National Union of Handicraft and Production Co-operatives of Romania (UCECOM)

The National Union of Handicraft and Production Co-operatives of Romania (Uniunea Națională a Cooperației Meșteșugărești, UCECOM) was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Bucharest. It is the national representative organisation for Romania's handicraft and production cooperative sector, responsible for representing and defending the interests of handicraft cooperatives before public and private bodies and for promoting cooperative principles. According to its data, the union directly or indirectly unites about 466 cooperative entities (including handicraft cooperative enterprises, regional unions and cooperative associations) and about 11,400 individual members, with activities spanning textiles, furniture, footwear, leather goods and folk crafts. It is a member of the International Co-operative Alliance and the European Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (CECOP).