The Vietnamese textile and garment industry is under pressure to go green as European green standards are being applied more widely and deeply.
These new regulations are unilateral from the EU, but are mandatory requirements for products imported into this market.
Tran Ngoc Quan, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Belgium and the EU, said that the EU has proposed a new strategy for the textile and garment industry by introducing new legal measures to increase circularity.
Accordingly, the EU is also considering introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) across the EU for garments.
“EPR holds businesses responsible for how their products are handled, recycled or repaired. In the EU, textiles are destined not for landfill but for recycling,” he noted.
“When EPR as well as other regulations are applied, the concern is that Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises will find it difficult to export products under their own brands,” Quan added.
“The reason is that the EU requires brands to build a chain of stores to purchase and repair products. Meanwhile, Vietnamese companies supply to EU garment brands, and so these brands are responsible for EPR-related activities,” he explained.
According to Than Duc Viet, General Director of Garment 10 Corporation, currently, many customers require Garment 10 to use materials of natural origin and recycled materials so as not to exploit many resources.
Pham Van Viet, General Director of Viet Thang Jean Company said that green standards are a very important and sustainable factor for the textile industry.
Because all of Vietnam’s main export markets, including the US, Japan, Korea, and Europe, all promote the sustainable development of green production.
Notably, the European market puts green factors first for textile and garment manufacturers and by 2025, this regional market will impose high carbon taxes on imported goods.
According to Viet, it must be green from input to output, from design, material selection, and technology to consumption to produce green.
For large enterprises, this can be proactively done, but for small enterprises that only do outsourcing, it is difficult, so specific support policies are needed.
This is a good time for textile and garment enterprises to invest in green production. Standardising from the beginning will greatly reduce costs and seize opportunities.
Vietnam’s textile & garment sector under pressure to go green
