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WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WOOL

IWTO is the international body representing the interests of the world's wool-textile trade and industry. IWTO membership covers woolgrowers, traders, primary processors, spinners, weavers, garment makers and retailers of wool and allied fibres in its member-countries, as well as all kind of organizations related to wool products and the wool business in general.

IWTO offers you a perfect network and world wide platform for business contacts in the following sectors:

Apparel

Technical Textiles

Interior Textiles

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IWTO Annual Congress 2009

Wool Industry unites to face future challenges with renewed confidence
Following the annual Congress of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) held in Frankfurt from June 16th to 18th, IWTO President Guenther Beier issued a statement today praising growers and industrialists throughout the wool pipeline for commitments made at the congress to product marketing and ecological excellence.

"I applaud the stance taken by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) to commit further funding to the concept of Business to Business to Consumer Marketing with the Woolmark as the leading brand. I warmly welcome AWI's decision to include other grower nations in future strategic discussions, particularly at a time when the market is demanding a positive ecological message from spinners and weavers of wool worldwide"

The Congress was held concurrently with Techtextil, the biennial technical textile trade fair, organised by Messe Frankfurt, and the Natural Fibre Congress, which was part of the “International Year of Natural Fibres 2009” activities.

Beier added: "Promoting wool as the world's leading eco-friendly fibre  is a high priority for all, as retailers revisit Corporate Social Responsibility agendas. Wool used for interiors, apparel and lifestyle has unrivalled natural and sustainable characteristics and IWTO will continue to ensure the properties of wool are recognised for their environmental attributes amongst legislative bodies worldwide"

He further added that  IWTO's next major step was to engage the retail industry to a far greater degree than has been the case in the past and that plans were already at a preliminary stage to have this take place at the next Conference to be held from 4 - 6 May, 2010 in Rambouillet, France.
Get a full overview of the IWTO Congress in Frankfurt by clicking here

New Members of the IWTO Executive Committee

At the 78th IWTO Congress, held in Frankfurt, Germany, from 15. to 18. June 2009 the Assembly has elected new members onto the Executive Committee of IWTO.

Günther Beier (Germany) was re-elected as IWTO President for another term, as was Osman Kilic (Turkey) as IWTO Senior Vice President.

Piercarlo Zedda (Italy) was elected as new member to the IWTO Executive Committee.

Günther Beier has, in accordance to the IWTO Statutes, co-opted three persons as supplementary (non-voting) members to the IWTO Executive Committee.

The co-opted persons are:

     • Peter Ackroyd (UK)

      • Michael Jackson (Australia)

      • Klaus Steger (Germany)

New IWTO Committee Chairmen/Secretaries

At the Congress in Frankfurt the following changes in positions of “IWTO Speciality Committees” have taken place:

Contract & Specification Committee:

After the retirement of Mr. David Ward (Australia) as Committee Chairman, Mr. Michael Jackson (Australia) has taken over the chair of this Committee during the Congress in Frankfurt.

Environment & Animal Welfare Committee:

Resulting in the retirement of Mr. Brian Whitaker (UK), a new Chairperson was nominated for this Committee. The new chairman is Mr. Petrus de Wet (South Africa), he took over the position at the Congress in Frankfurt.

Commercial Supplier Committee:

Committee Secretary Michael Jackson has stepped back from his position in order to take over the Contracts & Specification Committee. As successor for the Committee Secretary, Mr. Tony Wen (China) has taken over the responsibility in Frankfurt.

New IWTO Associate Member

As new Associate Member of IWTO, the Dutch producer of natural dyestuffs and colouring ‘RUBIA – Pigmenta Naturalia B.V. (The Netherlands)’ was warmly welcomed as new member of IWTO.

2009 Venue for IWTO Wool Round Table

As venue for the IWTO Wool Round Table 2009, New Delhi, India was confirmed during the Assembly.

Please consult the Upcoming Events page for further details.

2011 Congress Venue

As venue for the IWTO Congress 2011, the city of Hang Zhou, in the Province of Zhejiang, China was voted during the Assembly.

Please consult the Upcoming Events page for further details.