Explore Nordic Apparel Market with Nordic Swan Ecolabel

What is Nordic Swan Eco Label?

Swan 3The Nordic Ecolabel is the official Ecolabel of the Nordic countries and was established in 1989 by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the purpose of providing an environmental labelling scheme that would contribute to a sustainable consumption. The Nordic Ecolabel is a practical tool for consumers to help them actively choose environmentally-sound products. A recent Nordic market survey showed that in the Nordic countries 94 percent recognized our trademark as an Ecolabel.Swan 1

Benefits of Nordic Ecolabel

The Nordic Ecolabel trademark is an effective and simple marketing tool that is a guarantee that products have fulfilled stringent environmental and climate criteria. A growing number of procurements (tenders) are using the Nordic Ecolabelling criteria as environmental requirements, and the Nordic Ecolabel licence as documentation that the requirements  meet 63 product groups.

Swan 4In Denmark Nordic Ecolabel is administered by Ecolabelling Denmark at Danish Standards Foundation, in Sweden by Ecolabelling Sweden AB, in Finland bySwan 2 Finnish Standards, in Norway by The Foundation for Ecolabelling, and in Iceland by The Environment Agency that operates under the direction of the Ministry for the Environment.

Who can Apply?

  • Manufacturers and Exporters who wish to adopt “Green & Sustainability” Practices in to their Manufacturing process.
  • Exporters who are working with Nordic Buyers and Exploring market access to Nordic Countries.
  • Buyers who wish to Transform their supply chain into Sustainable sourcing
  • Branding your Product as “Green & Sustainable” to the end users.

It is a voluntary, Positive Ecolabelling of products and services.

The Swan certification process is one of the “Stringent Compliance” Yet easy one to adopt and practice. The documentation examines 31 Appendix and Declarations from Supplier Network. As the majority of the existing Dyes and Chemicals in market comply with “Organic Testing Standards”, getting declaration and meeting Nordic Swan / EU Flower criteria becomes easy.

If you are a Buyer or Manufacturer all you need to consider at first are listed below;

  1. At least 10% of the weight of the cotton that is used in the production of ecolabelled textile products (Swan) shall be organically farmed or farmed during a transition to organic farming. (Organic Cotton at least 10%)
  2. The buyer needs to pay more attention towards the composition of the product and where it’s getting sourced, processed & Stitched.Swan 5
  3. If you have Significant Investments on Green Sustainability Initiatives.

Each License has a unique license number which must be used with the label. More information on the design of the label can be found in “Regulations for the Nordic Ecolabelling of Products” 22 December 2011 version or Later Versions. The Label with the License detail is the key for marketing and Product traceability.

Market Scope:

Nordic Swan label is applicable for 63 different product groups, includes Apparel products, Consumer goods, Hotels, Restaurants. The Nordic Swan label has a good reach in Scandinavian countries, which includes Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. The EU Flower label is the equivalent standard that applies to other EU countries. The Certification can be obtained by the Buyer or the Manufacturer for the Specific List of  Products. The apparel exporters are having a good scope to explore new markets by adopting “Nordic Swan Label”.

Few years back, a total of 207 standards and product lists were evaluated and four labels were selected as world leaders: the Nordic Council of Ministers’ “Swan”, Germany’s “Blue Angel”, New Zealand’s “Environmental Choice” and the EU’s “Flower”. According to a Survey, ‘the Swan’ is “perhaps the best-known environmental label in Europe: 67 % of people in the Nordic countries recognise and understand the purpose of the label and it has become increasingly used outside of northern Europe[*].Swan 8

Last Year, i have offered my Consultancy to a Tirupur based Apparel factory to adopt “Nordic Swan Label” for a Norway apparel brand “Vivikes, one of the Varner brands for women”.

Swan 6The certification initiative was very first attempt in Tirupur India to promote sustainable Apparel Production. We were able to get Certified for a list of 10 Product Mixes. And this year we are expanding to another new products of 10 different mixes. The Market reach for the Swan label found positive and there is a plenty of opportunities for Small and Mid Sized manufacturers to explore with Swan Label.

If you would like to apply for the “Nordic Swan Eco label” drop your query Here!!

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Raman Azhahia Manavalan

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