A Policy Workshop was held on the evening of 31st July, 2025, at The Westin Dhaka, Gulsha-2 with a view to begin the process of developing a robust policy blueprint that can accelerates the adoption of traceability systems in the leather sector of Bangladesh. The main goal of the workshop was to help secure a positive reputation for the tannery sector in Bangladesh as sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible business with stronger access to global markets.
iDEA TREE has been implementing a project titled “Leathertrace Bangladesh: Traceable and Circular Leather Production (TCLP),” funded by SMEP (FCDO and UNCTAD project), in partnership with the University of Northampton, Aston University, University of Hertfordshire, Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF), and SERA Bangladesh. This project has interventions aiming at advancing Bangladesh’s leather industry through improved traceability, sustainability, and international compliance.
Drawing on a participatory, co-creation methodology, the workshop could convene government agencies, industry associations, financial institutions, technology providers, buyer representatives, research bodies, and civil-society organizations in identifying the key policy gaps in the current policy environment as relates to the wide-scale adoption of traceability technologies. There was a high-level panel discussion followed by a roundtable discussion. At the end, the outcome was a set of policy recommendations, drawing on international best practices, that are important for accelerating the adoption of traceability technologies within the tannery sector in Bangladesh.
The workshop was moderated by Dr. Ebenezer Laryea, Professor from the Aston University, alongside Deborah Taylor, Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation. Mr. Gustav Gonzalez-Quijano, Secretary General, CONTANCE gave a video message at the workshop. Md. Saiful Islam, Chairman of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), Md. Abdur Rahim khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Dr. Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Director, ILET, Kazi Aminul Hasan, Vice Chairman, Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), and S.A.M.M Mahboobuddin, EC member of BFLLFEA graced the workshop as the Special Guests. Other participants included representatives from different leather industry associations, policy makers, academicians, supply chain stakeholders, brand representatives, INGOs, UN agencies, our UK project partners from different universities and SMEP.
At the plenary session, a summary of recommendations was prepared and shared with the participants by Dr Ebenezer Laryea. These finding will form the basis for a blue print for a policy to promote adoption of traceability system for the overall development of the leather sector of Bangladesh.
The event concluded with closing remarks and a vote of thanks from Mr. Kauser Ali, Head of Operations at iDEA TREE, expressing gratitude to all participants for their insights. He hoped that this policy workshop will begin the process of developing a robust policy blueprint which will promote the adoption of traceability systems. In doing so, the project will help secure a positive reputation for the tannery sector in Bangladesh as more environmentally and socially responsible – thus meet the high potential of growth in the export market.
