UK
A quiet Budget for fashion, with one packaging date to note
Chancellor John Healey’s Budget on 28 October left Plastic Packaging Tax rates and thresholds where they were. The tax still applies to plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. The one change: from 2030, recycled plastic will need to be certified to count towards that 30%. There was business rates relief for the high street, and nothing on textiles or packaging EPR.
What it means for you: No new costs this time. If you rely on recycled content to keep polybags and mailers out of the tax, ask your suppliers now how they’ll prove it, because from 2030 only certified material will count.
EU
The clothing rulebook is being written now. Don’t wait for it
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will change how clothes are designed, labelled and tracked in Europe. The Commission is drafting the textiles rules now, covering durability, recyclability and Digital Product Passports, and plans to adopt them in 2027. Parts of ESPR already apply: since 19 July, large companies can’t destroy unsold clothing and footwear, and from March 2027 they’ll have to report what they throw away.
What it means for you: The brands that are ready will be the ones gathering supplier data now, not the ones waiting for the final text. If you can’t say today where your fabric was made, start there this winter.
EU
A pause on packaging reps, but UK brands are probably still in
Since 12 August, a brand shipping straight to consumers in another EU country has needed a packaging EPR representative in each of those countries. On 20 October the European Parliament voted on pausing the rule, and on 21 October EU governments agreed their own position, reported to cover sellers sending less than a tonne of packaging a year into a country. The two now have to agree a final text, and from what’s been reported the pause is aimed at companies based in the EU.
What it means for you: If you’re a UK brand shipping direct to EU shoppers, keep your representatives in place until the final text is out.
EU
Six weeks until product liability gets tougher
From 9 December, the EU’s new Product Liability Directive applies to products placed on the market. A product that fails a mandatory safety requirement will be presumed defective, and if no EU-based manufacturer, importer or representative can be found, online marketplaces can be held liable instead. Only three EU countries have written it into national law so far, law firm CMS reported on 13 October.
What it means for you: If you sell into the EU, check that every listing, on your own site and on marketplaces, names your EU responsible person and the product’s safety information. Marketplaces will start asking for proof, because from December they may be on the hook too.
US
Washington rolls back, the states keep going
On 27 October President Trump announced that the EPA will roll back the Biden-era methane rules for oil and gas, including the ban on routine flaring. It follows this year’s retreat on PFAS: federal PFAS reporting has been pushed back to 2027, and limits on several “forever chemicals” in drinking water are proposed for scrapping. The states are going the other way. Maine and Minnesota have near-total bans on products containing PFAS on the way, and New Mexico approved a phased ban in March.
What it means for you: Federal rollbacks don’t take you off the hook. State PFAS rules still cover clothing and outdoor gear, and if you also sell in the EU or UK, the strictest market sets your standard anyway.
US
The forced labour entity list keeps growing
On 28 October the Department of Homeland Security added three more Chinese companies to the UFLPA Entity List, effective the next day. This week’s were genomics firms, but in July DHS made its biggest expansion yet, adding 43 companies and naming apparel and cotton among its priorities. Anything made wholly or partly in Xinjiang, or by a listed company, is presumed to involve forced labour and can be held at the US border unless the importer proves otherwise.
What it means for you: If you sell into the US, Customs can ask you to trace your cotton back to the farm. The same supplier data will help with the EU’s forced labour ban from 2027 and with ESPR.
Canada, Australia & Singapore
Canada is building its own version of the UFLPA
On 8 October the Canadian government published what it heard from businesses and campaigners on two forced-labour measures. The first is Bill C-35, the Ban on Importing Goods Made with Forced Labour Act, now at second reading. It would let ministers flag high-risk goods by region or company, require importers of those goods to hand customs detailed supply-chain tracing, and refuse entry if they can’t. The second is a possible due diligence law requiring companies to identify, prevent and report on forced-labour risks, which stakeholders broadly backed.
What it means for you: If you sell into Canada, treat it like the US: be ready to trace every garment back past your direct supplier to the mill and the fibre. The same records will serve you for UFLPA, Canada and Australia.
