European Outdoor Group and FESI agreement

Zug, Switzerland – In a clear indication of partnership, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) has recently signed a letter of cooperation with FESI for the organisation to provide invaluable input to the EOG’s Sustainability Working Group (SWG) – Standards and Regulations Committee.

The agreement is recognition of FESI’s strong position within the European Union’s Brussels Headquarters and will ensure that the EOG’s Standards and Regulation’s Web Tool (to be launched in February 2011) will provide timely relevant industry updates.

FESI Chairman of the Committee for the Environment, Reiner Hengstmann (Global Director Social and Environmental Affairs PUMA, Supply chain,) commented, “The ultimate goal of this committee is to properly inform, educate and coach the sporting goods industry on new European legislation and working with the EOG will significantly help us to achieve our objectives.”

FESI will act as an early warning system for the Standards and Regulations Committee, ensuring that the EOG is able to provide the industry with timely, relevant information of all potential, and updates to, legislation affecting the industry. Mark Held, Secretary General, European Outdoor Group remarked, “FESI are in a unique position to access the information that our industry needs, they monitor all legislative initiatives relating to the sporting goods industry at a European level and by working together we can provide an easily accessible resource.”

The work of the SWG is NOT exclusive to members of the European Outdoor Group; it is operating on an open source basis and welcomes involvement from all areas of the supply chain.


Notes to Editors:
The European Outdoor Group is an association set up to represent the common interests of the European outdoor industry. Founded in 2003 the European Outdoor Group has 56 members, which include some of the largest brands in the world. The combined strength of the member brands, and a close cooperation with national outdoor associations, provides an extremely powerful force to represent the whole European outdoor industry in a constructive and positive manner.

The Sustainability Working Group (SWG) was established at an open meeting at the OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany in 2008. The Steering Group of the SWG includes representatives from Vaude, Mammut, W L Gore, Salomon, Haglöfs, The North Face, Deuter, Petzl, SportScheck and the European Outdoor Group.

Further information about the European Outdoor Group can be found on the website: www.europeanoutdoorgroup.com
Further information about the Sustainability Working Group can be found on the website: www.europeanoutdoorsustainability.org
Or contact Vanessa Knowles, T: +44 1942 886402, E: vanessa.knowles@europeanoutdoorgroup.com

FESI, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry, is the unique Brussels-based European platform representing the interests of some 1800 European sporting goods manufacturers before the European Institutions, other international sport federations and other associations.

Further information about FESI can be found on the website:
www.fesi-sport.org