'Woolblendmark' extended

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 36

'Woolblendmark' extended

The International Wool Secretariat has decided to increase its promotional support for blends of wool with synthetics. This will be done by increasing the range of blended products entitled to carry the “Woolblendmark,” which has, until now, been restricted to uses where there is a technical case for incorporating a proportion of another fibre, as in socks. Now, in order to boost wool consumption in areas dominated by synthetics and synthetic blends, the I.W.S. will seek to identify those areas in which market gains to wool-rich products from wool-poor ana wholly synthetic products will outweigh any losses from 100 per cent pure new wool products. The allocation of “Woolblendmark” licences will be the responsibility of each area I.W.S. office, working from a set of head-office directives. This, said Dr G. Laxer, the managing director of 1.W.5., would enable local circumstances to be taken into account. Support would be given or withheld according to the prospects for achieving a new gain in wool use. “The I.W.S. board has agreed that, in certain circumstances, strictly limited funds may be used to assist wool-poor blends. ■“This does not mean that the ‘Woolblendmark’ will be applied to such fabrics. But we will, for instance, give technical help to mills which are starting to use wool again, even in wool-poor fiends,” he said. In announcing this development at the recent annual meeting of the Australian Wool Industry’ Conference, Dr Laxer said that there would be no alteration to the “Woolmark” programme, which applied only to products made from pure virgin wook

“The one thing we are not E doing is putting the Wool- * mark in a coffin,” he said. ' “It is one of the great mar- ■ keting success stories of 1 modern times. 1 “We will continue to put 1 the vast bulk of our funds ' behind products and market-; ’ ing projects involving the i Woolmark — in other 1 words, in support of products made of 100 per cent ’ pure new wool,” Dr Laxer. ! said. i ■