Canada, Australia & Singapore
Australia’s ethics scores have stalled, and the law is catching up
Baptist World Aid’s Ethical Fashion Report, published on 20 October, scored 500 brands on 48 measures. The average was 31.5 out of 100, up just 0.2 points on 2024. Ninety-three per cent of brands have workers’ rights and sustainability policies, but grievance channels reach only one worker in five, and luxury and premium brands (38.6) barely outscored fast fashion (37.9).
What it means for you: If you sell designer fashion into Australia, expect department stores and investors to ask for supply-chain evidence beyond your direct suppliers, and for proof behind every green claim. Policies alone won’t be enough.
United Nations
The UN says 1.5°C is gone, and resets the numbers
UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report, published on 21 October, says keeping warming to 1.5°C without overshooting is no longer possible. Even the best remaining path needs emissions to fall 18% by 2030 and 45% by 2035 from 2025 levels. Current policies point to around 2.8°C.
What it means for you: If you’ve signed the Charter or the Pact, expect retail partners and investors to ask whether your 2030 targets still hold. Expect questions about what’s in your products, too, as chemical rules tighten in the EU, the UK and US states.
Where It’s Made
Bangladesh wins three more years of duty-free access
Yesterday the UN General Assembly agreed to push back Bangladesh’s graduation from “least developed country” status by three years, from 24 November 2026 to 24 November 2029. Nepal got the same extension.
What it means for you: If you source from Bangladesh, your landed costs are safe for now. But use the time well: the cliff edge has moved to 2029, not disappeared, so it’s worth modelling what tariffs would do to your costs and checking how exposed your range is.
Downstream
Recyclers are still struggling, and two more have gone under
In Germany, two more textile sorting companies have filed for insolvency, trade journal EUWID reported this month. Sorters say their warehouses are full “to the ceiling” and that dipping into reserves to cover losses is “no basis for the future”. The industry is waiting for a draft German textile law, expected in the coming weeks.
What it means for you: Textile EPR is coming to fill that funding gap, and brands will pay per item placed on the market. Fees are expected to reward clothes that last longer and are easier to recycle, and recyclers need brands to buy recycled fibre, so the design and sourcing decisions you make now will show up on your EPR bill.
Downstream
Accra is clearing its waste mountains, ahead of schedule
The 90-day operation to remove a million tonnes of waste from Agbogbloshie, Old Fadama and the banks of the Korle Lagoon in Accra is moving fast. On 17 October, Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga said progress was satisfactory: crews have almost cleared two of the waste mountains on the Korle Bu side of the Odaw River, more than 100 machines are on site, and trucks are now running night shifts. Next comes dredging the Odaw River, then an urban renewal project for the reclaimed land, including a proposed textile industry.
What it means for you: The countries that receive our used clothes are cleaning up and pushing back. Expect more questions about where your products end up, and more pressure to prove that what you export is genuinely reusable, not waste.
Digital Product Passports
Passports aren’t just an EU thing. More than 35 countries are working on them
On top of the 27 EU member states, at least ten other countries are building passport or product-data systems. Vietnam’s rules have been binding since January. China’s textile industry body launched its own passport system in 2025, around 80% aligned with ESPR. The UAE, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Canada, Australia and the US all have schemes or pilots under way, and the UK has just consulted on its own Digital Product Records.
What it means for you: Wherever you sell, you’re likely to need more than one passport. The data underneath is the same each time: what a product is made of, where and by whom. Start collecting it now.
Digital Product Passports
What the supply chain actually looks like
A UNIDO study of textile firms in seven producing countries, including China, Bangladesh, India and Turkey, found that only 22% of small firms understand the EU rules (68% of large ones), most share data with partners in Excel, and about a third of upstream suppliers can’t say where their materials come from. A Chinese pilot of 14 manufacturers and brands scored readiness at 54 out of 100. The weakest area was organisation, not technology.
What it means for you: Your passport is only as good as your suppliers’ data. Every firm in the pilot asked for the same three things: a clear data template, hands-on training and help coordinating suppliers.
