 IWTO Congress
2008 in Beijing, China |
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"The environmentally
friendly attributes bring wool back onto the retail floor!"
 The
77th IWTO Congress, held in Beijing, China, from 13 to 16 April 2008 has
come to a close. More than 350 delegates from 27 countries discussed the
positive attributes of wools under the theme “Wool – The Environmentally
Friendly Fibre”.
At the Congress, IWTO President Günther Beier re-emphasised
the importance of capitalising on the ecological aspects of the Wool
fibre and its inherent properties as a textile fibre, which can bring
wool back onto the retail floor prominently. In this respect, President
Beier congratulated especially Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)/The
Woolmark Company for their very positive and innovative marketing
approach which went a long way towards getting wool back into its
rightful place as the world’s premium Apparel and Interior Textile
Fibre. Product innovations were shown to the delegates such as the
“Shower Suit” which merely requires washing under a shower at 40 degrees
C and then left to dry overnight to be fit for wear the following
morning.
 President
Beier stated it was pleasing to see that the Australian Wool
Growers
have confirmed their commitment to eliminating Mulesing by 2010, and
using pain relieving medication during the actual Mulesing operation in
interim.
A milestone for
IWTO at the Congress was the launch of two new projects related to
lobbying in the area of Interior Textiles (e.g. to insure that wool was
not disadvantaged by any legal regulations or building by-laws) and
Apparel (e.g. to implement the IWTO Super S Scheme into law in Japan and
the EU). The projects are initially financed through contributions from
Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Uruguay and the UK, with some more
countries likely to participate soon.
During the Congress, the new “4 Pillar Structure” of IWTO was launched.
The 4 Pillars model clearly shows the increasing relevance of IWTO to
the wool industry, expressing IWTO’s four main tasks, “Trading
Instruments”, “Facilitating Marketing”, “Lobbying” and “Networking”.
 A
major technical issue was approved at the Congress with the inclusion of
a new definition for “Organic Wool” which should support the industry to
work united in this field. An international ‘Code of Practice’ will be
developed over in the next few months in order to attempt to unify the
definition world
wide.
Please click
here
for
Congress follow-up.
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New Member of the IWTO Executive Committee, New IWTO Member Country &
2010 Congress Venue Voted
At the 77th IWTO Congress, held in
Beijing, China, from 13. to 16. April 2008 the Assembly has elected
new members onto the Executive Committee of IWTO.
Olivier Segard (France), Managing Director of Segard Masurel S.A. and
Pedro Otegui (Uruguay), Director of Lanas Trinidad S.A. (Chargeurs-
Group) have been elected at the Assembly of the IWTO Congress for the
vacant positions. They replace Richard Seizer (Uruguay) and Antonio
Leitão (Portugal) whose terms have come to an end during the Congress
in Beijing.
Furthermore, Piercarlo Zedda (Italy), Managing Director of Pantex spa
was coopted as supplementary member of the IWTO Executive Committee.
With the entry of the Republic of Mauritius, IWTO welcomes another
important wool manufacturing country as National Committee Member.
 As
venue for the IWTO Congress 2010, Buenos Aires, Argentina was voted
during the Assembly. It is the second time that Buenos Aires will host
an IWTO Congress.
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New Vice Chairman for T&S Committee, New Chairman for Raw Wool Group
Two new appointments for positions within the IWTO Speciality
Committees have been approved at the meeting of the Executive
Committee during the Congress in Beijing.
As new Vice Chairman of the IWTO
Technology & Standards Committee, Mr. Min CHEN from Jiangsu Sunshine
Group Co. Ltd., China, has been appointed. Within his company, Mr.
CHEN is director of the Fabric Development Centre and secretary of the ISO/TC38 Secretariat. He replaces Mr Jim Marler who
held this position for several years and who retired at the IWTO
Congress in Beijing.
Mr Wian Heath, General Manager of Wool Testing Bureau South Africa,
Port Elisabeth, has been approved as new Chairman of the Raw Wool
Group within the Technology & Standards Committee of IWTO. Mr Heath is
following Chris Botes in this position, who has retired from the post
last year.
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Trial
for Electronic Data Transmission launched
During the IWTO Congress in
Edinburgh the initiate was launched to create a standard method to
communicate data in wool chain electronically all over the world from
Wool Growers to Scourers & Carbonisers, Topmakers and Spinners to
avoid a lot of manual data re-entry, speeding up procedures and
reducing the back office costs and paper requirements.
All preparations are now ready to
start with a trial of the electronic data transmission.
Click
here for more details. |
2009
Declared International Year of Natural Fibres
 UN General
Assembly Resolution
 The
year 2009 was declared the International Year of Natural Fibres (IYNF)
by the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
To raise consumer awareness for natural fibres is the main goal
of the International Year of Natural
Fibres. It will strengthen the
demand for natural fibre products.
For full details click
here.
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The 4 Pillars of IWTO
Please click
here to see
the objectives of IWTO
ISEP
ISEP is a student exchange programme executed by IWTO.
Please click
here for more information.
Wool is Best
 IWTO
members are committed to the highest standards of care and
welfare for sheep and support scientific research in this area.
Please click
here
for more information
IWTO Publications
Future Consumption of Interior Textiles
an
IWTO/GfK Consumer Study
Order Form
Vision and Perspective of Consumer Behaviour and Trends in Clothing
an
IWTO/KSA Consumer Study
Order Form
IWTO Market
Information
To see the full table of contents
and for ordering the IWTO Market Information, please click
here
IWTO Blue Book
To purchase the IWTO
Blue Book, please click
here
IWTO Red Book
To purchase the IWTO Red
Book,
please click
here
IWTO Newsletter
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