EUROPE. The European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC) and Tax Free World Association (TFWA) will cooperate on the second phase of developing the digital labelling platform from the ETRC.
As reported, the regional body has been developing a digital solution designed to provide allergens and health warnings in multiple languages on customers’ mobile phones, rather than on product packaging. The technology was trialled with ten items at Hamburg Airport in December 2018.
The ETRC has now announced it will collaborate with the TFWA for the second phase of developing the technology. This one-year project will see 18 suppliers across perfumes, cosmetics, liquor and confectionery offer product information on a functional platform, with in-store tests to collect consumer feedback set to be conducted towards the end of 2020.
The Moodie Davitt Report understands the ETRC is aiming to partner with multiple retailers across different locations for this latest phase, but these are yet to be confirmed.
The ETRC added that the one-year project was particularly timely because the European Commission is currently consulting on the possibility of labelling additional fragrance allergens in cosmetics, while recently giving the green light to a voluntary digital labelling scheme to provide the list of ingredients on spirits products sold in the EU.
ETRC President Nigel Keal said: “We are very grateful for the special contribution of TFWA to make this project possible. This year will be critical in securing the acceptance from regulators for such a solution, by demonstrating it provides the necessary information in a user-friendly format. We will work closely with the new European Commission and Parliament in that respect to show that our solution can meet both the requirements of the regulators and the specificities of our unique consumer, the international traveller.”
Commenting on the association’s involvement, TFWA President Alain Maingreaud added: “It is TFWA’s mission to support industry projects that can benefit brands operating in duty free and travel retail and which can also have a positive impact on the sustainability of the channel as a whole. ETRC has led this initiative for several years with very promising results and we are delighted that our contribution will help take this project to the next level.”
