2. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS :

S.No.	Parameters*	Limits	Test method, As per
1.	PH of aqueous extract of leather	Not less than 3.5 & if less than 3.5, the pH difference on dilution by a factor of 10 differential number, should not be more than 0.6	LC:18 of IS 582: 1970
2.	Formalehyde,mg/kg, Max	200	**
3.	Pentachlorophenol (PCP), mg/kg, Max	5#	IS 14575:1998
4.	Aryl amines released from Azo-dyes (Sum parameters)***, mg/kg, Max	30#	**
5.	Hexavalent Chromium, mg/kg, Max	3	**

* The Eco-mark for leather certifies that only Eco-related parameters are assured and the quality related parameters are through self-declaration complying buyer’s requirements. In such cases, the finished leather shall carry only Eco-logo (without ISI mark). In case the buyer’s requirement calls for conformity to Indian Standards, the manufacturer shall have to apply for BIS Standard mark also.

** Indian standards on the methods of test are being developed by BIS in line with acceptable international norms.

*** The list of Aryl Amines is appended in Appendix-A.

# Prevailing detectable limits.

APPENDIX -A

List of Aryl Amines

1.	4-Aminodiphenyl
2.	Benzidine
3.	4-Chloro-o-toluidine
4.	2-Naphthylamine
5.	p-Chloraniline
6.	2,4-Diaminoanisole
7.	4,4-Diaminodiphenylmethane
8.	3,3-Dichlorobenzidine
9.	3,3-Dimethoxy-benzidine
10.	3,3-Dimethylbenzidine
11.	3,3-Dimethyl-4,4-diaminodiphenylmethane
12.	p-Cresidin (2-Methoxy 5-methylaniline)
13.	4,4-Methylene-bis (2-chloraniline)
14.	4,4-Oxydianiline
15.	4,4-Thiodianiline
16.	o-Toluidine
17.	2,4-Toluendiamine
18.	2,4,5-Trimethylaniline

The incorporation of the Ecomark requirements in a separate BIS standard, is under process.