Washington D.C. [USA], Sept 6 : Following the devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest, H&M, the second-biggest fashion retailer has stopped importing leather from the African country, Brazil.
The fashion label announced the news on Thursday citing concerns that the country's cattle industry has contributed to the deforestation, reported the New York Times.
H&M's temporary move comes after VF Corporation announced a temporary suspension of purchases of the Brazilian leather, last week.
The worldwide apparel company, VF Corporation, includes international brands like Timberland and The North Face. It had also announced a temporary ban on the import of leather, till the time its suppliers prove that they had no connection with any environmental harm.
The decision pertaining to ban on the import of leather caught attention after the Brazilian Amazon forest fire which recorded over 50,000 fires-- the highest number in a decade.
However, there is no clarity as to how the leather coming from Brazil was associated with Amazon deforestation. But researchers connect much of it to the forest being cut down for pasture.
A 2016 report from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization linked 80 per cent of deforestation in the country to cattle grazing.
H&M's ban on all leather from Brazil will remain "until there are credible assurance systems in place to verify that the leather does not contribute to environmental harm in the Amazon," the company said via an email on Thursday.
The spokeswoman added that a "very small" amount of the retailer's leather comes from Brazil and that the majority comes from Europe. The ban will extend to all of H&M's brands, which include & Other Stories and Cos.