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An American carpet maker, which premiered a new “wool range” made
from 100 percent synthetic fibres, was this week forced into an
embarrassing name change.
The International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) stepped in after Shaw
Contract Group premiered its “wool range” at a major US flooring show.
It is still using wool as a benchmark with the range renamed “couture
inspired by wool”. Shaw’s press release said the name change “was to
avoid confusion in the marketplace”.
The chairman of the National Council of Wool Interests in New Zealand,
Stephen Fookes, said the highly active synthetic carpet sector was
effectively destroying the New Zealand woolgrowers’ years of investment
with this sort of market place subterfuge.
Synthetics had developed a highly effective lobby group in the US and
Europe and had written synthetic carpets into contract specifications
that excluded or disadvantaged New Zealand woolgrowers, with a direct
result on price stability and demand.
“Over fifty percent of interior textile purchasing decisions in the
western world are made as a result of contract specifications,
standards, by-laws, consumer and regulatory organisations
recommendations and political influences.
“Since the decision by woolgrowers to no longer support the marketing of
New Zealand wool almost 10 years ago, synthetic carpet makers have
pretty much had it all their own way,” Mr Fookes said. “But the wool
growing countries including New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay, South
Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom were joining forces through the
IWTO to fight back and reposition wool to its rightful position,” he
said.
New Zealand, through the National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests
and Meat and Wool NZ, has jointly contributed to a small, but exciting
lobby project to change the status of wool in the interior textiles
market. Since the National Council comprises membership of each industry
sector, from woolgrower to early processors, there is a strong force to
support the lobby group.
IWTO Interior Textiles Committee chairman, Mr Olivier Segard, will be in
New Zealand next month to update the New Zealand wool industry on the
ways that wool was fighting back with an intensive lobbying programme in
health, welfare, environmental and sustainability organisations,
accessing members of parliament, creating a “one sector voice”, working
on building and mobility flammability codes, sharing life cycle analysis
methodology and ensuring standards reflect wools advantageous position.
“In the six months since the project started there’s been significant
progress in repositioning wool in the European and USA interior textile
markets” he says.
“It highlights the positive results that can be achieved by a unified
wool industry creating demand for minimal cost” Fookes said.
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