Over 2,000 stores, 22 shopping centers and 11 car dealerships were
visited. A major operation was carried out in Minas Gerais to extend knowledge
about Law 4.888 / 65, which determines that only articles made of animal skin
can be called "leather". Called the Leather Law Blitz, this action
was led by the Centre for the Brazilian Tanning Industry (CICB), with a team of
agents to clarify details about legislation, correct errors and refer offenders
to consumer protection agencies.
Fashion
and automotive retail segments of capital city Belo Horizonte (and the
metropolitan region) were the main targets of this edition of Blitz. Erroneous
terms such as "organic leather", "synthetic leather" and
"technological leather" were some of the most seem – about 60% of
places that market synthetic articles committed these infractions when
identifying their merchandise. Some of these errors were immediately corrected:
salespeople were instructed to cross out the word “leather” on the tags.
According
to Ricardo Michaelsen, project coordinator, shopping center stores registered
fewer occurrences than those located in street commerce, and the reason is
related to the work the CICB has been developing with the larger retail
networks. "Branches visited in other states or alerted by our Internet
monitoring team do a capillary correction, communicating to all their units at
once," explains Michaelsen, who traveled some 4.7 thousand kilometers in
this edition of Blitz in a fully marked car, calling the attention of the
national media in privileged places. The coordinator also had an official visit
to Procon (Brazilian Consumer Protection Agency) scheduled on his agenda
to forward them the cases that were resistant to the law.
The
Blitzes will continue this semester, following on in June to Rio de Janeiro. To
know more about the project, denounce, or to follow along, visit
www.cicb.org.br/leidodo-couro
Summary
of the Leather Law Blitz in Minas Gerais:
2.294
stores visited
22
shopping centers
6
fairs
11
car dealerships
4.703
km traveled