Exporting Ethiopian leather is to be made easier by the second phase of accreditation the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) has received from the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) to conduct laboratory tests and issue quality grades for leather products.

The new certification, which was awarded in December 2010, was announced at a formal ceremony held by the LIDI and the United Nations Industry Development Organisation (UNIDO) at the Hilton Addis, on Monday, February 28, 2011.

This phase comprises single and double edged tear load tests, flex resistance with the flexometer method, grain distension and strength with the ball burst test, water resistance and vapour permeability tests, as well as colour with a colour fastness to perspiration test.

“The competency of the LIDI personnel to conduct laboratory tests on leather and related products, including their methods and the equipment they use, are now certified by us,” Mpho Phaloane, senior manager of SANAS, told Fortune. “It can facilitate their entry into a strictly regulated market like the EU where top quality standards are required.”

Most Ethiopian leather and leather products are exported to Europe, the Middle East, the US, and China; the total exported out of the country amounted to 65.4 million dollars in 2010, according to data from the Ethiopian revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA).

The first phase of the LIDI’s accreditation for laboratory testing with ISO/IEC 17025 certificate, the main international system standard used by testing and calibration laboratories, was completed in December 2008, by SANAS, a non-profit organisation funded by the South African government. It provides a relatively cheaper accreditation system than European organisations.

To date, SANAS has accredited around 1,300 organisations, including laboratories, as well as certification and inspection bodies, the majority of which are in South Africa, and include countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It is developing the SADC Accreditation System, a body that will include countries in other regions of the continent.

Becoming accredited typically takes between three and 18 months, according to Phaloane, who declined to disclose the time the process took the LIDI, which was established under the umbrella of the ministry of Industry (MoI), in 1994, to provide transparent, efficient, and sustainable services in investment, production and marketing to make the local leather industry internationally competitive.

“This new accreditation system will help Ethiopia achieve a competitive edge by avoiding costly and time-consuming trips abroad for quality accreditation,” Tadesse Haile, state minister for MoI, said at the event. “However, more has to be done to improve the quality of local leather and its competiveness to increase exports fivefold, as set out in the GTP.”

The third and future phase will comprise accreditation for the LIDI to conduct compliance tests to eco-standards and testing on shoes. The institute has been supported in the development of its managerial and operational capacities by Italy through the Italian Development Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since 2003, when it donated 11.8 million dollars to the institute, as well as UNIDO, which provides the industry with technical assistance.

“Italy supports the local leather industry through a technical assistance project for the upgrading of the Ethiopian leather and leather products industry,” H.E. Renzo Rosso, Italy’s ambassador to Ethiopia, said during the ceremony.

Italy intends to propose that the Ethiopian government include private sector development as a focal sector in the GTP, according to the ambassador.
 

By ELIAS GEBRESELASSIE
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER